Ernst

Despite being the nation’s largest landlord, Uncle Sam will never win a round of Monopoly, the classic board game where players try to make money–and avoid going bankrupt–by buying, renting, and selling property.

That’s because Uncle Sam, who is already $36 trillion in debt, refuses to sell off unused and unneeded properties that are nothing but money pits.

Washington is paying out over $81 million maintaining underutilized offices every year. This includes nearly 7,700 vacant buildings and another 2,265 that are largely empty.

Many of Uncle Sam’s properties are also fixer uppers, requiring billions of dollars in much-needed renovations and overdue upgrades.

Holding onto unaffordable properties that are vacant, while being a roll or two away from going bankrupt, is not only a losing strategy in Monopoly, but also a bad gameplan in real life.

In fact, the Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB), which was created to help reduce the government’s inventory, points out Washington’s “wasteful real estate practices would not endure for so long in a private sector company.”

But Uncle Sam gets away with it because Washington plays by its own set of rules.

The one thing that is certain, however, is Washington-opoly is a losing game for taxpayers.

The PBRB, “after extensive study, concludes that billions of dollars are being expended on buildings that should be disposed of.”

Clearly, it’s way past time to downsize, but selling off the unneeded property has long been tied up by overly restrictive red tape, bureaucratic barriers, and a lack of leadership the last four years.

That’s why I am giving my June 2025 Squeal Award to the nation’s landlord, Uncle Sam.

To revamp Washington’s real estate rules, I’m introducing the Federal Office Realignment and Sale of Assets for Leveraging Efficiency (FOR SALE) Act to put six pieces of prime property in the nation’s capital immediately on the auction block. Selling these six places will bring in at least $400 million, while also canceling costs, including $2.9 billion for overdue maintenance.

To any interested potential buyers, you can build a house or even a hotel on these properties and even earn rent, just like in Monopoly.

But best of all, taxpayers finally get to advance to “Go” and collect $400 million. That, folks, is how you win the game!

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Republican Joni Ernst, a native of Red Oak and a combat veteran, represents Iowa in the United States Senate.