According to media reports, the union president for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said the agency will cut 50 percent of its staffing.

Bloomberg reported AFGE National Council 222 President Antonio Gaines told them HUD employees targeted for dismissal will come from the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, the Office of Policy Development and Research and the Office of Community Planning and Development.

Gaines said no cuts would occur in the Federal Housing Administration, according to Bloomberg.

HUD employees 9,600.

NPR reported HUD employees were sent emails Feb. 10 by Scott Langmack, senior adviser to DOGE, asking them questions about HUD contracts. According to NPR, employees were asked if contracts were critical, if they had a DEI component and about the competency of contractors. The emails also reportedly asked for a “contract champion within the bureau who will personally vouch for the answers.”

HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced Feb. 13 that HUD would launch a DOGE task force, made up of HUD employees, to review the department’s spending. He said HUD had already identified over $260 million in savings.

“HUD will be detailed and deliberate about every dollar spent to serve rural, tribal and urban communities,” Turner said. “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.”

The moves came after President Donald Trump issued an executive order Feb. 11 implementing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) workforce optimization initiative.

“Agency heads will coordinate and consult with DOGE to shrink the size of the federal workforce and limit hiring to essential positions,” the order stated. “Agencies will undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force and determine which agency components (or agencies themselves) may be eliminated or combined because their functions aren’t required by law.”

According to the order, when the federal hiring freeze expires, “agencies will be able to hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart from federal service (with appropriate immigration, law enforcement, and public safety exceptions).”

Other federal agencies have reported staff reductions. On Feb. 13, The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the dismissal of more than 1,000 employees. Those dismissed included non-bargaining unit probationary employees who served less than a year in a competitive service appointment or who served less than two years in an excepted service appointment.

“There are currently more than 43,000 probationary employees across the department, the vast majority of whom are exempt from today’s personnel actions because they serve in mission-critical positions – primarily those supporting benefits and services for VA beneficiaries – or are covered under a collective bargaining agreement,” a VA release read.