Flags from Arizona's 22 federally recognized tribes displayed at the University of Arizona bookstore in November 2020.
The General Services Administration plans to close nearly 2 million square feet of office space, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Western Region Regional office in Phoenix. That space serves 53 tribes, including 20 Arizona tribes, and provides essential services like child social services and economic development.
“GSA is taking swift, common-sense action to solve the nation’s toughest problems of reducing the federal deficit and increasing government efficiency,” GSA spokeswoman Mary Simms told AZPM News. “That’s why we’re exploring innovative approaches—including public-private partnerships, ground leases, sale leasebacks, and interagency co-working agreements—to optimize our real property portfolio in support of the administration’s executive order.”
That order calls for the review and reconsideration of federal spending on contracts, grants and loans to achieve what the presidential administration is calling transparent spending. This includes real property leases and dispositions. Within 30 days of the order, agency heads, alongside GSA and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), must identify existing leases for Government-owned real property that may be terminated.
Simms says the goal is to align with President Donald Trump’s direction to bring federal employees “back to high performing office spaces” and to maximize the value of federal real estate.
“To be clear, just because an asset is on the list doesn’t mean it’s immediately for sale,” she said. “However, we will consider compelling offers (in accordance with applicable laws and regulations) and do what's best for the needs of the federal government and taxpayer.”
Tribal leaders, like Pascua Yaqui Vice Chairman Peter Yucupicio, say a move like this could create severe consequences when each tribe relies on federal assistance through the BIA.
“This is very, very sudden, in my opinion,” Yucupicio said. “Term to term, you deal with this, but this is the wrong way to deal with Indian tribes.”
Yucupicio says this could have been avoided if tribal governments were included in the conversation.
“There's a big word in Indian country called consultation,” he said. “Most of the time, we're always left out of even asking questions after the fact.”
“Even if you look at downsizing, then downsize your own government. Leave ours alone,” the vice chairman said.
The lease is set to expire in August. The Bureau of Indian Affairs told AZPM News that the Department of the Interior is working with GSA to “ensure facilities will be available” so services can continue.
“The Department of the Interior is committed to upholding federal responsibilities to tribal communities,” a spokesperson said in a written statement. “Indian Affairs offices remain open and continue to provide services.”
The BIA did not respond to questions about the bureau’s plan to mitigate such closures and what other spaces like the Court of Indian Offenses, which is housed in the same building, will do in the meantime.
Democratic senators Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly wrote to GSA’s Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian calling for its reversal.
“We are very concerned that this office closure is the latest in a long string of arbitrary attacks on the fundamental functions of the federal government,” the Senators said. “The federal government is at serious risk of failing at its most basic obligations, including breaking long-held promises to tribes.”
The senators asked Ehikian to respond to a list of questions by March 21st, including:
- How did the GSA decide what BIA offices to close? What criteria were incorporated into this decision-making process?
- What is their plan for ensuring the BIA continues to provide services to the tribes previously served by the Western Regional Office?
- Was the federal government’s trust responsibility to tribes taken into account when making this decision?
Other leases slated to be terminated include a bureau of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services housed at the Rio Nuevo Plaza in Tucson and several National Park Service offices located around Arizona.
Simms told AZPM News that the list of spaces that are slated to close may change.
“We anticipate the list will be republished in the near future after we evaluate this initial input and determine how we can make it easier for stakeholders to understand the nuances of the assets listed…GSA will continuously review and update the list of non-core assets.”
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