Dive Brief:
- Staff members within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development say it is no longer enforcing fair housing and civil rights laws, according to a Sept. 22 letter from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to the HUD inspector general asking for an investigation.
- The whistleblowers allege in documents they sent to Warren that HUD leadership told Office of Fair Housing staff that fair housing is “not a priority” of the Trump administration, which has reduced the office’s workforce nearly 70% since January.
- The OFH has also been under “a strict verbal gag order,” according to complaints Warren reviewed, that prevents attorney communication with other government agencies and parties in civil rights complaints without “express permission from political leadership.” HUD has so far “inappropriately” closed or halted approximately 115 housing discrimination cases, according to the complaint.
Dive Insight:
OFH works with the Justice Department and other HUD offices to enforce the Fair Housing Act and other laws that forbid discrimination in housing and federally funded community development and disaster recovery programs, among others. It also reviews HUD policies and programs to ensure they comply with fair housing and civil rights laws. Whistleblowers say the office began the year with 31 staffers. Incentivized retirements, terminations, resignations and reassignments will leave the office with 11 staffers, only six of whom are attorneys.
The Trump administration has pledged to put an end to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, a move that implicates “civil rights laws in complex and unprecedented ways,” according to the OFH whistleblower complaint. Actions that have resulted from the executive order, the complaint says, include the removal of “DEI terms” from lists, regardless of whether the terms “included words from civil rights statutes” HUD is charged with enforcing.
A HUD spokesperson, in a statement to NBC News, denied any effort to blunt the impact of the Fair Housing Act. Earlier this month, HUD implemented last-minute criteria for $75 million in housing grants that favored applicants that aligned with the administration’s political priorities, including local cooperation with immigration enforcement, and disfavored applicants in communities that have inclusive policies for transgender people. Those changes were paused after a lawsuit was filed.
“Fair housing is not a partisan issue; it is a moral imperative rooted in the promise of equal opportunity,” National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial said in a statement following the HUD allegations. “The Trump administration’s failure to enforce these laws is a profound injustice that demands urgent redress.”
