Hundreds of US federal offices could close soon as Musk's DOGE crackdown on 'unnecessary' spending

Federal agencies will begin to vacate hundreds of offices across the country this summer under a frenetic and error-riddled push by Elon Musk’s budget-cutting advisers to terminate leases that they say waste money.

Musk's Department of Government Efficiency maintains a list of cancelled real estate leases on its website, but internal documents obtained by The Associated Press contain a crucial detail: when those cancellations are expected to take effect.

The documents from inside the General Services Administration, the U.S. government's real estate manager, list dozens of federal office and building leases expected to end by June 30, with hundreds more slated over the coming months.

The rapid pace of cancellations have raised alarms, with some US agencies and lawmakers appealing to DOGE to exempt specific buildings. Several agencies are facing more than two-dozen or more lease cancellation, including the International Revenue Service (IRS), the Social Security Administration, Department of Agriculture and the US Geological Survey.

The cancellations could affect agencies that are not so well known, but oversee services critical to many Americans.

DOGE says the General Services Administration (GSA) has notified landlords in recent weeks of its plans to terminate close to 800 leases, prioritising those that can be ended within months without penalty.

The group estimates the move will save roughly $500 million (€461 million) over the terms of the leases, which in some cases were slated to run into the 2030s.

DOGE’s estimated savings – a fraction of Musk’s $1 trillion (€922 billion) – however do not take into account the costs of moves and closures.