As Trump’s Government Shutdown Drags On, Hundreds of HUD Employees Lose Their Jobs, Jeopardizing Housing Access Nationwide
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is laying off hundreds of employees responsible for overseeing fair housing enforcement and developing affordable housing across the United States, according to a new report.
At least 442 employees at HUD received layoff notices amid the ongoing government shutdown, according to court documents filed by the Trump administration. Overall, experts believe as many as 2,300 employees have departed the agency since January.
About 4,100 workers across the federal government could be laid off as part of the reductions in force.
Bloomberg reported that the recent layoffs at HUD were concentrated in the agency’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Employment, which oversees discrimination investigations. The agency has lost nearly 70% of its workforce since January, according to a whistleblower disclosure.
The targeted layoffs follow a memo HUD Secretary Scott Turner issued in September saying the agency would no longer prioritize enforcing policies that are not explicitly discriminatory.
“HUD is implementing a reduction in force to align our programs with the administration’s priorities and the appropriations available to the department,” a HUD spokesperson told Bloomberg in a statement.
Court Steps In to Halt Deep Cuts at HUD
A federal judge has blocked the potential layoffs. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a temporary restraining order filed by unions representing the impacted federal workers.
Even so, advocates slammed the attempt as an “attack” on poor families.
“President Trump has once again chosen to attack working families and the very public servants who help keep roofs over their heads,” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said in a statement. “By firing 442 HUD employees, many of whom support housing counseling and community development programs, he is deliberately weakening an agency that millions of Americans depend on.”
“Recent actions to dismantle the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity are a direct assault on our nation’s commitment to justice in housing,” Michael Chavarria, director of the HOPE Fair Housing Center in Illinois, told Realtor.com. “By eliminating the staff responsible for enforcing the Fair Housing Act, our leaders are abandoning their legal duty to protect Americans from discrimination.”
Housing Programs Across the Nation Face Collapse
Reports indicate that HUD is attempting to remove the entire fair housing staff at two of the agency’s 10 regional hubs. Those hubs include Denver, which oversees states such as Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, as well as San Francisco, which oversees California, Nevada, and Arizona.
Moreover, HUD is seeking to terminate more than 100 staffers who oversee public housing conditions; 25 people who inspect rental housing; and 50 staffers from the Federal Housing Administration, which underwrites mortgages for homebuyers who don’t qualify for a traditional loan, according to Bloomberg.
Experts say these cuts will make it more difficult for the government to provide services to homeless youths and seniors who are homeless.
“They’ve finally put the nail in the coffin of the Great Society,” one HUD staffer told The Washington Post. “They finally figured out how to do what not even Reagan could.”
Not only will the layoffs impact federal programs, but they will also increase the likelihood that state-run programs addressing homelessness and affordable housing will run out of funds.
For instance, Nicole Newhouse, executive director of the Arizona Housing Coalition, stated in a press release that Arizona’s Continuum of Care and Youth Homeless Demonstration Program are at risk of running out of funds due to the government shutdown.
“Every administration has the right to review and refine its approach to federal programs,” Newhouse added. “What’s important is that communities aren’t left in limbo while those changes take place.”
Advocates and Lawmakers Denounce Attack on Working Families
Despite Republicans supporting the Trump staffing cuts at HUD, advocates have vowed to continue fighting to save programs that benefit low-income American households.
Waters said she and her Democratic colleagues will continue fighting at the federal level to “restore HUD’s mission.”
“Let’s be clear: Trump, with full support from Republicans, is illegally using this shutdown as a pretext to undermine our housing system and dismantle programs that protect millions of families in dire need of federal assistance,” Waters said. “From the beginning, he has made no secret of his intent. He said himself that he’s ‘cutting Democrat programs.’ Since when is housing a Democratic issue?”
Local advocates like Chavarria say they will continue fighting to preserve programs that help their most vulnerable neighbors.
“At HOPE Fair Housing Center, we are deeply alarmed. The right to live free from housing discrimination is not a political preference—it is the law,” Chavarria said. “Our hearts go out to the dedicated public servants who have devoted their careers to upholding these protections, only to become casualties of politics.”
Why Speaking Out for Fair Housing Has Never Been More Urgent
This government shutdown is different. There has never been a time when a political party used a government shutdown to achieve its domestic policy ends, as the Trump administration appears to be doing now.
The layoffs at HUD, along with those at other agencies across the government, signal a stark shift for America’s social services. Instead of working to help vulnerable Americans, Trump and the Republican caucus are trying to gut the programs and force low-to no-income households to fend for themselves.
Now is not the time to be silent about homelessness. It’s time for everyone to make their voice heard. We need to stand up and speak out to protect programs that help our unhoused neighbors find the stability and dignity that they deserve.