On Wednesday, June 25, 2025, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner announced the relocation of HUD headquarters to Alexandria, Virginia, where National Science Foundation (NSF) staff are currently sited.
As NBC4 Washington reported, NSF employees promptly staged a protest, filling the hallways in Alexandria, chanting, shaking their fists, and forcing HUD’s press announcement to move to another room.
The Hatch Act (5 U.S. Code § 7324) prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activity while on duty or in any building occupied by a federal employee, and 18 U.S. Code § 1752 makes it a crime to disrupt the orderly conduct of government business in a building that is “restricted” by hosting a special event of national significance.
[RELATED: National Science Foundation]
In addition, 18 U.S. Code § 372 prohibits causing a U.S. official to leave the place where his duties are to be performed. As a result, the NSF staff may have violated federal law by protesting and interfering with the HUD secretary’s press conference.
The General Services Administration (GSA) had previously listed HUD’s Weaver Building as an asset for “accelerated disposition.” The list includes more than 40 properties, scattered across the country. More than 300 other federal buildings have been identified as “non-core” properties on the disposal list.
No announcement has yet been made regarding NSF’s future location. I reached out to GSA, asking who decides where NSF staff are located and what the timeline for that decision will be.
The GSA administrator for strategic communications replied that “NSF currently occupies only a small portion of the building,” and “we remain committed to working closely with NSF to align their workspace with their long-term operational needs.” So it is unclear whether NSF staff will be moved from the building or will share it with HUD.
HUD’s announcement dovetails with NSF’s proposed cuts of approximately $5 billion, from $8 to $3 billion, for research. NSF will not need as many staff to oversee its reduced research portfolio.
A federal court recently ruled in favor of federal workers by halting the government’s efforts to reduce the workforce at various agencies, including the NSF. But if the government eventually prevails and significantly reduces NSF staff, there should be ample space in the building to accommodate the remaining personnel after HUD moves in.
Image: “United States Department of Housing and Urban Development” by ajay_suresh on Wikimedia Commons
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