A coalition of leading Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. Senate have submitted a letter to HUD Secretary Scott Turner, warning of the potential impacts that reported cuts to HUD will have on the agency’s ability to deliver essential services.
The letter — submitted on Feb. 16 — is co-signed by several committee ranking members including Patty Murray (Washington), Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), Tina Smith (Minnesota) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York). It demands that Turner halt any further cuts to the agency, contending that such cuts will serve to exacerbate the nation’s housing challenges.
The senators describe a sense of “alarm” at the notion that as much as 50% of the department’s staff would ultimately be cut, saying that “no program office would be spared, with staffing cuts ranging from 10% to 84%,” the letter said. Some of the most vulnerable people that could be impacted by such cuts would be in “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,” the letter said.
If there is insufficient staff to manage these programs, then several in-progress “community and economic development projects, disaster recovery efforts, and housing development across the country will be delayed and could come to a grinding halt,” the senators said.
The senators go on to describe a serious loss of HUD staff between 2012 and 2019, and reports from the HUD Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that explained how the department had consistent “capacity gaps” during that time.
Former HUD IG Rae Oliver Davis — who was one of 17 IGs fired by the president in January — continued to describe “capacity challenges that affect [HUD’s] ability to oversee grantees, contractors, and financial sector counterparties; provide high-touch technical assistance; and modernize its programs and IT systems” as recently as Oct. 2024 in its Top Management Challenges report.
But the senators contend that Turner is poised to undo that work.
“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,” the letter said. “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% at HUD.”
The senators also cited Turner’s recognition of housing problems during his Senate confirmation hearing, as well as the president’s day one executive order seeking to lower housing costs as evidence of common ground with the administration on housing challenges.
“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,” the letter reads. “President Trump’s reckless threats of blanket tariffs on friendly nations could drive up housing costs, deter new development, and slow rebuilding efforts in disaster-impacted communities.”
They go on to list 10 questions they would like answers for, including specific details on cuts and the departments that they have been made to; any potential exceptions to offices already challenged by capacity; Turner’s personal role in concert with Elon Musk’s DOGE Service and department political appointees; the notice and justification given to employees ahead of their terminations; and additional details on the legal justifications and costs of these cuts in concert with applicable laws.
Turner was confirmed and sworn in as HUD Secretary on Feb. 5. Since assuming his role, he said he will seek to “quarterback” privatization of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), announced his intent to rescind the Obama-era affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) rule and announced the launch of a DOGE task force designed to scrutinize department spending and staffing.
Late last week, DOGE claimed it had recovered $1.9 billion in “misplaced” HUD funds in the form of contracts to lenders and servicers.
