Tag: Trump HUD

Trump Attacks a Suburban Housing Program. Critics See a Play for White Votes.

New York Times logoProponents of the policy saw the move as an attempt to shore up the president’s sagging support among white suburban voters by stoking racial division.

WASHINGTON — President Trump has taken aim at an Obama-era program intended to eliminate racial housing disparities in the suburbs, a move proponents of the policy see as an attempt to shore up his sagging support among white suburban voters by stoking racial division.

In a Twitter post late Tuesday, Mr. Trump announced that he was considering the elimination of a 2015 initiative known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, which requires localities to identify and address patterns of racial segregation outlawed under the Fair Housing Act of 1968 by creating detailed corrective plans.

“At the request of many great Americans who live in the Suburbs, and others, I am studying the AFFH housing regulation that is having a devastating impact on these once thriving Suburban areas,” he wrote, adding, “Not fair to homeowners, I may END!” Continue reading.

Trump threatens to scrap ‘devastating’ fair housing rule

In the last year alone, HUD has proposed rolling back two key Obama-era rules meant to crack down on housing segregation.

President Donald Trump is threatening to revoke a sweeping Obama-era fair housing rule, stepping up his administration’s efforts to gut anti-discrimination laws amid a national reckoning with race.

Trump cast the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule as a campaign issue with a thinly veiled warning to the “great Americans who live in the suburbs” that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would bring chaos to their neighborhoods.

“At the request of many great Americans who live in the Suburbs, and others, I am studying the AFFH housing regulation that is having a devastating impact on these once thriving Suburban areas,” Trump tweeted Tuesday night. “Corrupt Joe Biden wants to make them MUCH WORSE. Not fair to homeowners, I may END!” Continue reading.

Ben Carson’s disturbing retreat on fair housing

Washington Post logoTHE UNITED STATES has made progress in residential desegregation since the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968. Segregation between whites and blacks, as measured by demographers, declined by roughly a third between 1970 and 2010, according to statistical analysis by University of Michigan sociologist William H. Frey. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go toward the ideal of discrimination-free housing. To cite just one example, a recently published undercover investigation by the Long Island-based newspaper Newsday found that real estate agents subjected fully 40 percent of minority “testers” posing as homebuyers to disadvantageous treatment relative to whites.

Recognizing the unfinished business, the Obama administration in 2015 promulgated a new regulation pursuant to the Fair Housing Act’s requirement that the federal government “affirmatively . . . further the policies of” the 1968 law. The regulation would have put teeth into that long-underenforced provision by requiring cities and towns to examine housing patterns for evidence of unlawful discrimination, then formulate plans to overcome it, as a condition of eligibility for federal housing and development aid.

Now, however, the Trump administration has formalized plans to undo the Obama-era rule. On Tuesday, it released a draft rule that waters down the definition of “affirmatively furthering fair housing.” The 2015 rule called for “meaningful actions” that “replac[e] segregated living patterns with truly integrated and balanced living patterns”; now merely “advancing fair housing choice within the program participant’s control or influence” will pass muster with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Continue reading.

Ben Carson’s HUD will propose new rule, further weakening enforcement of fair housing laws

Washington Post logoThe Trump administration will propose a new rule as early as Monday that would reduce the burden on local governments to meet their fair housing obligations, further scaling back civil rights enforcement.

Among the changes sought by the Department of Housing and Urban Development: redefining what it means to promote fair housing, eliminating the assessment used to address barriers to racial integration, and encouraging cities to remove regulations that stand in the way of affordable housing, according to the proposed rule obtained by The Washington Post.

Fair housing advocates say the proposal reduces the financial pressure on local governments to end residential segregation, as required by the 1968 Fair Housing Act, and is the latest erosion of Obama-era regulations designed to enforce the landmark legislation. Continue reading

Exclusive: Carson seeks to clean up testimony on protections for homeless transgender people

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson on Thursday sought to clarify his testimony to a House committee about the Trump administration’s plans to alter protections for homeless transgender people.

Lawmakers grilled Carson on Tuesday about whether his department planned to roll back an Obama-era rule ensuring homeless transgender people are allowed to stay in single-sex shelters that match their gender identity.

