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Hundreds of federal employees purged in Elon Musk’s cost-cutting blitz are being asked to return to their jobs at the General Services Administration, the agency responsible for managing much of the government’s real estate portfolio.
According to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press, GSA has given the workers until the end of this week to decide whether to accept reinstatement. Those who return must report for duty on Oct. 6 — after what critics call a seven-month “paid vacation,” during which time the agency continued paying salaries and incurred hefty costs tied to vacant offices and abandoned lease plans.
“Ultimately, the outcome was the agency was left broken and understaffed,” said Chad Becker, a former GSA real estate official now with Arco Real Estate Solutions. “They didn’t have the people they needed to carry out basic functions.”
A hasty downsizing
The reversal comes after Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) spearheaded an aggressive push to shrink the federal workforce, portraying the GSA as bloated and wasteful. At the start of the Trump administration, GSA employed about 12,000 people. By spring, thousands had departed through buyouts, early retirements or layoffs.
Embedded Musk aides — some reportedly sleeping on cots inside GSA headquarters — pressed to cancel nearly half of the government’s 7,500 leases and to sell off hundreds of federally owned buildings. Officials claimed the plan would save billions.
But critics say the execution was reckless. More than 800 lease termination notices went out, sometimes without warning to the government tenants still occupying the space. At least 131 leases expired without agencies moving out, leaving taxpayers on the hook for steep fees because property owners couldn’t rent to other tenants.
Pushback and confusion
Facing mounting resistance, GSA has since spared more than 480 leases once slated for cancellation. DOGE’s “Wall of Receipts” — which boasted $460 million in savings from lease terminations — has been revised down to $140 million.
Meanwhile, the mass departures gutted GSA’s staff. Headquarters operations were slashed by nearly 80%, portfolio managers by 65%, and facilities managers by 35%, according to a federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The result: property management slowed to a crawl, leaving agencies like the IRS, FDA and Social Security scrambling for space. “It’s been triage mode for months,” Becker said.
Political fallout
Democrats on Capitol Hill blasted the disruption. Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), the ranking member on the subcommittee overseeing GSA, said there’s “no evidence” the cuts saved money.
“It’s created costly confusion while undermining the very services taxpayers depend on,” Stanton told AP.
In a statement, GSA defended the reversal. “GSA’s leadership team has reviewed workforce actions and is making adjustments in the best interest of the customer agencies we serve and the American taxpayers,” a spokesman said.
Watchdog probe underway
The Government Accountability Office has launched an investigation into GSA’s workforce management, lease terminations and building disposal efforts. Findings are expected in the coming months.
Becker said the return-to-work order shows DOGE’s campaign went “too far, too fast.” For now, the hundreds of recalled employees face a choice: return to the agency that laid them off, or walk away from federal service altogether.
