Trump administration calls judiciary 'ill-equipped' to manage its courthouses

By Nate Raymond

March 13 (Reuters) - The Trump administration is fighting the federal judiciary's effort to secure independent control over its courthouses and end the executive branch's management of its buildings, saying the court system is "ill-equipped for the real estate job."

Edward Forst, the head of the General Services Administration, made the statement in a letter on Thursday, deepening strains between the judiciary and the administration of Republican President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly attacked judges and Supreme Court justices who rule against him.

Forst, who became the GSA's administrator in December, expressed his "surprise and disappointment" at the U.S. Judicial Conference's recent decision to ask Congress to shift authority over its buildings away from the agency, which has long acted as the courts' landlord.

In a letter addressed to Judge Robert Conrad, the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Forst warned of the risks that would result "if the unelected Judiciary gained carte-blanche authority to determine courthouse expenditures at the expense of the American taxpayers."

He said from fiscal year 2021 to 2025, the judiciary accounted for 21% of the rent GSA collected from federally owned buildings yet facilities occupied by the judiciary accounted for 43% of spending on major repair and alterations.

Based on that data, which he gathered in response to the judiciary's request to Congress, Forst said he has instructed the GSA to reexamine existing repair and maintenance requests "to ensure taxpayer money is spent appropriately."

He noted the Government Accountability Office in a report last year found the judiciary did not fully collaborate with GSA or involve the U.S. Marshals Service, which handles judicial security, when developing new design requirements for courthouses that would add to their construction costs.

A spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in a statement said the judiciary had put forward a "thoughtful, responsible approach to a problem dating back at least 15 years."

He noted the judiciary's plan calls for a gradual and orderly transition of properties, starting in no more than 10 districts and only on major courthouse buildings where it is a primary tenant. Further expansion would be contingent on it successfully managing the initial properties.

The judiciary occupies 396 government-owned buildings and 379 leased spaces nationwide. It is currently paying $1.3 billion annually in rent to the GSA, which is responsible for the construction and upkeep of federal courthouses.

The Judicial Conference, the judiciary's policymaking body, on February 24 asked Congress to shift authority over its courthouses away from the agency, saying its courthouses were in "crisis" and required $8.3 billion in overdue repairs.

Conrad in letters to lawmakers also said "recent unilateral actions and reorganization of GSA have only exacerbated these conditions."

The GSA, as part of a cost-cutting initiative driven by the Elon Musk-spearheaded Department of Government Efficiency, also last year demanded the judiciary justify why it should not cancel some of its leases and put some courthouses up for sale.

The judiciary said the reorganization and workforce cuts under Trump had shrunk GSA's staff by half, exacerbating courthouse conditions overall by delaying security improvement projects and resulting in a lack of onsite building managers at nearly 25% of courthouses with five or more judges.

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