Massive cut would leave 34 states with no HUD offices — and experts warn it may be illegal

President Donald Trump's latest move to dismantle critical government agencies is targeting the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which he plans to shrink by closing dozens of field offices and leaving most states without an office. But this could be illegal, wrote Kriston Capps for Bloomberg News.

"Federal law requires the agency to maintain at least one field office in every state in order to process applications for mortgage insurance," wrote Capps. "It’s one of HUD’s most important functions: Each year a division known as the Federal Housing Administration underwrites mortgage insurance for hundreds of thousands of buyers, generating billions of dollars annually for the Treasury."

Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia would be left without field offices under Trump's plan, which also calls for mass layoffs. Six field offices would remain, and major regional centers like those in Seattle and San Francisco would be among those shuttered. California, the nation's most populous state, would have only one field office to manage all federal housing issues.

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Antonio Gaines, who heads up the American Federation of Government Employees bargaining unit that represents around 5,300 HUD employees told Bloomberg, “They’re required to have a field office in every state. If they decide not to do that, they’re supposed to ask for a waiver. They’re supposed to go to Congress.”

This move is part of Trump's across-the-board effort to cut down the operations of dozens of federal agencies. He has even sought to abolish the Department of Education — a longtime goal of far-right activists who oppose the agency's civil rights authority — drafting an order to shut down or transfer every single agency function he can without an act of Congress. The U.S. Agency for International Development and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have similarly been rendered essentially defunct by Trump's orders.

Extensive litigation is underway asserting Trump's cuts are unlawful, with the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordering the administration to release billions of dollars in withheld foreign aid.