Congress has authorized the General Services Administration to utilize a $136.6 million budget for the construction, design and site acquisition of the new courthouse in Des Moines to include nine courtrooms and 13 chambers.

GSA said Tuesday it will use the opportunity to support economic development efforts as well as balance the needs of the courts and help reduce the government’s environmental footprint.

The agency has sought proposals for a new Des Moines-based site in April that will serve as the location for the new courthouse which will replace the currently used courthouse in downtown Des Moines

“We’re extremely proud of the team of professionals who are working to bring this economic catalyst to Des Moines,” said Jason Klumb, a GSA regional administrator.

GSA added that it continues work on the site selection for the new facility and construction will commence in 2019.

The General Services Administration has transferred ownership of the vacant Michael J. Dillon Federal Courthouse to the City of Buffalo in New York through a deed-signing ceremony.

GSA said Tuesday Buffalo will transform the nine-story building into a police and fire headquarters.

“The Dillon Courthouse sits along Niagara Square and was in need of a reuse plan that took into consideration the unique history of this city center and fits the future needs of the community,” said Rep. Brian Higgins (D-New York).

Higgins added Buffalo’s future public safety center will support partnerships with nearby city, state, federal and county resources.

Common Council President Darius Pridgen said the consolidation of police and fire headquarters will help address maintenance and overhead costs.

Buffalo’s Department of Public Works will seek proposals for courthouse renovations and upgrades that will occur from Spring 2017 through Sept. 1, 2017, GSA noted.

The Dillon courthouse has been vacant since November 2011, when the Robert H. Jackson Courthouse opened at Niagara Square.

Buffalo sent an application to the Justice Department in April 2016 to gain ownership of the courthouse under the direction of Mayor Byron Brown.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed Wesley Bricker, interim chief accountant at SEC, to the position on a full-basis as successor to the retiring James Schnurr.

SEC said Tuesday the Bricker will head the Office of the Chief Accountant and serve as the commission’s principal adviser on accounting and auditing matters under his new role.

Bricker will also help SEC discharge its oversight of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

He was named interim chief accountant in July to fill in for Schnurr, who suffered injuries in a bicycle accident.

“[Bricker] has demonstrated excellent leadership and analytic skills in leading the work of the office, and we are very fortunate to continue to have him serve this critical role at the agency,” said SEC Chair Mary Jo White.

Bricker joined SEC from PwC, where he served as a partner and oversaw audit engagements in the banking, capital markets, financial technology and investment management sectors.

He previously worked as a professional accounting fellow in Office of the Chief Accountant.

The Office of Personnel Management has implemented a governmentwide suspension on the processing of an agency’s Qualifications Review Board cases for Senior Executive Service appointments once the agency chief resigns.

Beth Cobert, acting OPM director, wrote in a memorandum issued Friday the moratorium is scheduled to take effect on Dec. 7 and seeks to provide incoming agency heads an opportunity to decide on executive appointments.

Cobert noted that President Barack Obama asked “all non-termed presidential appointees” to submit letters of resignation by Dec. 7 in an effort to provide the president-elect “maximum flexibility” to form his administration.

OPM will put off the 90-day deadline for QRB case submissions, decline new QRB case submissions and continue to process cases that agencies filed with OPM prior to the implementation of the moratorium, according to the memo.

The moratorium will not apply to agency chiefs whose departures were not called by the U.S. president as well as personnel who have completed an OPM-approved Candidate Development Program for SES.

Agencies may request a moratorium exception for a particular post “based upon critical need,” Cobert added.