FHA Workforce Expected to Take Significant Layoff Hit

The Federal Housing Administration is not immune to the upheaval transforming the government’s workforce.

Donald Trump’s administration is planning to eliminate at least 40 percent of the workers at the FHA, Bloomberg reported. The federal agency, which operates within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is responsible for helping homebuyers and providing mortgage insurance for those who may not be able to afford it.

Significant cuts are coming to HUD, too, but there was reportedly hope the FHA would be spared from the larger agency’s carnage. That no longer appears to be the case.

The FHA can assist homebuyers who can’t afford a down payment or have inferior credit scores. Established in 1934, the agency has insured more than 40 million home loans and grown into one of the world’s largest mortgage insurers.

The reported layoffs were reported a week after Antonio Gaines, president of AFGE National Council 222, disclosed that roughly half of the HUD’s workforce was on the chopping block. The department employs approximately 9,600 people, though it’s unclear how large of a share are responsible for work for the FHA.

Trump recently directed federal agency heads to prepare to “initiate large-scale reductions in force.” The president is targeting those whose functions are “not mandated by statute,” specifically diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Agencies across the federal government are feeling the sting. The U.S. Forest Service is expected to eliminate 3,400 employees, while the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to lay off most of its workers. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation just fired 170 probationary employees.

Trump and his top lieutenant, Elon Musk, are reshaping and reducing the federal government in their own image. Musk is even weaponizing the government’s real estate holdings as a means of forcing federal workers out of their roles, demoralizing employees with arduous commutes and draconian buildings.

— Holden Walter-Warner