Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, released this fact sheet on the impact the Trump-Republican shutdown will have on fair housing. Fair housing is a cornerstone of economic opportunity and civil rights in the United States, ensuring that every person regardless of race, religion, sex, or other protected characteristics, has a fair shot at safe, stable housing. It protects families from systematic housing discrimination and segregation, while promoting housing equity. Unfortunately, since taking office Donald Trump has waged war on fair housing and will now use the Trump-Republican shutdown to chip away at it even further.

In fact, if HUD follows the Office of Management and Budget’s recent shutdown guidance—which encourages agencies to carry out mass firing of its workers—the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) could be completely eliminated and fully dismantle fair housing protections and enforcement.

Here are the attacks we’ve seen on fair housing from the administration in the last nine months:

• Significant staff reduction at HUD’s General Counsel Office of Fair Housing (OFH) and de-prioritization of fair housing work: HUD leadership allegedly informed existing OFH staff that fair housing was “not a priority” of the administration, that less civil rights work would be performed under this administration, and that there was an “optics problem” with being as large as it was. Despite warnings that pulling staff away from civil rights and fair housing efforts could hinder HUD’s ability to comply with its statutorily mandated functions, HUD leadership nevertheless reportedly took steps towards reducing the size of OFH by 70 percent.
  
  
• HUD’s potential inability to enforce VAWA: The Department is reportedly moving to reassign 75 percent of the VAWA team at OFH, including its supervisors—a move that, if it goes through, will leave the Department unable to support survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.
  
  
• Gag orders for HUD attorneys and dropping of housing discrimination cases: According to current and former HUD staff, HUD leadership has prevented OFH attorneys from communicating with external parties both within and outside of HUD “without express approval from political leadership,” inhibiting the agency’s ability to implement civil rights and fair housing laws. In addition, the agency has dropped major investigations and cases concerning alleged housing discrimination and segregation, including some where the agency already found civil rights violations.
  

For more, read the letter Ranking Member Waters and Warren sent urging Chairmans Hill and Scott to call up HUD Secretary Scott Turner to testify.

In recent months the Trump Administration has also repealed the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which was originally designed to help identify and address barriers to fair housing. In response, Waters and Warren introduced a bill to restore civil rights protections. The administration has also dropped major investigations and cases against local and state governments across the U.S. concerning alleged discriminatory housing practices.

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