HUD Secretary: Administration Must Restore Depleted Staff

To make the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development "into a frontline weapon in the fight against racial and economic inequality," writes Glenn Thrush in the New York Times, President Biden must first restore a department decimated by Trump-era cuts in budget and staffing. "In some divisions, as many as 25 to 30 percent of jobs were unfilled or occupied by interim employees. The losses were concentrated among the ranks of highest-skilled managers and policy experts, many of whom had been overruled, sidelined, exiled and eventually driven away under President Donald J. Trump and his appointees." Between 2012 and 2019, the agency lost 20% of its total employees. "Until we can start to build up our staff, and build up our capacity, we are at risk of not doing the things we should do," said HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge. 

"The administration’s relief package, passed in March, included $21.55 billion for emergency rental assistance, $5 billion in emergency housing vouchers, $5 billion for homelessness assistance and $850 million for tribal and rural housing, on top of a similar amount allocated under the Trump administration," amounting to "the greatest increase in housing and related programs in decades. Mr. Biden’s infrastructure bill, now the subject of intense negotiations on Capitol Hill, would provide $213 billion more." 

According to Fudge, the losses "are hindering distribution of emergency aid to low-income tenants and leaving many localities without guidance from experienced HUD employees on how to run new programs funded by the flood of coronavirus assistance cash." Meanwhile, some lawmakers worry about the depleted department's ability to manage the incoming funding and new responsibilities proposed by President Biden's infrastructure bill.