The Congressional Budget Office has cast a skeptical eye on President Obama’s proposal to shed excess federal real estate through creating a special Civilian Property Realignment Board. CBO says in a June 27 letter to a House committee chairman that the White House proposal is unlikely to bring in the $16 billion in additional revenue that the Office of Management and Budget projects.
But the proposal has supporters in the administration and in Congress, who contend that the current system for disposing of excess federal property isn’t working and that a civilian panel, modeled after the military Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program, is needed to streamline the process.