It contributes to the management of about $500 billion in U.S. federal property, divided chiefly among 8,397 owned and leased buildings (with a total of 363 million square feet of space)[6] as well as a 215,000 vehicle motor pool.

[citation needed] The first job awaiting Administrator Larson and the newly formed GSA was a complete renovation of the White House.

[9] In 1970, the Nixon administration created the Consumer Product Information Coordinating Center, now part of USAGov.

In 1972 GSA established the Automated Data and Telecommunications Service, which later became the Office of Information Resources Management.

The same year, GSA began providing government-wide policy oversight and guidance for federal real property management as a result of an executive order signed by President Ronald Reagan.

[9] In 1986, GSA headquarters, U.S. General Services Administration Building, located at Eighteenth and F Streets, NW, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, at the time serving as Interior Department offices.

On April 2, 2012, Johnson resigned in the wake of a management-deficiency report that detailed improper payments for a 2010 "Western Regions" training conference held by the Public Buildings Service in Las Vegas.

[14] After the election of President Donald Trump in January 2025, GSA became one of the US federal entities targeted by Elon Musk.

[15] An employee of Elon Musk's company Tesla, Thomas Shedd, was appointed to lead "Technology Transformation Services" within the GSA.

[16] In July 1991, GSA contractors began the excavation of what is now the Ted Weiss Federal Building in New York City.

When initial excavation disturbed burials, destroying skeletons and artifacts, GSA sent archaeologists to excavate—but hid their findings from the public.

Revelation of the discoveries led to 18 months of activism by African-descendant community members, public officials, academics, and concerned citizens.

[19] In 2012, U.S. representative John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, called for a congressional investigation into the misuse of federal money by GSA.

[13] Lawmakers accused GSA of "lavish spending" following the 2010 Western Regions Training Conference at the M Resort in Las Vegas.

An additional investigation led by Inspector General Brian D. Miller found 115 missing Apple iPods meant for an employee rewards program.

[citation needed] GSA administrator Martha N. Johnson resigned in the wake of the controversy, after firing Public Buildings Service head Robert Peck and senior advisor Stephen Leeds.

[24] After Joe Biden was called by media outlets as the president-elect of the United States – defeating Donald Trump in the November 2020 election – Emily W. Murphy, the chief executive of the General Services Administration, initially refused to sign a letter authorizing Biden's transition team to begin work and access federal agencies and transition funds, according to The Washington Post.

Typically, the GSA chief might decide after reliable news organizations have declared the winner or following a concession by the loser.

[26] On November 23, 2020, Murphy issued the letter of ascertainment that meant the Trump administration was ready to begin the formal transition.

[29] Notwithstanding GSA officials' assertions that Login.gov met SP 800-63-3 Identity Assurance Level 2 (IAL2) requirements, Login.gov has never included a physical or biometric comparison for its customer agencies.

OIG found that because of its failure to exercise management oversight and internal controls over Login.gov, FAS shares responsibility for the misrepresentations to GSA's customers.

[39] Procurement managers from government agencies can view these agreements and make purchases from the GSA Schedule by following the appropriate procedures prescribed by Federal Acquisition Regulation, or FAR, Subpart 8.4.

The GSA Schedule is awarded as a prime contract entered into by the federal government and a vendor that has submitted an acceptable proposal.

[46] Surplus property is made available to both government and private bidders and, in some cases, land sold for public purposes (such as parks or welfare) may be discounted by up to 100% of FMV.

[47] Some green offerings include green roofs,[48] underfloor air distribution,[49] use of renewable power from utility companies, and light shelves (located outside of the building that reduce the amount of heat radiating into the building from the sun while increasing the amount of natural light and high ceilings that help direct daylight deep into the work environment).

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (stimulus bill) included $300 million to acquire energy-efficient motor vehicles for the federal fleet.

President Barack Obama announced that GSA was to support the U.S. auto industry with orders for about 17,600 new fuel-efficient vehicles by June 1, 2009, on an accelerated schedule, with money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

In 2014, GSA began managing the Presidential Innovation Fellows program[61] and launched 18F with a team focused on improving the federal government's digital services.

[62] 18F helped the Federal Election Commission move its website to the Cloud.gov platform, which FEC projected would save it $1.2 million annually.

TTS aims to meet the government's technology needs: acquisition, omnichannel experience, intelligent process automation, infrastructure optimization and cloud, accelerators and innovation, data and analytics, and identity management.