Carson told members of the House Financial Services Committee that he is “not currently anticipating changing” the Equal Access Rule. But one day later, HUD unveiled a proposed rule that would allow federally funded shelters to consider “privacy, safety, practical concerns, religious beliefs” in deciding to admit a person, a change that critics say could result in discrimination against transgender people.

View the complete May 23 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

Proposed HUD rule would strip transgender protections at homeless shelters

The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday proposed a new rule that would weaken Obama-era protections for homeless transgender people, allowing federally funded shelters to deny people admission on religious grounds or force transgender women to share bathrooms and sleeping quarters with men.

The proposed rule comes one day after HUD Secretary Ben Carson assured members of Congress the agency had no plans to eliminate the 2012 Equal Access Rule, which barred federal housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

When questioned by Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) on HUD’s treatment of transgender people, Carson said his responsibility is to “make sure everybody is treated fairly. ”

View the complete May 22 article by Tracy Jan on The Washington Post website here.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson says he intends to leave his post at the end of Trump’s term

U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson says he’ll leave at the end of President Trump’s term. Credit: Alex Wong, Getty Images)

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson says he intends to leave his post at the end of President Trump’s term.

Carson made his remarks in a segment airing Monday evening on Newsmax TV, a conservative news outlet. In his two years leading HUD, Carson has dialed back civil rights enforcement at the agency and suspended Obama-era rules that had been aimed at fighting housing segregation and discrimination.

“I will certainly finish out this term,” Carson said during his interview with Newsmax. But he added, “I would be interested in returning to the private sector because I think you have just as much influence, maybe more, there.”

View the complete March 4 article by Tracy an on The Washington Post website here.

Newly emerged photo shows Ben Carson with key employee of sanctioned Russian oligarch

A 2014 photo shows HUD Secretary Ben Carson (center) at a gala with Alexey Komov (right), the point-man for Russian efforts to cultivate ties with American Fundamentalist Christians. Credit: Twitter screen grab

A photo emerges showing the HUD secretary with Alexey Komov, the main link between U.S. Christian

In the latest example of Russian officials rubbing elbows with members of the American right, a newly emerged photo shows Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson standing alongside a key employee of sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev.

The photo dates to June 2014, and appears to be from Carson’s appearance as a keynote speaker at the 2014 gala for the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), one of the most notorious anti-LGBTQ organizations extant.

Alexey Komov — shown in the photo to the right of Carson — has worked for years to ingratiate himself with the American far right, from partnering with American homeschool organizations to working with Christian fundamentalist groups to even liaising closely with Christian movie reviewers.

View the complete January 31 article by Casey Michel on the ThinkProgress website here.

Carson Grilled About Lead Paint and Mold in Public Housing

The following article by Jacob Holzman was posted on the Roll Call website June 28, 2018:

How to pay prompts heated exchange

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson Credit: Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call file photo

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson was peppered with questions by lawmakers over the department’s handling of lead paint and mold in public housing, leading to a heated exchange over how to pay for fixing the issue.

At a House Financial Services Committee oversight hearing Wednesday, Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, D-N.Y., quizzed Carson on the Trump administration’s fiscal 2019 funding request, which called for zeroing out the department’s public housing capital fund, a source used for repairs to public housing.

She raised the case of the New York City Housing Authority, which on June 11 entered into a $1.2 billion consent decree with the Justice Department over numerous living conditions issues, including for failing to meet federal lead safety requirements and to properly conduct inspections of housing facilities. Continue reading “Carson Grilled About Lead Paint and Mold in Public Housing”

HUD Secretary Ben Carson to propose raising rent for low-income Americans receiving federal housing subsidies

The following article by Tracy Jan, CaitlinDewey and Jeff Stein was posted on the Washington Post website April 25, 2018:

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson meeting with lawmakers and advocates in Lexington, Ky., last month. Credit: Philip Scott Andrews, Washington Post

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson proposed far-reaching changes to federal housing subsidies Wednesday, tripling rent for the poorest households and making it easier for housing authorities to impose work requirements.

Carson’s proposals, and other initiatives aimed at low-income Americans receiving federal assistance, amount to a comprehensive effort by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to restrict access to the safety net and reduce the levels of assistance for those who do qualify. Continue reading “HUD Secretary Ben Carson to propose raising rent for low-income Americans receiving federal housing subsidies”