The General Services Administration GSA

After World War II the Hoover Commission found that every federal agency bought its own paper, rented its own offices, and stored its own records, at enormous waste. Its recommendation produced the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, signed by Harry Truman on June 30, 1949, which created the General Services Administration on July 1 to centralize the government's housekeeping. GSA absorbed the Public Buildings Administration, the Federal Supply Service, the War Assets Administration, and, until 1985, the National Archives.

The Public Buildings Service is the federal landlord, owning or leasing roughly 8,000 buildings with about 360 million square feet of space, from courthouses and border stations to ordinary office towers, and charging agencies rent. The Federal Acquisition Service runs governmentwide contracts, including the Multiple Award Schedules, through which agencies buy tens of billions of dollars a year in goods, services, and technology at prenegotiated prices, and it manages a fleet of more than 200,000 vehicles. GSA also sets governmentwide rules for travel, property disposal, and procurement, and coordinates the transition of power between presidential administrations.

Its Technology Transformation Services builds shared digital tools, including Login.gov for secure sign-in to federal services and the USA.gov portal. About 12,000 employees work for the agency, whose operations are largely funded by fees and rents paid by other agencies rather than direct appropriations. The Administrator is confirmed by the Senate. GSA is invisible to most of the public until something goes wrong, as when a 2010 conference in Las Vegas costing more than 800,000 dollars led to the Administrator's resignation.

In 2025 the administration made GSA the center of its effort to shrink the federal footprint and consolidate purchasing. An April executive order directed that common goods and services across the government be bought through GSA, the agency moved to terminate hundreds of office leases and sell buildings it deemed unneeded, and it eliminated its 18F digital services team. Supporters argued consolidation would save billions and end duplicative contracts. Critics questioned whether a smaller GSA could absorb the purchasing of every other agency and warned that hasty lease cancellations would cost more than they saved.