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CLIMATEWIRE | The Department of Housing and Urban Development is expected to announce Wednesday that it’s moving into the headquarters of the National Science Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia, according to the union representing NSF employees.

But as of Tuesday evening, staff at the science foundation hadn’t been informed by management about their building’s incoming occupants, leaving them feeling blindsided and unsure about where they’re expected to work.

One NSF employee said that they had “literally zero idea” the move was coming until reports began circulating among staffers Tuesday evening. That person was granted anonymity because they fear retaliation.

Jesus Soriano, president of the union that represents NSF employees, said he was expecting a press conference Wednesday morning in the NSF lobby including HUD Secretary Scott Turner and Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Soriano said he was informed about the plans by NSF employees.

Soriano sent an alert to union members Tuesday evening informing them that NSF’s management “learned this afternoon [from HUD]” that the Wednesday news conference would include an announcement that “HUD will take over the NSF building” and that the science agency was not involved in the decision.

The union, Soriano wrote, “understands that there is no planning except that the HUD secretary may take over the 18th and 19th floors” and start planning the HUD move over the next two years. “There is no planning for NSF, no identified future location, appropriation for a new building or a move,” he wrote.

HUD and the General Services Administration announced in April that HUD wanted to move out of its current location in the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building near L’Enfant Plaza in Washington. That building, which opened in 1968, faces over $500 million in deferred maintenance and modernization needs, GSA said. The building would be at half of its capacity with every HUD staffer at headquarters, according to GSA.

An NSF spokesperson directed a request for comment to GSA. GSA, the White House and a Youngkin spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It’s unclear what happens to the staff at NSF, where more than 1,833 employees work in the building, according to the employee union. The science agency moved into the Alexandria office from Virginia’s Ballston area in 2017.

“Is the government more interested in the technological and scientific leadership of this country or on using taxpayer dollars to offer luxury accommodations to government officials?” Soriano said.

The union said in a press release Tuesday that it was told that plans for NSF headquarters include a dedicated executive suite for the HUD secretary on the 19th floor, the construction of an executive dining room, reserved parking spaces for the secretary’s cars, exclusive use of an elevator for the secretary and a space dedicated to hosting the secretary’s executive assistants on the 18th floor.

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