Feb 15, 2025 Story by: Editor
Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team have begun reviewing the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for potential budget reductions, with the possibility of cutting hundreds of millions of dollars and laying off thousands of federal employees. This comes as the agency grapples with a national homelessness crisis.
Budget and Workforce Scrutiny
According to two individuals familiar with the matter who spoke to POLITICO on condition of anonymity, DOGE aides have been holding regular meetings at HUD to assess the agency’s budget and workforce structure for potential reductions.
In a video statement released Thursday, newly confirmed HUD Secretary Scott Turner revealed that the DOGE task force at HUD has already identified $260 million in budget cuts.
“I’m happy to announce the DOGE task force here at HUD. We will be very detailed and deliberate about every dollar spent in serving tribal, rural, and urban communities across America,” said Turner, a former NFL player and motivational speaker who previously worked at a Trump-aligned think tank. “We will identify and eliminate all waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Potential Workforce Reductions
Although no official decisions have been announced, Antonio Gaines, president of AFGE Council 222, the union representing HUD employees nationwide, warned that the department’s workforce could be cut by up to 50 percent, potentially closing half of its field offices.
Recent cuts have already affected at least three attorneys still in their probationary employment period, as indicated by letters obtained by POLITICO. These attorneys are among an estimated 200,000 probationary federal employees recently dismissed under the Trump administration’s broader effort to downsize the civil service. One of the terminated attorneys cautioned that such moves could weaken HUD’s ability to function effectively.
“When you’re dealing with multi-million dollar transactions like insuring hospitals, you don’t want one attorney looking at that,” said the dismissed attorney, who requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation. “You want multiple to make sure transactions go off well.”
HUD currently employs more than 9,000 staff members.
Restructuring for Efficiency
An anonymous official responding to POLITICO’s inquiry stated that the agency is “carrying out President Trump’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government to serve the American people at the highest standard” while assuring that HUD would “continue to deliver on its mission to serve rural, tribal and urban communities.”
Some divisions, such as the Federal Housing Administration (which provides mortgage insurance), might remain largely unaffected, according to Gaines. However, he anticipates deep cuts to the offices of Policy Development and Research, Community Planning and Development, and Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity—potentially reducing their workforce by as much as 75 percent. He also expects significant reductions in The Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes programs.
Concerns Over Immediate Impact
Jesse Van Tol, president and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, voiced concerns about DOGE’s effect on federal agencies.
“I’m not particularly optimistic about DOGE’s impact on federal agencies,” Van Tol said.
He further emphasized the immediate consequences of these cuts, stating, “You shut down the CFPB, it’s going to affect real people but it’s likely to be felt over time. You mess with HUD, you’re potentially impacting people right away — immediately.”
As DOGE continues its review, the potential ramifications for HUD employees and the communities they serve remain a major concern.
Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights
Since Inauguration Day, the Office for Civil Rights has only opened about 20 investigations focused on Trump’s priorities, placing more than 10,000 student complaints related to disability access and sexual and racial harassment on hold.
Investigators were pursuing about 3,200 active complaints of racial discrimination, including unfair discipline and racial harassment.
An additional roughly 1,000 complaints were specific to sexual harassment or sexual violence, the analysis found. The remainder concern a range of discrimination claims.
Students and families often turn to the OCR after they feel their concerns have not been addressed by their school districts. The process is free, which means even if families can’t afford a lawyer to pursue a lawsuit, they may still get relief — access to disability services or increased safety at school, for example.
When the OCR finds evidence of discrimination, it can force a school district or college to change its policies or provide services to a student, and it sometimes monitors the institutions to make sure they comply.
Last fall, for example, the OCR concluded that a rural Pennsylvania school district had failed to protect Black students from racist taunts and harassment by a group of white students. White students in the Norwin School District had circulated a photo of themselves labeled “Kool Kids Klub,” wore Confederate flag clothing, told a Black student to “go pick cotton” and used racial epithets, investigators found. District officials initially said they saw no problem with some of the white students’ behavior and did not believe the students had created a racially hostile environment.
However, the OCR’s findings and corrective action required the district to study several years of racial harassment complaints and undergo training on how to better respond to racial conflict in the district.
The department’s power to hold schools accountable when they fail to protect students and provide relief in real-time — while a student is still in school — makes its work urgent, civil rights attorneys and department staff said.
About 600 of the Education Department’s roughly 4,000 employees work in the OCR, either at the Washington headquarters or one of 12 regional offices.
At least 74 department employees, some of whom had taken diversity training, have been placed on administrative leave, according to Sheria Smith, an OCR attorney and president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, a union that represents nonmanagement Education Department employees.
Source: Politico/ Propublica
