General Services Administration

• Author: Jeffrey Lehman, Shirelle Phelps

Page 59

The General Services Administration (GSA) was established by section 101 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C.A. § 751). The GSA sets policy for and manages government property and records. More specifically, GSA duties include the construction and operation of buildings; procurement and distribution of supplies; utilization and disposal of property; management of transportation, traffic, and communications; and management of the government's automatic data processing resources program. Like a large business conglomerate, the GSA conducts business in many different areas and operates on different levels of organization: the central Washington, D.C., office, 11 regional offices, and field activities.

The GSA is a large organization, the structure of which consists of several tiers of administrators, offices, bureaus, and support agencies. The first level in the hierarchy of the GSA consists of the administrator, the deputy administrator, and the chief of staff. The administrator is the principal director for the entire organization, assisted by a deputy and chief of staff.

The second tier in the GSA organization consists of four main offices: the Federal Supply Service, Federal Technology Service, Public Buildings Service, and the Office of Governmentwide Policy. These four offices oversee the majority of the agency's work and collectively form the public face of the GSA.

The Federal Supply Service (FSS) provides low-price, quality goods and services to federal departments and agencies. Its services include governmentwide programs for the management of transportation, mail, and travel; audits of transportation; management of a federal fleet; and management of aircraft owned or operated by civilian agencies in support of government missions.

The FSS provides over $25 billion annually in...