As it continues to seek pathways to recovery following the onslaught of Hurricane Helene, the city of Asheville, North Carolina, faces a new roadblock tied to $225 million in grants that were set to be delivered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
According to HUD Secretary Scott Turner, the city submitted a draft plan that features dedicated assistance for women- and minority-owned businesses. This conflicts with the Trump administration’s efforts to bar diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs from receiving federal funding.
Speaking on Fox Business, Turner decried Asheville’s draft action plan as an example of what the administration is trying to eradicate from government programs. The segment was shared by HUD on social media.
“This draft action plan that the city of Asheville presented at first has elements of DEI in their draft action plan, and that is not acceptable to HUD,” Turner said. “It’s not acceptable to the president, according to his executive order to get rid of all DEI. And so, we’re working with the city of Asheville. They have been very responsive to make sure their upcoming draft action plan is in compliance with HUD.”
In a subsequent written statement, Turner added that his commitment to ending DEI-influenced policies remains top of mind.
“Once again, let me be clear DEI is dead at HUD,” he said. “We will not provide funding to any program or grantee that does not comply with President Trump’s executive orders.”
In an interview with local media following Turner’s statement, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer (D) described the nature of the city’s subsequent conversations with the department and Turner.
“We heard from the HUD secretary that we needed to edit what’s called our ‘action plan,’ which is a document that HUD requires that we submit before we can receive HUD funding for disaster relief,” she said.
“This is money on top of what FEMA is already providing for repair and recovery. It was anticipated — and still is — that we would receive these funds around the summer, totaling about $225 million.”
The mayor went on to say that the action plan has already been modified to reflect the secretary’s concerns, removing the references he found inappropriate.
“We have modified the action plan to reflect his concerns, and we’ve been told the changes we made are acceptable,” she said.
When asked if the language was indeed focused on providing targeted assistance, the mayor said it was in reference to a preexisting program in the city.
“The city, like many cities, has a program for contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses,” she said. “Apparently, the reference to that existing program is not something they want to see in the action plan.”
When asked if there was any anxiety about the possibility of funding being pulled, the mayor said that HUD and the Trump administration are “very eager” to support recovery efforts for the city and the entire state.
Turner announced the decision on the draft action plan while on a tour of the damage in western North Carolina. This followed his recent tour of the wildfire damage in the Los Angeles area and an extension of a foreclosure and eviction moratorium there.
