The cost-cutting measures come after Trump confirms the contract and signs an order asking the agency to reduce wasteful spending.
Government Efficiency (DOGE) has announced the termination of leases for multiple Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sites across the country as part of an initiative to reduce federal costs.
This includes ending leases at 30 FDA locations, with annual lease costs exceeding $8.62 million. According to Doge, lease cancellations save more than $29.61 million. This number could indicate cost savings over various lease terms.
The 30 leases include 247,399 square feet of 22 states, including Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, California, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware, Florida, Missouri, Wisconsin, Utah, North Carolina, and Kent, New Jara.
California ranks at the top of the list, with five FDA sites exposed to end leases. Florida, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Tennessee each saw leases on two sites being discontinued. The remaining 17 states each had one lease end.
Doge said the advisory body is “working to upload all receipts in a digestible and transparent way that is consistent with applicable rules and regulations.”
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Other departments eligible for lease cancellation include the General Services Department, the Department of State, Social Security, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Office of Government Accountability, the Office of Fish and Wildlife, the National Archives Center, Geological Survey, Federal Trade Commission, and Small Business Management.
Reviews will be completed within 30 days of your order. The aim is to ensure that government spending is transparent and that employees are “responsible to the American people.”
With regard to real estate leases, the order provided that “each agency chief shall promptly identify any rights of termination that the agency chief may have under existing leases of real estate owned by the government.”
The head of each agency must then consult with the DOGE team leader and the general services manager or their nominee to “decide whether or not to exercise such rights.”
According to official data, Doge has reported an estimated $100 billion in savings as of March 5th. This means savings per tax of over $652.
Savings have been achieved through a variety of measures, including cancellations and renegotiations of contracts/leases, sales of assets, and reducing the workforce.
New Leadership
The FDA lease ends when the agency is under new leadership. With the new administration in the White House, former FDA commissioner Dr. Robert Caliph has been handed over to Dr. Sarah Brenner, a preventive medicine physician who is now acting as the agency’s representative. John Hopkins surgeon Dr. Marty McCurry is poised to become the next FDA committee member, pending confirmation from the Senate.
In mid-February, the Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as director of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which administers 13 agencies, including the FDA.
“I understand that it’s the system and not the people in it. That’s the main issue,” he said last month. The restructuring agency under the HHS will “restore its reputation as an essential source of scientific information to guide policy-making health professionals, the public and the whole world.”
“If possible, we will either eliminate conflicts of interest from the committee and research partners or balance it with other stakeholders,” he said.
Kennedy vowed that the department’s data and policy process “is highly transparent so there’s no need to even submit FOIA requests.”
