Elon Musk and his team at the Department of Government Efficiency have arrived at the Department of Housing and Urban Development — eyeing potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in spending cuts and layoffs for thousands of federal employees as the agency combats a national homelessness crisis.
The DOGE Taskforce at HUD: Uncovering Budget Cuts
Aides from Elon Musk’s DOGE team have begun holding regular meetings at HUD to review the agency’s budget and workforce structure for potential cuts, two people familiar with the matter granted anonymity to speak freely told POLITICO.
Recently confirmed HUD Secretary Scott Turner put out a video Thursday saying the DOGE taskforce at HUD has identified $260 million in cuts and counting.
Potential Impact on HUD Workforce
“I’m happy to announce the DOGE taskforce 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 worked at a Trump-allied think tank. “We will identify and eliminate all waste, fraud and abuse.”
While no official announcements have been made, cutbacks at the department could reduce headcount by as much as 50 percent, shuttering as many as half of the department’s field offices, according to AFGE Council 222 President Antonio Gaines, whose union represents HUD employees nationally.
HUD currently employs more than 9,000 people.
Anticipated Departmental Changes
Some agencies — such as the Federal Housing Administration, which provides mortgage insurance on loans — could largely be spared, Gaines said. But he expects cuts to the offices of Policy Development and Research, Community Planning and Development, and Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, which could see their ranks slashed by as much as 75 percent, he said.
Gaines also said he anticipates major cuts to the Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes programs.
“I’m not particularly optimistic about DOGE’s impact on federal agencies,” said Jesse Van Tol, the president and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a group of nonprofits that promote economic development
Van Tol said the impact of DOGE’s HUD layoffs would reverberate quickly. “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.”