The Department of Housing and Urban Development is taking over the National Science Foundation’s headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, Secretary Scott Turner announced Wednesday.
HUD is set to become the first agency to move its headquarters out of Washington as the president moves forward with his plan to put distance between federal agencies and the District of Columbia.
“The Robert C. Weaver Federal Building requires hundreds of millions in long-term repairs, and this move will ensure they quickly have access to a modern work environment that fits their needs,” Michael Peters, commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service, said during a press conference Wednesday.
Peters also said one of his first visits to the Weaver building was “eye-opening” and “embarrassing from a GSA perspective” because of the poor condition of the facility. During the press event a video of the building’s chipping infrastructure was shown highlighting broken floors, exposed pipes, out-of-service elevators and missing ceiling tiles.
The agency will move into 2415 Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria, Virginia, the current headquarters of the National Science Foundation’s 1,800 in-office employees.
Dozens of employees gathered Wednesday outside the Virginia office in protest of the news. “This is bullshit,” one NSF staffer told Washington’s News4.
NSF, the government agency responsible for funding scientific and engineering education and research at public universities, has faced extreme cuts from the Trump administration since January, losing over $230 million in grant funding and employee layoffs. As a result, the agency is awarding grants at the slowest rate in 35 years, according to reporting by The New York Times.
Rep. Don Beyer, who represents the district where the new HUD office will be located, seemed to come out against the move, saying it raises concerns about “the broader integrity of American science.” He also voiced opposition to the administration’s cuts to the housing department.
“I believe in HUD’s mission and agree that HUD employees need a facility that provides the safe environment they deserve and reflects the value of their service. That said, the best way to demonstrate the value of HUD staff would be to halt ongoing attempts to lay them off,” Beyer said in a press release that suggested the move would also harm the NSF’s productivity.
“I will continue to do all I can to protect NSF’s legacy of scientific advancement, support its incredible staff, and ensure they have the resources they need with a minimum of disruption,” he added. “That means its headquarters must remain in our community, where it belongs.”
At a press event on Wednesday announcing the move, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said as the president moves forward with his plan to put distance between federal agencies and D.C., Virginia looks forward to “seizing the new opportunities that this presents for the commonwealth.”
HUD’s move out of the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building isn’t a major surprise, as Trump has long voiced his disdain with its appearance. The administration is also actively working to move federal agencies out of the nation’s capital.
Earlier this year, Trump set an April deadline for agencies to submit relocation proposals to “less costly parts of the country.” HUD’s Weaver Building was placed on the General Services Administration’s accelerated disposition list.
Turner, who previously called the agency’s headquarters “the ugliest building in D.C.,” has recently said the building doesn’t meet Congress’s safety standards. At one point, he said he was nearly hit in the head when a brick fell from the ceiling in his office. “But thank God, by his grace, I’m still standing with you today,” he added, according to a recording of the session obtained by The Washington Post.
Turner said the agency will move forward with a “staggered employee relocation plan, in coordinating with GSA.”
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Amelia Benavides-Colón is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.