Following reports that Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) plans to terminate half of all HUD staff, key Democratic leaders sent a letter to HUD Secretary Scott Turner demanding that the Trump administration halt any plans to further cut staffing.
The letter was signed by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations; Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development; and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
In the letter, congressional leaders warned that staffing reductions would further exacerbate the housing crisis and would likely prevent HUD from meeting critical functions, such as supporting disaster recovery efforts. The letter states that “freezing already obligated funds, cancelling necessary program contracts, and hastily gutting HUD’s workforce will inevitably lead to costly delays, and many housing projects will fall apart completely, only making our current housing crisis worse.”
Congressional leaders also ask the HUD Secretary for key information, including how many probationary staff have been terminated, what factors HUD considered in this decision, what justifications were provided, as required by law, and the cost to taxpayers.
Read the letter at: https://tinyurl.com/bde6fsn4