GSA Pushes Back on Judiciary’s Request to Manage Courthouses (1)

The General Services Administration rejected calls by the federal judiciary to gain authority to manage its own buildings, saying it’s “ill-equipped for the real estate job.”

“The Judiciary serves a critical mission and requires well-maintained facilities to support the administration of justice,” GSA Administrator Edward Forst said in a letter Thursday obtained by Bloomberg Law to Judge Robert Conrad, director of the Administrative Office of the US Courts. “However, the Judiciary has neither the expertise nor the resources to successfully manage complex construction and renovation projects.”

Conrad sent a letter last month to congressional leaders asking that federal courts be given the authority via new legislation to purchase, renovate, lease, and construct buildings considered necessary for the judiciary to operate.

“Federal courthouses are in crisis. Without immediate action, the problems will continue to worsen,” Conrad said in a Feb. 24 statement. “Action is needed now to reverse a downward spiral of critical-system failures, long-term underfunding of repairs, security risks, and climbing costs.”

In his letter Thursday, Forst noted his “surprise and disappointment” that Conrad had met with him Feb. 24 and then “instantly upon leaving my office” released a public statement and held “same-day” meetings to engage with congressional committees regarding the new property authority.

“I believe your approach undermines GSA’s ability to advance what should be our mutually shared position that additional flexibilities are required to address critical repairs in courthouses around the country,” Forst said.

Forst said the judiciary accounted for 21 percent of the federally owned rent dollars collected by GSA from fiscal 2021 to 2025, while 43 percent of GSA’s major repair and alterations allocations went to facilities occupied by the judiciary during the same time period.

“By working together, we can achieve meaningful and sustainable improvements to those courthouses,” Forst said. “This collaborative approach best serves the American taxpayer by enabling the Judiciary to focus on the rule of law and GSA to focus on optimizing the Federal real estate portfolio.”

The AO declined to comment on the GSA letter.

The letter was reported earlier by the New York Times.