Six Major Federal Buildings in D.C. Must Be Sold Within Two Years, Exempt from Environmental Review

The “For Sale Act of 2025” is straightforward: the government wants to offload some prime real estate in Washington, D.C. Specifically, this bill mandates the closure and sale of six large federal buildings, including those currently housing the Departments of Agriculture, Transportation, and Labor. The clock starts ticking immediately, requiring the agencies to move out within 18 months. The General Services Administration (GSA) then has a tight window—about two years total—to sell these properties at “highest and best market value.”

The Great Federal Real Estate Garage Sale

This isn't just about selling a few empty offices; we’re talking about massive buildings like the Hubert H. Humphrey Federal Building and the Frances Perkins Federal Building. The core goal is to generate revenue and reduce the national deficit. Once the buildings are sold, the proceeds first cover the GSA’s costs for the sale process itself. Everything left over goes directly to the Treasury’s general fund to chip away at the deficit. This is a clear-cut budget move: sell assets to pay down debt. However, there’s a major catch for the agencies involved: the bill explicitly forbids the GSA or any other agency from buying or leasing new property to house the displaced workers. They must squeeze into existing federal space, which could mean serious consolidation and overcrowding for thousands of federal employees who suddenly have to relocate in under two years.

The Fine Print That Matters to Everyone

While selling off underutilized assets sounds like good business, the way this bill does it raises some flags. To speed up the process, Section 2 exempts the sale of these buildings from several key existing laws. This is where the policy gets messy. First, the sales are exempt from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA requires a thorough review of the environmental impact of major federal actions. Skipping this means that whoever buys these huge properties can move forward with redevelopment plans without public or environmental scrutiny, which could be a big deal given their central D.C. locations.

Second, the sales are exempt from a section of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. This law usually requires federal agencies to consider making surplus property available for use by homeless assistance providers. By bypassing this, the bill removes a potential avenue for these massive, centrally located buildings to be repurposed for housing or social services, ensuring they go straight to the highest bidder for commercial development. For those worried about housing affordability and social safety nets, this exemption means losing a significant opportunity.

Who Gets the Keys?

One provision in the bill is designed to limit who can purchase the properties: the GSA is strictly forbidden from selling any of the buildings to a “foreign person” or “foreign entity.” This is intended to keep these strategic D.C. properties under domestic control, potentially limiting the buyer pool to U.S.-based developers and investors. Given the size and location of these assets, this influx of prime real estate onto the market could significantly benefit the domestic real estate development sector. The GSA Administrator has a lot of power here, as they determine the “highest and best market value,” which will dictate how quickly and profitably these sales go through.