{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://edwards.house.gov/media/press-releases/edwards-gluesenkamp-perez-demand-end-taxpayer-funding-unused-government-office", "Edwards, Gluesenkamp Perez demand an end to taxpayer funding of unused government office space", "2023-11-06", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Chuck Edwards", "E000246", "edwards.house.gov", "edwards", "https://edwards.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "U.S. Congressman Chuck Edwards (NC-11) today introduced the Federal Use it or Lose it Leases (FULL) Act to reduce wasteful government spending on office space that the federal government does not use. Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) is the co-lead of this bipartisan legislation.\n\nThe federal government\u2019s office leases cost taxpayers more than $6 billion a year, but reports of unused space in federal buildings have increased with continued telework by government employees. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that 17 out of 24 major federal agency headquarter buildings were less than 25 percent occupied with some less than 10 percent full.\n\nEven during a maximum telework period, federal agencies managed to spend more than $1 billion every year on new furnishings between 2020 and 2022. At present, occupancy in federal Washington, D.C. offices is less than 54 percent of pre-pandemic levels. With more than half of all current federal leases set to expire in the next five years, the FULL Act would prevent the government from continuing to purchase expensive building leases and office furniture while large percentages of its workforce continues to telework.\n\nCongressman Edwards said, \u201cThe FULL Act will help prevent taxpayers from footing the bill for unused federal office space by making sure the federal government only leases the office space it needs and will use. As federal telework levels remain high, agencies\u2019 D.C. HQ offices are sitting mostly empty. This legislation will enable Congress to effectively perform oversight of government spending on office leases by requiring federal agencies to use it or lose it.\u201d\n\n\u201cFlexibility in where federal employees work has let public servants spend more time coaching Little League and less time commuting in traffic - and telework has been especially beneficial for our rural communities. But federal policy needs to keep up so taxpayers don\u2019t foot the bill for empty office space,\u201d said Congresswoman Gluesenkamp Perez.\n\n\u201cThe bipartisan FULL Act will help inform how leases are renewed and ensure unused space can be effectively repurposed. I\u2019m grateful for Rep. Edwards\u2019 partnership on this effort to reduce government waste and ensure your tax dollars are used responsibly.\u201d\n\nThe FULL Act requires:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:01:09Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://edwards.house.gov/media/press-releases/edwards-gluesenkamp-perez-demand-end-taxpayer-funding-unused-government-office"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5360668767243624, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}