Mice and a Collapsed Ceiling: US Agency Workers Relocated to Building in Disrepair

Roughly 1,600 employees of the US General Services Administration (GSA) have had to relocate from their office on F Street in Washington, DC, to the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building, about two blocks away. The new building, which also houses staff from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), reportedly has a mice problem, a caved-in ceiling in a men's bathroom, and drinking water that must run for five to ten seconds before it turns clear.

Photos obtained by WIRED show a toilet covered in ceiling debris, a large hole in the ceiling, and a dead mouse caught in a trap. Employees said the mouse itself wasn't entirely surprising, since vermin are reportedly common in federal buildings, but the collapsed ceiling was described as the last straw. A sign posted in the office advises staff to let water run for five to ten seconds before filling a bottle, until it runs clear.

Part of a broader shake-up

The situation follows sweeping changes across the federal workforce since January 2025, driven by Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE has fired tens of thousands of federal workers and required remaining staff to return to in-person schedules, with some agencies also adopting zero-based budgeting. GSA, which oversees federal IT services and real estate, was among the first agencies affected — alongside major staff cuts, it announced plans to sell hundreds of federal office buildings. A year later, GSA said it planned to hire about 400 new employees.

GSA leadership, including administrator Ed Forst, has told employees to expect to remain in the OPM building until December 2028, while their former building at 1800 F Street undergoes extensive renovation. The OPM building itself is slated for what GSA calls "accelerated disposition," meaning a quick sale, as part of a government-wide push to cut down on underused office space. Neither GSA nor OPM immediately responded to requests for comment.