5 days ago
9
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
The tech billionaire and top Trump ally visited the General Services Administration, which appears to be a key part of his crusade to cut the cost of government buildings.
Jan. 30, 2025, 3:44 p.m. ET
Elon Musk appears to have his next target for cost-cutting: the General Services Administration.
Mr. Musk visited the agency’s headquarters in Washington on Thursday afternoon, according to three people briefed on his activities who insisted on anonymity, and met with the acting administrator of the agency, Stephen Ehikian. Mr. Musk, joined by one of his young children, arrived shortly after noon and spent a few hours at the agency, with several black S.U.V.s parked out front.
The so-called Department of Government Efficiency, President Trump’s new cost-cutting group led by Mr. Musk, has so far focused on terminating leases of what it has called “mostly empty” federal offices, which are managed by the General Services Administration. On Monday, the group said the agency had already terminated three leases.
“These are the first steps to right size the Federal real estate portfolio of more than 7,500 leases,” the group wrote in a post on X, Mr. Musk’s social media platform.
Mr. Musk’s visit to the General Services Administration could presage more cost-cutting efforts focused on federal real estate. The agency also plays a role in federal contracting and in providing technology services across the federal government.
This week, engineers at the G.S.A. were asked to submit a recent “technical win” to Thomas Shedd, a Tesla engineer who was named the agency’s director of “Technology Transformation Services.” Tapping the agency’s technical talent could allow the cost-cutting effort to advance its stated goal of modernizing government systems.
Mr. Ehikian, a Trump appointee, told workers in an email on Tuesday that, in addition to terminating three leases, two of the agency’s properties would be listed for sale. Ending the leases would save about $11 million and was a “first step” in cutting real-estate expenditures, according to the email.
