According to an Oct. 19 letter from Rep. Bud Shuster (R-PA),chairman of the House Committee on Transportation andInfrastructure, DOT attempted to place language into a fiscal 2001appropriations bill requesting $450 to $750 million for thefacility, which could give the department 1.8 million sf of space.Not only is that larger than the 1.3 million-sf lease that GSA iscurrently authorized to seek for DOT, the language would transferGSA's procurement authority to DOT.

The attempt was blocked by Rep. Shuster, who sharply attackedthe proposed language in a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert."Attempting to hastily purchase a major headquarters facility atthe end of a session using appropriations bills is certainly notregular order and not something I can support at this time," hewrote.

While the attempt failed, it does raise questions about whetherDOT officials are fully willing to accept GSA's choice of its nextheadquarters lease. It would not be the first time a Federal tenanthas resisted a GSA decision. Another government agency, the FederalCommunications Commission, for years fought GSA, which wanted torelocate it from its M Street NW offices Downtown to a new buildingin the Portals site in the far less developed Southwestneighborhood.