‘My Residents Can’t Stop Living’: Rashida Tlaib Denounces ‘Lawlessness’ Of HUD Cuts

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During a House Financial Services Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) spoke of her disapproval for cuts in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Transcript

00:00I thank the gentleman for his comments. Well assessed. The gentleman yields. I now recognize

00:07the gentleman from Michigan, Ms. Talib, for five minutes. Thank you so much, Chairman. Thank you,

00:12Acting Inspector General, for being here. I think a lot of us have a lot of questions.

00:16You know I come from Detroit, the most beautiful blackest city in the country. And we used to have

00:2270% home ownership. I mean, it was one of the most thriving communities where many black families

00:28would come, create careers out of the auto industry, and so much more. So I want to get

00:35straight at it. And Mr. Begg, this is important for my constituents at home. You know, you're a

00:40public servant now. Understand. You really do work for the American people. Even as you have somebody

00:47that appoints you, you still have a duty responsibility to the American people, people

00:50we represent. So under what authority can the administration withhold funding that has already

00:56been appropriated by Congress? Thank you for the question. I'm not aware of an authority that

01:08an administration would be able to use to withhold funding that's been appropriated by Congress.

01:15Okay. So the Trump administration just terminated $60 million in Section 4 funding. Are you familiar

01:22with that? Yes. So acting inspector, this funding supports my district. I mean, Grandma Rosedale

01:30Development Corporation relies heavily on Section 4 funding for years. Many of my seasoned residents

01:37were on fixed income, right? As the prices of, you know, the housing crisis just continues to

01:41exacerbate. They rely, again, in organizations like that, being able to access that funding. Section 4

01:47funding, canceling Section 4 funding threatens hundreds of housing projects around our nation

01:53right now. So, you know, it is, it is mind-boggling, you know, to me, you know, from, you know,

02:00Elon Musk and Doge have reportedly called cutting the FHEO staff by 77 percent. That's from 572 employees

02:10down to 134 people. Because I just, you know, I've been here now going on seven years. And one of the

02:16things that continues to come out in the previous Office of Inspector General report from 2024,

02:22that the primary obstacle to timely completion of any investigations was limited staffing,

02:29limited staffing. And I see that a lot. I always see people attacking the Social Security Office,

02:35attacking the Postal Service. But when it came down to it, it was about the lack of capacity

02:39to deal with the rise, of course, the need for many of our community members. So, Mr. Brick,

02:45if the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity was already struggling to meet its statutory

02:49requirements, Mr. Begg, statutory requirements, okay, for the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity,

02:55it was already struggling, right? From existing staff, how can it effectively uphold fair housing

03:01laws with the face of 77 percent staffing cuts? A 77 percent staffing cut is significant. And as you

03:11mentioned, we highlighted in our report, in our top management challenges report, and in our report on

03:16the 100-day investigation. So have you had, if you start an investigation into the mass layoffs

03:22or the firings? We have not started an investigation related to layoffs and firings. I think you should.

03:28I think you should find out and really investigate into the firings and how that impacts your,

03:35the statutory requirement laws for the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Division.

03:43What I can say we've been doing is communicating with HUD leadership regularly and consistently about

03:49the status of the planned reductions and voicing our advocating for those decisions to be carefully

03:57considered and for any decision that's made to reduce HUD's footprint to take into account the need for

04:03capacity in each program and the challenges that already exist for capacity. We're having those

04:08conversations regularly. HUD leadership has been receptive to the information we're bringing to

04:13them. And we're monitoring decisions that haven't been made yet in many instances and looking for

04:20opportunities. I don't know. My residents can't stop living. Like, we can't wait. These are programs that get

04:26appropriated by Congress. Like, I don't understand. They don't have time to be waiting until we can kind of have a

04:32good conversation with the administration. Either follow the law or don't. Right? And I, I say that,

04:38again, we need to move with a lot more urgency and understanding that laws are being, this lawlessness,

04:43this recklessness, it will impact our residents. Really quick, you know, in February when Secretary

04:48Turner announced the creation of DOGE task force at HUD, he charged it with eliminating fraud, waste,

04:53and abuse, as you probably are familiar. So, Mr. Brick, how, how are DOGE's activities

04:59not redundant with the activities and purpose of at your office? Isn't that what you do?

05:04It is what we do. So, is he doing your job? He is not doing our job. So, why are we, why are we,

05:11why is DOGE trying to do your job right now? I can't speak for the administration or the department

05:19or DOGE, but I just need my colleagues to understand the depth of what's going on here.

05:23It's, it's reckless and it's, it's incredibly hurtful for many families. With that, I yield, Mr. Chair.

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