GAO warns of growing deferred‑maintenance crisis in Federal Buildings Fund, urges property disposals and funding fixes

The House Appropriations subcommittee heard testimony that the federal governmentmay be carrying an escalating deferred‑maintenance burden on its portfolio of buildings and that stronger disposal and funding strategies are needed to address it. Chairman Joyce opened the hearing by noting that GSAmanages hundreds of millions of square feet and said a Public Buildings Reform Board report "indicated that the deferred maintenance in the federal building portfolio has become a $50 billion liability."

David Mahoney, the Government Accountability Officedirector for physical infrastructure, told the subcommittee that GAO has long classified federal real property management as a high‑risk area and that the problem spans both aging inventory and funding shortfalls. "Whatever the specific number, the trajectory is clear. There is a lot of deferred maintenance that is growing significantly," Mahoney said, adding that estimates for GSA alone vary across reviews.

GAO outlined three broad actions Congress and agencies could take to reduce the strain on the Federal Buildings Fund…