Hundreds of former federal workers dismissed during Elon Musk’s cost-cutting drive are now being asked to return, according to an internal notice.
The General Services Administration (GSA) has instructed those employees, who were responsible for overseeing government offices and properties, to confirm by the end of the week whether they will resume duty, reports AP/UNB.
Those who accept are scheduled to report on 6 October, following seven months of absence during which the agency continued to incur expenses — costs ultimately borne by taxpayers — for properties it had either allowed to lapse or planned to shut down.
Created in the 1940s to centralize federal property management, GSA is one of several agencies reversing earlier cuts initiated by DOGE. The Internal Revenue Service announced last month that some employees who opted for resignation would remain. The Department of Labor and the National Park Service have also reinstated staff who took buyouts or were previously removed.
Thousands of GSA staff left beginning in March under voluntary exit programmes, while hundreds more were terminated outright. Despite being taken off the rolls, some continued to draw pay. The recall order issued on Friday did not include details on how many workers would return or the financial implications.
“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,” the agency said in a statement.
DOGE had targeted GSA, which employed roughly 12,000 staff at the start of the Trump administration, as central to its campaign to cut government size and reduce waste. Musk’s inner circle, based inside GSA headquarters and at times sleeping on-site, pursued a plan to cancel nearly half of the agency’s 7,500 leases and sell hundreds of federal buildings.
Initially, more than 800 landlords received lease termination letters, often without notice to the government tenants occupying the spaces. A list of properties for sale was also published. Pushback was immediate, and since then 480 of those leases have been spared.
They covered offices housing agencies including the IRS, Social Security Administration, and Food and Drug Administration.
The savings DOGE once predicted also dropped. Its “Wall of Receipts” initially projected $460 million in reduced costs from lease cancellations, but by the end of July that figure had shrunk to $140 million, said Becker, a former GSA real estate official.
Meanwhile, GSA embarked on massive job cuts. The administration slashed GSA’s headquarters staff by 79%, its portfolio managers by 65% and facilities managers by 35%, according to a federal official briefed on the situation. The official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, provided the statistics on condition of anonymity.
The cuts created operational chaos, with 131 leases expiring even though agencies remained in the properties, exposing the government to heavy fees as landlords could not rent the spaces to new tenants.
The Government Accountability Office is now reviewing the agency’s handling of staffing changes, lease cancellations, and proposed property sales, with findings expected in the near future, said David Marroni, a senior GAO official.
