US offers 400 real estate workers fired by DOGE the option to return to jobs, reports say

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By Courtney Rozen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. General Services Administration is offering 400 real estate management workers fired earlier this year as part of the Trump administration’s efficiency drive the option to return to their roles, according to media reports.

The administration is simultaneously firing 126 other employees at the agency’s Public Buildings Service, a GSA official told Reuters. The agency had previously warned the workers they might be dismissed, the official said, and is now moving forward with the firings. 

The employees being offered the option to return are also part of the same team, the reports from Federal News Network and the Associated Press said. The team negotiates leases, oversees renovations and offloads property on behalf of the U.S. government.

A GSA spokesperson in a statement said the agency is “making adjustments” to its workforce but did not confirm that figure.

U.S. federal worker firings have largely slowed since billionaire former Trump adviser Elon Musk departed the U.S. government in May after overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency.

The 126 dismissals are a rare case of the administration continuing the firings after his exit. At the same time, the administration is walking back some of the changes Musk’s DOGE made at the agency. 

GSA will also create a new team to assist agencies with consolidating and relocating offices, according to a letter from acting PBS commissioner Andrew Heller to federal agencies that was reviewed by Reuters.

President Donald Trump during his reelection campaign pledged to relocate tens of thousands of federal employees out of the Washington, D.C., region. More than 80% of federal employees already work outside the D.C. area, according to the Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s HR team.

(Reporting by Courtney Rozen, editing by Deepa Babington)