Raphael Warnock Presses Trump Treasury Nominees About HUD Cuts Amidst Rising Housing Costs

3 days ago

At Thursday's Senate Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) grilled Treasury Department nominees about housing affordability.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Senator Haggerty. I'll turn to Senator Warnock.

00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Hughes, welcome and congratulations on your nomination.

00:12Has President Trump promised to lower housing costs?

00:18Hi, Senator. Good to see you. It was very good to come into your office and speak with your

00:24staff. They were kind enough to give me some Georgia peanuts, so I appreciate that.

00:28Yes, sir. The President has. And now people are looking to the housing agency to make it happen.

00:34I can tell you that housing affordability is a major problem in Georgia. You've served as

00:42Chief of Staff to both Secretary Turner and former Secretary Carson, and now you're nominated for the

00:49number two position at the agency. That's a whole lot of opportunity to lower costs

00:55to carry out the President's stated objective to lower the cost of housing.

01:04But since you've been Chief of Staff, HUD has focused on cutting staff to deliver disaster

01:10recovery resources to states like mine, slammed by deadly hurricanes. Could you tell me, how does

01:17that lower cost for Georgians? Thank you for the question, Senator. I know, I'm assuming what you're

01:24referencing is some of the cuts in CPD related. How does cutting staff who deliver disaster recovery

01:34resources lower housing costs for Georgians? That's the question. Yes, sir. And my response is,

01:40I think what you're referring to is the stuff in the media about the 82% cuts or something. What I can

01:45tell you is that Secretary Turner, as soon as he came into HUD, he made it very clear that he is in

01:53charge of the agency. The Doge team. Sir, you're stating the obvious, and you're number two. I'm asking

02:00you, how does this lower cost? Can you answer that question? So what I was getting at is those

02:06conversations with Doge are deliberative and nothing is final right now. I can tell you

02:10that with reference to the disaster recovery question, the Secretary and if confirmed, I will

02:18also make sure that that program office and the rest of the agency runs as efficiently and effectively

02:24as possible. All right, sounds like you don't have an answer to my actual question. HUD has also

02:28canceled grants that support housing construction for Georgians with disabilities. How does that lower

02:34cost for Georgians? Sir, what grant are you referring to? The grants that support housing

02:41construction for Georgians with disabilities. You're nominated to be number two at that agency.

02:46You are familiar with that program. There's a number of grants or several at HUD. How does

02:52canceling grants for people with disabilities lower costs for Georgians? Sir, we want to help individuals

03:00with a disability. I just want to know which grant you were referring to so I could

03:04appropriately answer your question. HUD has also weakened enforcement of our bedrock

03:09fair housing laws, laws established as a result of the civil rights movement. How does that lower housing

03:17costs for Georgians? Why should Georgians feel better who are concerned about the affordability of housing?

03:24So I've asked you about folks with disabilities. I'm asking you now about folks who are dealing

03:30with with the issue of fair housing who face discrimination. And I'm asking you,

03:38how do you help them by weakening enforcement? Does that lower their costs or raise their costs? What do

03:44you think? Senator, thank you for the question. At HUD, under Secretary Carson, we tried to champion

03:53fair housing and enforce the law. We did that. There were a number of cases that he brought forth.

03:58One was against Facebook. There was another domestic violence case and numerous other ones. And

04:05Secretary Turner, as soon as he got confirmed, sir, made it very clear to the team that he wants to be

04:13a champion and uphold the law for fair housing rights. Actually, we've seen grants terminated

04:18in HUD in response to the president's DEI order. You've weakened enforcement. Is that correct?

04:28Sir, no. I think we're going to we're going to follow the law at HUD and Secretary Turner.

04:32Well, I've heard that over and over again, but but they are weakening our ability to make sure that

04:39people are in compliance with respect to fair housing. So this is a very serious question because we,

04:44you know, again, I'm from a state where ordinary folks are just struggling.

04:51And we need to solve the housing problem. Yes, sir. And I would I would encourage you to refocus your

04:56efforts and the efforts of the agency on making sure that we make housing affordable for ordinary

05:03Georgians. Thank you so very much. Thank you, sir. And I had a great conversation with your staff.

05:07I appreciate their time and confirm I look forward to working with you, sir. Thank you.

05:11Thank you. Senator McCormick, are you prepared to go or do you want to wait five minutes?

05:21I'll take that out of your five minutes.

Raphael Warnock Presses Trump Treasury Nominees About HUD Cuts Amidst Rising Housing Costs

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