A newly enacted short-term spending bill keeps federal programs operating until April 8, but also mandates $6 billion in spending cuts. Those cuts were especially deep at the General Services Administration’s federal buildings construction program. The bill, which President Obama signed on March 18, slashes all of GSA’s fiscal 2011 spending for new construction and trims funding for major building repairs and energy-efficiency upgrades by about 30%.
Robert A. Peck, commissioner of GSA’s Public Buildings Service, says the stopgap would affect all line-item projects in the agency’s 2011 budget request. That includes $652 million for new construction and $321 million for big renovations.