If the Federal Communications Commission has to furlough its employees to pay for the consolidation of its offices in a new building in southwest Washington, it's the agency's own fault, the General Services Administration says.
The FCC, which is slated to begin a long-disputed move Oct. 23 to a building known as Portals II, has told its employees they could be furloughed to pay $9 million in extra annual rent costs for the new building.
That message is "irresponsible," said GSA spokesman Hap Connors. "If FCC employees want some accountability on this, they need to look upstairs at their headquarters and ask them why the design changes and delays have added up to an extra cost of $3 million a year," he said.
The FCC, which is currently headquartered in several buildings near 19th and M streets NW in Washington, has resisted moving to the Portals complex for 10 years, saying it is unsafe and allows unimpeded entry.
FCC began searching for a new home in 1988. GSA selected the Portals site, but the FCC objected and GSA canceled the lease. In 1994, a federal appeals court sided with the building's owner and ruled the cancellation illegal. But the FCC continued to fight the move.
In January 1996, GSA signed a new 20-year, $420 million lease for the offices. The building was still under construction and wasn't completed until May of this year.
After the building was finished, FCC officials asked GSA for $2 million to $6 million worth of floor-plan changes to its quarters.
In June, GSA canceled the lease on the agency's downtown headquarters and ordered it to pack up and move.
"We're cautiously optimistic that the FCC will indeed move into the Portals and do what's in the best interest of the taxpayers," Connors said.
GSA estimates the unoccupied building has cost taxpayers $1.7 million a month since GSA signed the lease on the facility a year ago.
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