Agencies across the federal government have essentially frozen 200,000 purchase and travel cards, according to the General Services Administration, which is coordinating this work.
Acting GSA Administrator Stephen Ehikian told employees in an all-hands meeting Thursday that the government credit cards now have a $1 spending limit, as part of a “government-wide effort to rein in unchecked credit card spending,” according to presentation slides obtained by Federal News Network.
GSA oversees the governmentwide charge card program, and set a $1 spending limit on cards belonging to its employees and contractors last month. The agency is also asking 15 other agencies to reduce their agency charge card limits, and the number and usage of cards.
While GSA can’t legally set spending limits on other agencies, it has sent memos to agency heads asking them to comply with its request. Ehikian, for example, called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to dramatically cut the number of authorized cardholders.
The VA currently holds about 18,000 to 19,000 purchase cards and has about 12,000 authorized cardholders across the department.
GSA’s request would have given the department less than 500 approved cardholders to manage purchases across a 479,000-employee workforce, and the largest integrated health care system in the U.S.
The VA plans to limit its purchase cards, but not to the extent outlined by GSA. A VA spokesperson told Federal News Network last month that the VA “will conduct its own review of the department’s charge cards and report its findings to GSA.”
The VA spends about $6 billion annually on its purchase cards — including essential medical supplies for the Veterans Health Administration to provide health care to veterans.
Ehikian told GSA employees that the agency has also “kicked off a cross-agency effort to consolidate governmentwide procurement.”
Federal News Network first reported last week that GSA is in the process of possible takeover of contracting functions of other federal agencies, as part of a reorganization of its procurement shop.
According to a GSA employee, the agency is planning to take over the contracting functions at several agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management, the Education Department, the Small Business Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Ehikian told staff that GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service has eliminated $50 billion in wasteful contract ceiling value — leading to more than $20 billion in savings.
According to the presentation slides, GSA has sent 11 governmentwide memos, pressing agency heads for updates on building occupancy, identification of wasteful contracts, changes to the governmentwide credit card program, reviews of internal policies and directives, and controlling IT spending.
GSA is also looking to cut about 50% of its governmentwide real estate portfolio.
According to the slides, GSA has publicly listed or sold 32 properties in its real estate portfolio. Those properties account for 1.4 million square feet of space, and are worth about $185 million.
GSA has also canceled more than 680 “underutilized & vacant” office leases. According to the presentation, the canceled leases account for 8 million in office space and account for more for more than $500 million in lease obligations.
Federal News Network first reported that GSA recently terminated nearly 1,000 leases — but is already trying to walk back hundreds of those lease terminations, after officials discovered that closing down these offices would impact public-facing benefits and services.
GSA earlier this month put the headquarters of more than a dozen agencies — including its own — on a list of more than 440 “non-core” assets it would consider selling. The agency revised the list hours after posting it, but deleted the whole list the next day.
GSA’s website says a new list is “coming soon.”
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