ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Department of Housing and Urban Development will be the first major cabinet agency to relocate out of the nation’s capital during President Trump’s second term — a move that could save taxpayers “hundreds of millions” of dollars and be imitated by other agencies, officials predict.
“We’re going to turn the page by relocating HUD,” announced Michael Peters, a General Services Administration (GSA) public buildings commissioner in a Wednesday morning briefing.
“Taxpayers are going to save over $500 million in deferred maintenance, as well as $56 million in annual operating and maintenance expenses.”
The building that HUD is moving out of raised “serious concerns” for the safety of employees, added HUD Secretary Scott Turner at the Wednesday press conference.
“Many of these risks,” he added, would “needlessly and irresponsibly continue to absorb taxpayer dollars.”
The rundown HUD headquarters also runs far below its full capacity. With every member of HUD’s staff in person, the building only reaches half its total occupancy.
The federal department will put down new roots across the Potomac River in Alexandria, Va., leaving behind a 1970s-era brutalist structure in southwest in Washington, DC.
“Our team went to work immediately and presented lots of sites around Virginia that could be chosen by HUD or by other agencies and departments,” said Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R), hinting that other federal agencies may soon follow HUD into the Commonwealth.
“I do believe that we have great locations, world-class facilities, great places for people to work and to live, all at very efficient cost relative to what many many of these departments are paying today,” added Youngkin.
“We look forward to continuing this dialogue.”
HUD’s relocation is part of a broader effort to sell off federal properties that have been a drain on US taxpayer dollars, Trump officials say.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), formerly led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, and the GSA have already terminated over 657 leases, saving at least $350 million dollars for American taxpayers, a House Republican subcommittee tracking the cost-cutting disclosed in April.
The Washington building that HUD will leave behind is on a list of sites that have been targeted by the Senate DOGE Caucus for waste-cutting sell-offs.
Other buildings on the proposed chopping block include the headquarters of the Department of Energy, the home of the Department of Health and Human Services, and several miscellaneous federal properties.
Many of these properties would require significant investment to return to their full operations, with estimates on at least one building exceeding $2 billion for repairs and maintenance.
The Trump administration has also sought to sell federal buildings in San Francisco, including one named after House Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
While Youngkin expressed great optimism for HUD’s move to Virginia, the federal agency’s relocation has been met with the ire of a handful of Virginians.
Some employees of the National Science Foundation, who are the current occupants of the building HUD is moving into, weren’t shy in expressing their discontent with getting the boot after being spurred on by the largest federal employee union.
Despite the criticisms of NSF employees who gathered to protest, Youngkin and Turner remained enthusiastic for HUD’s arrival in Virginia.
“Relocating is about more than just changing buildings; it’s about a mission-minded shift that we hope will inspire every employee,” Turner emphasized.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are advancing this vision and instituting a new American Golden Age.”
