HUD Headquarters: A Ghost Town of Inefficiency Under the Biden Administration

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FIRST ON FOX: The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) headquarters in Washington, D.C., has become a somber reflection of an inefficacious government apparatus. This federal building, along with others, resembles an off-season “Spirit Halloween” store as it stands largely unutilized while employees have continued to work from home. This shift started under the Trump administration and has largely persisted into the Biden era, according to information obtained by Fox News Digital.

Government Offices: A Temporary Setup

For the past four years, these government facilities have morphed into sprawling, taxpayer-funded spaces that bear little resemblance to their original purpose. “For four years, the American people witnessed their government buildings transform overnight into massive, taxpayer-funded ‘Spirit Halloween’ stores,” a senior Trump administration official revealed in an interview.

Just as Spirit Halloween stores occupy empty retail spaces leading up to Halloween, only to vacate post-holiday, HUD offices have remained largely empty. Recent data indicates the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, which houses HUD, was designed to accommodate a workforce of 6,015. However, official reports show only 3,002 desks and offices were set up in the building, while the actual number of employees working on-site in 2023 and 2024 averaged just 705.

High Operating Costs Amid Low Attendance

The costs associated with maintaining the 10-story HUD building are significant. For fiscal year 2024 alone, taxpayers incurred combined costs of 1,978,115 for rent and operational maintenance. Such expenditures have raised eyebrows among officials and the public alike, especially when juxtaposed against the stark reality of empty offices.

Visual evidence of this ongoing decay includes a notably dated photograph of a HUD office taken in 2025, featuring an employee’s business card pinned to a whiteboard. Remarkably, the card remained untouched since its placement following the first Trump administration, illustrating the lack of day-to-day operations within the building.

A Call for Accountability

The inefficiencies have not gone unnoticed. A senior administration official emphasized that President Trump has been vocal about getting employees back to the office. “This is why President Trump has been vocal about getting employees to return to work in the office on behalf of the American people,” the official told Fox News Digital. “They deserve better – eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse was a cornerstone of the president’s campaign and is a defining feature of President Trump’s first 100 days.”

Scott Turner, who took office as the nation’s 19th HUD secretary in early February, echoed these sentiments. He denounced what he termed “the four-year vacation” under the Biden administration and expressed a commitment to restoring functionality and accountability at HUD. “This is a huge disservice to the American people and a massive waste of hard-earned taxpayer dollars,” Turner remarked, emphasizing the need for in-person collaboration to foster a productive work environment.

Shifting Back to In-Person Work

As part of addressing these issues, President Trump signed a memo on his first day back in the Oval Office, directing agency heads to end remote work arrangements that had been established amid the COVID-19 pandemic. An administration official detailed the transition plan, stating, “Following the Presidential Memorandum Return to In-Person Work dated January 20, 2025, the department initial notice was sent to all HUD employees on Friday, January 24, outlining HUD’s phased approach to return to in-person work.”

The official noted that Phase 1 has already been implemented, aiming to have over 88% of the HUD workforce back in the office full-time by February 24, 2025.

Launching Initiatives for Efficiency

In his mission for improved efficiency, Turner quickly took steps to establish a new initiative known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This task force aims to identify “waste, fraud, and abuse” within HUD operations. Reports reveal that DOGE, under the guidance of Elon Musk, has already identified .9 billion in misplaced HUD funds, with efforts underway to release those funds back to the U.S. Treasury.

“HUD will be detailed and deliberate about every dollar spent to serve rural, tribal, and urban communities,” Turner emphasized in his statements. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are no longer in a business-as-usual posture, and the DOGE task force will play a critical role in helping to identify and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse and ultimately better serve the American people.” Thus far, the department claims to have identified over 0 million in savings.

Concluding Thoughts

The ongoing situation at HUD headquarters serves as a microcosm of larger governmental challenges relating to efficiency and accountability in the wake of the pandemic. As the call for staff to return to the office grows stronger, the hope is to reinvigorate operations and ensure a government that is responsive, responsible, and thoroughly engaged in serving the American populace.

As the investigation into governmental waste continues, taxpayers await tangible results to ensure their hard-earned dollars are utilized effectively and efficiently.

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