OPM leases removed from DOGE website
Less than a month after the Department of Government Efficiency’s website listed Office of Personnel Management real estate leases in Butler County as terminated, the listings have seemingly disappeared from the site altogether.
DOGE first launched its website, featuring a savings page dubbed the “wall of receipts” in February. It has received weekly updates throughout the past month. Then, on March 5, three OPM leases in Butler County were included in the list.
On the morning of Wednesday, March 26, a post by the DOGE account on X announced an update to the website. The updated website no longer lists the three leases.
Two were related to offices in Iron Mountain, 1137 Branchton Road in Cherry Township; and a third was related to a call center along Grant Avenue in East Butler.
For the Iron Mountain facility, the website indicated savings of $526,052 for a lease that cost $161,862 annually for 11,500 square-feet and savings of $156,900 for another lease that cost $48,277 annually for 3,450 square-feet.
However, the listing of the two terminations did not spell out the ending of OPM operations in Boyers. According to Butler County Commissioner Kim Geyer, the space in Iron Mountain was larger than the space included in the leases that are being terminated.
Geyer said, to her knowledge, the listing of the since-removed leases would not have impacted the facility’s staffing.
“As far as I know and am aware, everyone is still employed and working in the mine. It is my understanding that no one is working from home,” Geyer said.
As for the East Butler location, which operates as an OPM call center, the website indicated savings of $66,821 for a lease that annually costs $160,369 for 13,994 square-feet in real estate.
The removal of leases in Butler County seem to follow a national trend as the amount of lease terminations, and savings from them, have dropped since March 5.
The 748 listed terminations on March 5 have reduced to 679, and estimated savings have dropped from $468 million to $400 million.
After the leases were listed on the “wall of receipts,” the Butler Eagle reached out to the General Services Administration. It oversees the construction, management and preservation of government buildings, as well as the leasing and managing of commercial real estate.
According to a GSA spokesman, the agency is exploring approaches — including public-private partnerships, ground leases, sale leasebacks and interagency coworking agreements — to “optimize its real estate portfolio.”
He clarified that listings on the website does not equate to the end of the real estate lease.
“To be clear, just because an asset is on the list doesn’t mean it’s immediately for sale. However, we will consider compelling offers (in accordance with applicable laws and regulations) and do what’s best for the needs of the federal government and taxpayer,” he said.
Outside of the removal of the Butler County real estate leases, the website now lists 9,289 grant terminations totaling about $32 billion in savings. The “wall of receipts” now estimates a total savings of $130 billion, or $807.45 per taxpayer.
The Butler Eagle has reached out to OPM for further comment on the leases’ current status.
