Five Democratic Senators urged U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner to stop any additional cuts to HUD’s workforce after he terminated hundreds of probationary employees on Feb. 14.
The letter to Turner was signed by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), vice chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations; Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), ranking member of the Committee on Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development; and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
“We are deeply alarmed and troubled by reports that you terminated hundreds of probationary employees on Friday and are planning to cut HUD’s workforce by 50 percent or nearly 4,300 staff,” they wrote. “Initial reports suggest no program office would be spared, with staffing cuts ranging from 10 percent to 84 percent. Some of the most drastic reductions impact areas that support highly vulnerable people, including seniors, homeless veterans and families, and people with disabilities, and provide billions of dollars to cities and counties across the country.”
They said HUD’s staffing levels fell by over 20 percent from 2012-2019, and independent audits showed the department did not have enough staff to support community disaster relief, meet its legal obligations under the Fair Housing Act or to process housing applications.
“Congress has worked to address these inadequacies inch by inch through the annual Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies appropriations bill,” they wrote. “As a result, at the start of your tenure as secretary, HUD’s staffing capacity was near its 2012 levels with a dedicated workforce ready to advance HUD’s mission. So much of that hard-fought progress has been wiped away in less than three weeks, and between the deferred resignation program and termination of probationary employees, overall staffing levels will be cut by 13 percent at HUD.”
They pointed out Turner spoke at his confirmation hearing of the “opportunity to restore HUD to its core mission of supporting strong and sustainable communities and quality, affordable homes — serving our nation’s most vulnerable.”
“We could not agree with you more that we need to focus on addressing all of these challenges head on, but nearly every action this administration has taken to date on housing are completely counter to these goals,” they wrote. “… Freezing already obligated funds, canceling 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.”
The Senators urged Turner to stop any further staffing cuts and to provide specifics about the cuts already made, including the number of probationary employees terminated, how much notice the received and what reason they were given for their termination, and what role Turner played in “directing and reviewing employee lists vis-à-vis the DOGE team and vis-à-vis the political appointees leading each office component.”