GAO-25-107582 Embassy Management
s
Embassy Management: Increasing Costs and Natural Hazards
Threaten State’s Efforts
GAO-25-107582, November 2024
State Department efforts to build and maintain diplomatic facilities abroad face challenges, including increased costs
and project delays, deferred maintenance, and natural hazards such as earthquakes and hurricanes. Addressing these
challenges would help State better manage projects in the face of constrained budgets.
The Big Picture
The State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings
Operations (State) provides U.S. diplomatic facilities
around the world. State is responsible for managing some
9,000 owned and 16,000 leased assets, supporting some
90,000 U.S. government personnel in about 290 locations
worldwide. These assets represent a wide array of
facilities including its embassy and consulate compounds
(hereafter “embassies”).
Since the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East
Africa, State has built 99 embassies under its Capital
Security Construction Program (CSCP), while prioritizing
security, at a program cost of about $40 billion through
fiscal year 2024. Since 2015, State has provided about $2
billion in annual funding for the CSCP for new embassy
construction. Several embassies have cost State about $1
billion each to build, including in Kabul, Afghanistan;
Mexico City, Mexico; and Beirut, Lebanon.
State also provides about $500 million annually for
maintenance of its embassies, including repairs and major
facility rehabilitations. Embassy resilience to hazards is
increasingly important. Many cities hosting U.S. embassies
are threatened by a variety of natural hazards (e.g.
earthquakes) and climate change related hazards (e.g.
coastal flooding).
What GAO’s Work Shows
Information Sharing Highlights How Inflation
Increased Cost and Slowed Pace of Construction
Program
We have regularly monitored State’s embassy construction
program, implemented in the aftermath of the 1998
embassy bombings. In 2018, we reported that State would
not reach its stated construction goals, in part because
funding for new construction has not kept pace with
inflation. For completed embassies, later additions such as
housing for U.S. Marine security guards have increased
program costs and slowed the pace of construction.
U.S. Embassy Construction: Fiscal Years 1999-2024
Note: The figure above excludes new embassies, consulates and facilities not built
with Capital Security Construction Program funds, such as the embassy in London,
United Kingdom, and the American Institute in Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan, among
others. The figure also excludes newly acquired buildings and new office buildings
on existing compounds.
We recommended that State determine the estimated
effects of increased costs on planned embassy
construction capacity and time frames and share this
information with congressional stakeholders. State has
addressed this recommendation. In January 2020, State
reported that replacing all its remaining embassies
(estimated at 160 at the time) would cost over $58 billion in
2020 dollars and construction would take 25 to 30 years to
complete.
Since that time, inflation has continued to erode State’s
purchasing power. In its 2025 budget request, State
estimates that since 2015, the capital construction
program will have lost $1.1 billion in purchasing power.
Because State is now providing information on projected
pace of construction and the estimated effects of inflation,
stakeholders can make more informed budget decisions
regarding State’s construction resources and capacity.
More Planning Could Help State Better Understand
Deferred Maintenance Needs and Staff Skills
In 2021, we reported State had difficulties in maintaining
the condition of its embassies. We found that more than
one-quarter of State’s assets were in poor condition
