The General Services Administration has appointed Laura Stanton, deputy commissioner of Federal Acquisition Service, as acting FAS commissioner following the departure of Josh Gruenbaum, a previous Wash100 awardee, Federal News Network reported Friday.
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In an email obtained by FNN, GSA Administrator Ed Forst said Stanton will serve in the role on an interim basis until the agency names a permanent commissioner. Gruenbaum assumed leadership of FAS in January 2025.
“With Laura at the helm, I am confident that FAS will continue to build upon the significant accomplishments achieved over the last 15 months of President Trump’s administration,” Forst wrote in the email.
According to FNN, sources said Gruenbaum’s next role has not been officially disclosed, though several expect him to work on foreign affairs issues at the White House.
Who Is Laura Stanton?
Stanton most recently served as deputy commissioner of FAS, a role she assumed in April 2025.
She has spent nearly three decades at GSA, beginning her career as a national management intern in 1997.
Before her appointment as deputy commissioner, Stanton was assistant commissioner for the Office of IT Category within FAS.
Since joining GSA, she has held positions of increasing responsibility, including deputy assistant commissioner for category management; assistant commissioner for enterprise strategy management; and director of program management for the common acquisition platform, according to her LinkedIn profile.
What Procurement Modernization Initiatives Did GSA Advance Under Gruenbaum?
During Gruenbaum’s tenure, GSA pursued several initiatives to improve and modernize the federal procurement process. The agency established the Office of Centralized Acquisition Services within FAS to oversee the federal government’s procurement of common goods and services worth nearly $500 billion annually.
In January, the agency announced the full implementation of Transactional Data Reporting to expand the use of detailed pricing data in acquisition. It also sought industry input on the role, value and pricing practices of IT value-added resellers in the federal procurement marketplace.
GSA also advanced its OneGov strategy by establishing enterprise agreements with major technology providers to standardize pricing and streamline access to IT, cloud and artificial intelligence tools for federal agencies.
Additionally, the agency issued a request for information seeking industry input on an artificial intelligence-driven procurement system designed to further modernize and consolidate acquisition processes across the federal government.
