How the Federal Government Loses Billions on Underused Buildings

The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo: Government Budgets, Stimulus, and Public Spending · Jul 5, 2026 · 7m · transcript

The U.S. government owns over 250,000 buildings and leases millions more square feet of space. But a 2024 Government Accountability Office report found that nearly 25% of federal office space is underused or vacant, costing taxpayers over $1.7 billion annually in rent alone. In this episode, Lucas and Luna drill into a specific example: the 1.4 million square feet of empty office space leased by the Social Security Administration in suburban Maryland. They explore why agencies hold onto space they don't need, how budget rules discourage subleasing, and what the proposed Federal Real…