DHSHouse bill cuts $200 million from DHS headquarters project
The House yesterday (Wednesday) approved a spending measure which would reduce funding for a new DHS headquarters in Southeast Washington by about $200 relative to the funds requested by the agencies overseeing that project for 2014. DHS, created in 2003, is the third largest government department, and it operates out of fifty different facilities located in Washington, D.C. and neighboring states. In 2008 Congress approved the establishment of a single DHS campus on the grounds of St. Elizabeth’s, a former government-run mental hospital in Anacostia. The project has been hobbled by delays and cost overruns.
The House yesterday (Wednesday) approved a spending measure which would reduce funding for a new DHS headquarters in Southeast Washington by about $200 relative to the funds requested by the agencies overseeing that project for 2014.
The Washington Post reports that the GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee said that the cuts represented “responsible choices to save taxpayer dollars by reducing overhead costs and cutting funding for lower-priority programs.”
DHS, created in 2003, is the third largest government department, and it operates out of fifty different facilities located in Washington, D.C. and neighboring states.
In 2008 Congress approved the establishment of a single DHS campus on the grounds of St. Elizabeth’s, a former government-run mental hospital in Anacostia.
Progress has been slow, and to date only the Coast Guard headquarters has moved there, opening its doors last July.
The project’s progress has been hobbled by many problems. A recent congressional report said the development was running ten years behind schedule – the campus was supposed to be completed by 2016, but completion date is now set for 2026. Delays in construction have led to cost overruns, now estimated at $1 billion, or about 30 percent of the original cost estimates.
A report by a subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee, noting that DHS and the General Services Administration received less than their original appropriations requests for the development, asked why DHS has not reassessed plans or adjusted its approach to the project in light of earlier cuts.
Representative Jeff Duncan (R-South Carolina), chairman of the subcommittee, called for a “reality check” on the project last week, saying in a statement: “With our nation $17 trillion in debt, we cannot afford waste and frivolous spending.”
Representative Ron Barber (D-Arizona), the ranking member of the subcommittee, said in a statement that he plans to seek bipartisan solutions for completing the headquarters development.
“Integrating DHS components into a cohesive unit is critical to our nation’s national security,” Barber said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make this happen in the most effective and financially responsible way possible.”
