Horizon Cutting-room Links: Wednesday, 5 February 2025

"GSA audit finds faults in FBI headquarters selection process," Washington Business Journal

"It’s not immediately clear what effect the long-awaited report, which does not suggest reversing course or nixing Greenbelt, might have on the FBI headquarters search. President Donald Trump has said in the past he wants to keep the FBI in the District, as part of his desire to revitalize the city. Though in his flurry of executive orders to date, he hasn’t canceled the Greenbelt site selection. The GSA inspector general’s finding might simply give credence to Trump’s D.C. preference."

"In 2023, the GSA tweaked the scoring criteria, increasing the focus on cost and equity while reducing that of "proximity to mission-related locations." That decision benefited Greenbelt, while Springfield scored higher on mission-related criteria. Other findings include that the GSA overestimated a certain component of the Springfield project cost by at least $3.3 million; didn’t provide specific enough data related to sustainable siting and advancing equity to differentiate between the sites; and failed to maintain relevant cell phone text messages properly."

"GSA seeks 50% spending cuts, nonvoluntary RIF after OPM’s resignation offer," FedNewsNetwork

"GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service told staff in a town hall meeting Friday that senior leadership is developing a plan to cut GSA’s spending by 50%. Potential areas for cuts include personnel, payroll and contracts."

"GSA’s return to office mandate, he added, will go into effect on March 3, with the requirement of working five days per week at a federal facility."

"Trump Advisers Weigh Plan to Dismantle Education Department," Wall Street Journal

"The officials have discussed an executive order that would shut down all functions of the agency that aren’t written explicitly into statute or move certain functions to other departments, according to people familiar with the matter. The order would call for developing a legislative proposal to abolish the department, the people said."

"Conservatives were sharply critical of the Education Department under the Biden administration, particularly decisions to forgive student loans and to extend sex-discrimination protections in education to LGBTQ people. The conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 also called for eliminating the department."

"Adobe Acrobat’s AI chatbot can now decipher contract jargon," the Verge

"Adobe is adding features to Acrobat’s AI Assistant that should help users to better understand contracts. The new 'contract intelligence capabilities' allow the PDF management software’s chatbot to automatically recognize when files and scanned documents are contracts and summarize complicated language to make it easier for users to understand."