While it is still a little early for GSA partners and others to catch wind of a name to be the next Administrator of the General Services Administration, more and more people believe that no one will be named until the issue of whether the President, as a government official, improperly benefits from a lease agreement executed by the agency for his Washington, DC hotel.  If the President does not sufficiently recuse himself from his family’s business interests GSA officials may be forced to break the lease.  Any Administrator nominee would be at the center of a huge (to use one word) political storm until this issue is resolved.  It is unclear if a Deputy Administrator, a position that has recently been held by appointees but does not require Senate confirmation, will be named, either.  Until such time, career leaders are running GSA with Region 8 PBS Commissioner Tim Horne serving as Acting Administrator.  In the meantime, controversial programs such as GSA’s Transformational Data Rule (TDR) pilot continue to move forward, while other actions are on hold.  It could be several months before the agency is able to operate at anything resembling normal speed.