The bill calls for there to be one courtroom for every two senior federal district judges if there are at least three senior judges in a given courthouse. In addition, there would be one courtroom for every two federal magistrate judges in courthouses with at least three such judges.

The measure also would set a limit on GSA’s real estate inventory, which totals more than 370 million sq ft of owned and leased space. Under the bill, GSA could construct new buildings or enter into new leases only if it offsets that new square footage by selling or vacating space elsewhere. The bill permits exceptions to the freeze for emergency or national security purposes.

The Obama administration has been moving on a similar plan. The Office of Management and Budget on March 14 issued a “freeze the footprint” directive to all federal agencies. It requires them to hold their total domestic office and warehouse square footage at their fiscal 2012 baseline levels.

The House committee bill also requires GSA to get congressional approval for a change of more than 10%—up or down—in a previously authorized project’s scope or size.

GSA did not respond to an ENR request for comment on the House panel’s legislation.

In addition to the real estate provisions, the bill would set a moratorium on senior GSA officials’ bonuses until the agency’s review of bonus programs is completed. It also requires GSA to submit annual budgets to Congress specifying administrative costs for its Public Buildings Service (PBS) and also to report to House and Senate committees about conferences it plans.

Those provisions are a response to the ">controversy that broke out last year over an $822,000 PBS conference in Nevada in 2010. A GSA inspector general’s report termed the meeting’s cost “excessive and wasteful.” The fallout included a shakeup in top GSA management.