Trump’s DOGE team is looking for fraud and waste at HUD: NPR

The Trump administration requests employees of the Housing and Urban Development Department to justify hundreds of contracts across the agency. An email sent Monday afternoon included a spreadsheet to fill out to ask if a contract was “critical”, if he had a component ofi and if the entrepreneur was competent.

The email also asked for a name on each form, a “contract champion within the office which will personally guarantee the answers”. He was sent by Scott Langmack, principal government’s efficiency advisor, and said it was “urgent” that answers were sent by the end of the day on Tuesday, February 11.

The demand has added to concerns among workers that HUD could be the next target for the major reduction in The Ministry of Government (DOGE)A unit of the Trump administration led by Elon Musk.

During his first mandate, President Trump repeatedly proposed dramatic cuts to the HUD budget, although they did not succeed in the congress. The agenda of conservative policy 2025 project Calls the reigning in the “bureaucratic overtaking” of HUD and transferring its functions to other agencies, states and localities.

The agency manages rental assistance for millions of people, provides funding to shelter homeless, helps families with low income to buy houses and build and repair affordable accommodation.

Hud contracts Include services such as real estate management, inspections and housing IT assessments oversees, credit analysis for its mortgage branch and research on how its programs work and the means to improve them .

A staff member of the department also declared that future financing subsidies were now effectively on break, and that this authorization is necessary to move forward with anything. “It is impossible to plan in this completely chaotic environment,” said this person.

Another worker said that HUD’s entire parts could be rolled up was “devastating”. A third party said that management reminded people that the agency’s work is important and bipartite, but the erosion of support for the government’s aid was demoralizing.

The three employees asked that their names were not used because they feared for their work.

Two leaders of the HUD Union with the American Federation of Government employees expressed similar concerns. But mixed with this, the hope that Doge examined could lead to an essential change in the agency.

“If we really want to reach most of the fraud, waste and abuse, let’s look closely at a federal public procurement system, as this has been broken for years,” said Antonio Gaines, President of the National Council of the AFGE 222.

The Hud union has lightened fraud, waste and abuse since last year

Gaines knows the stereotype that federal workers are lazy and said that front -line employees take the blame for a slow bureaucracy. But often, he said, they are paralyzed by increased decisions.

Such a decision, he said, was the implementation of a new tool to inspect social housing that has been disastrously slow and clumsy to use. “The application is terribly dysfunctional, but we have already spent $ 40 million,” said Gaines.

Last year, Afge Council 222 filed a complaint With the Inspector General of HUD and members of the Congress. He said the application prevented the HUD from inspecting almost all of its five million dwellings across the country every five years, as required by law.

There has not been much answer so far. But Gaines hopes who will now change that Doge has requested an examination of all contracts.

“This is something that will highlight the lack of surveillance.” said Erik Jetmir, legislative and political president of the Council 222.

On the other hand, the two officials said, it is too early to find out in what direction things will go. The Trump Administration “can just as easily take a look at the contracts and replace them with loyalists and friends,” said Jetmir.

Gaines was surprised that Trump and Musk, who “consider themselves elite business people”, had not made a profitability analysis for a reduction in dramatic workforce. “They plead for that, and I think it’s very dangerous,” he said.

HUD staff feel stressed and left in the dark

Several HUD employees said they had almost no information on the changes to wait. One called the situation a “nightmare”. A union survey this month revealed that 80% of respondents said very high stress levels.

Gaines said that repeated excavations from the Trump administration to federal employees – such as saying that public sector jobs are “lower productivity” – are offensive. And the offer to pay people for months to sit at home and do nothing? “It seems to me that it is the quintessence of the fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayers’ dollars,” he said.

Several people have expressed visceral fear of getting fired. There is also a concern for the number of people who could choose to retire or to leave if the Trump administration’s offer is confirmed in court. A source feared that the loss of many people in the same department could make it difficult to “achieve our mission”.