A dispute between the executive and judicial branches over control of hundreds of federal courthouses appears to be escalating, adding a beef over real estate to the tensions inflamed by President Trump’s criticism of judges from the Supreme Court on down.
Edward C. Forst, the Trump administration’s recently appointed head of the General Services Administration, on Thursday sent a pointed letter to Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr., who leads the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Mr. Forst said the proposal Judge Conrad made last month to shift control of courthouses to the judiciary would be a bad idea, and suggested the judge had been deceitful.
The judiciary as been raising issues with G.S.A.’s management of courthouses for years. In late February, Judge Conrad sent a letter to Congress accusing G.S.A. of being a bad landlord, one that was slow to make repairs to federal courthouses despite charging the judiciary $1.3 billion each year. He asked for legislation that would gradually transition control of the courthouse real-estate portfolio from G.S.A., which is part of the executive branch, to the judiciary itself.
In response on Thursday, Mr. Forst asserted that buildings occupied by the judiciary accounted for 43 percent of “major repair and alterations allocations” over the past five years, even though they represented just 21 percent of the rent collected by G.S.A.
Mr. Forst also accused Judge Conrad of sandbagging him with a “seemingly pre-orchestrated sequence of events” after their meeting on Feb. 24, a few weeks after he assumed office. Mr. Forst complained that the judge had immediately met with congressional committee and released a public statement about the matter after a they met for what he had understood to have been “an introductory relationship-building meeting.”
Rather than handing over the keys, as the courts have proposed, Mr. Forst said G.S.A. wanted a “close and intense partnership” with “open and transparent communication.”
A spokesman for the administrative office declined to comment.
The judiciary has said its facilities need $8.3 billion in urgent repairs, and that G.S.A. has been slow to act on pressing issues with mold, flooding, elevators, and security.
Meanwhile, a report last year by the Government Accountability Office was critical of the judiciary, saying that the courts’ leadership “did not fully collaborate” with the G.S.A. on new design requirements for courthouses that would significantly raise construction costs.
The dispute over real estate adds a new dimension to rising tensions between the executive and judicial branches. Mr. Trump’s habit of insulting and calling for the impeachment of federal judges who ruled against him resulted in a rare admonishment last year from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
And Mr. Trump lashed out again last month after losing a Supreme Court case on his tariff authorities. Without offering evidence, he claimed unspecified “foreign interests” wielded “a lot of influence over the Supreme Court.”
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