The Effect of DOGE and Its Efforts to Reduce the Federal Government Footprint

The last few months have been a whirlwind in American politics. Much of the news, especially during the early months of 2025, revolved around the Department of Governmental Efficiency (“DOGE”). The department, led publicly by Elon Musk, has set out to reduce federal spending in a myriad of ways, including reducing the government workforce, rescinding federal contracts, and reducing the federal government’s real estate footprint. 

Unsurprisingly, DOGE’s work so far has been extremely polarizing within the United States (for a long list of valid reasons). However, the initiative to reduce the amount of commercial real estate owned and leased by the federal government is not a novel initiative; in 2015, President Obama’s administration released Budget Memorandum M-12-12, Promoting Efficient Spending to Support Agency Operations, colloquially known as the “Reduce the Footprint” memorandum. The current focus on reducing the federal real estate footprint presents an interesting opportunity for real estate developers, and the federal government’s rush to sell buildings and terminate its existing leases may have a profound impact on the local communities. 

As of April 11, 2025, the federal government during 2025 has sold 13 buildings and, according to DOGE, another 68 buildings are on the market. According to CBRE, many of these buildings will require significant improvements in order to be reused as office space, but many of them could be retrofit, demolished, or used in adaptive reuse projects. Regardless of how the buildings are ultimately used, it will undoubtedly have an impact on the real estate market and the surrounding areas in those areas affected. 

DOGE has not stopped the crusade at only government-owned buildings, however. JLL has been tracking the termination of federal leases, and has compiled it into an interesting interactive map. As of March 31st, 2025, the federal government had terminated 676 leases, totaling 7,826,881 square feet. Interestingly, this is only 4.4% of the leased inventory of the federal government in the United States. Like the sale of the buildings, the effect of these cancelled leases can have a profound effect on the surrounding areas. I for one am interested to see the impact that this reduction in the real estate footprint has across the United States.