Union and lawmakers criticize HUD’s handling of HQ move as questions go unanswered

Updated at 3:25 p.m. ET March 13 

During a February town hall on the Housing and Urban Development Department’s move from its downtown Washington, D.C., headquarters to Alexandria, Virginia, a worker asked if the agency’s transit subsidy for employees could be increased. 

According to an official for American Federation of Government Employees Local 476, which represents HUD headquarters employees, a senior leader responded to the question that they were unsure and pivoted to discussing how many great happy hours there are near the new location and that the ice for drinking water in the building has a good crunch to it.  

The official, who preferred to be unnamed due to fears of retaliation, said that the interaction is emblematic of the department’s attitude toward concerns raised by staffers about the move  — which began this week — including impacts to worker commutes, caregiving and accessibility as well as retention. 

“The agency is not doing the basic due diligence to ensure that employees’ work-life balances are not negatively impacted. They have moved forward without money, a plan or bargaining with the union in order to make a goal of moving to Virginia for the [sake] of moving to Virginia,” the union official said. “They've done it contrary to law, contrary to Senate intent and literally every way that you can violate it they have, and employees are bearing the brunt of that financially and emotionally.” 

Some Senate Democrats, also concerned about the move’s increasing cost estimates and potential legality issues, have characterized HUD’s past responses to their questions as “piecemeal and partial.” 

HUD in June 2025 announced that its employees would move into the National Science Foundation’s headquarters in Alexandria, as the department’s current base — the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building — had been put up for sale, largely because it has more than $500 million in deferred maintenance and modernization needs. NSF workers found out five months later that they would be transferred to a nearby building in Alexandria. 

The Trump administration has argued that the moves will save money and provide the HUD workforce with a better office building, while the department’s union and lawmakers have criticized officials for failing to address logistical, funding and legal questions. 

In a Wednesday email to HUD employees, department officials shared that they plan to move the majority of headquarters workers to Alexandria between the weeks of March 9 through April 6. They also said that staffers who have already transferred have provided “positive feedback” about the new building. 

In contrast, the union official said that employees working from the Alexandria building are having to use their personal hotspots to access Wi-Fi. The internet issues, they claim, are one reason HUD has delayed the move after the department initially informed the union that the transfer would occur in one phase beginning on Dec. 18, 2025. 

Additionally, during a Dec. 16, 2025, tour of the Alexandria facility, the union local said that agency officials told them that about $26.2 million had been spent to relocate NSF employees. 

That figure matches what Democratic senators wrote in a Feb. 13 request to the Government Accountability Office asking it to investigate HUD’s decision to move to Alexandria. 

Specifically, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., all senior appropriators, said that HUD’s latest fiscal 2026 cost estimates were 40% higher, largely due to the $26.2 million expenditure and $57 million to “pay out the long-term liability associated with previous capital improvements to the Weaver Building through an energy savings performance contract.” 

GAO confirmed to Government Executive that investigators have begun work on the requested review. 

Lawmakers in their letter, as well as union officials, have also questioned if HUD’s move is legal due to a statutory requirement that the department be established in the “seat of government,” which is defined as Washington, D.C. 

Additionally, the union local for HUD said that the department hasn’t provided them with documentation related to the move from the Weaver Building, including structural engineering reports, environmental hazard assessments and cost analyses comparing repair versus relocation expenses. 

HUD, however, said that it "has and will continue to comply fully with all applicable laws and regulations."

“This move is not only about changing buildings; it is about being better stewards of taxpayer dollars and champions of HUD employees and the American people," a spokesperson said in a statement to Government Executive. "This move prioritizes employee wellbeing and is expected to save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars."

HUD did not address questions about the readiness of the Alexandria building for the HUD workforce, how much the move costs, the legality of the relocation due to “seat of government” requirements or what documentation it has provided to the union local. 

Eric Katz contributed to this report

This story has been updated with a quote from HUD.