Claire Bergstresser was once a federal employee in HUD’s Workplace of Honest Housing and Equivalent Alternative till closing month, when she was once fired as a part of the DOGE purge of probationary staff.Mom Jones representation; Picture courtesy of the Workplace of Rep. Ayanna Pressley
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Till closing month, Claire Bergstresser labored to implement truthful housing regulations within the Boston department of the Division of Housing and City Building’s Workplace of Honest Housing and Equivalent Alternative.
As an equivalent alternative specialist, Bergstresser investigated allegations of discrimination—one thing she had skilled herself as a wheelchair consumer who struggled to get affordable lodging in a prior condominium out of doors of Boston. In her position at HUD, Bergstresser reviewed experiences from individuals who mentioned they had been being discriminated towards in housing appraisal and apartment processes on account of their race, gender, sexuality, incapacity, or circle of relatives standing, amongst different components. Bergstresser was once the paintings. “I really believe in the mission [of HUD],” she mentioned.
However on Valentine’s Day, Bergstresser’s 19-month tenure as a federal worker got here to an finish when her manager advised her and two colleagues that they had been fired as a part of Elon Musk’s purge of probationary staff around the federal govt. Whilst maximum federal staff’ probationary classes are three hundred and sixty five days, Bergstresser was once on a two-year, renewable fellowship.
Those dismissals are a harbinger of what’s to return at HUD, which is now being led by way of newly-confirmed secretary Scott Turner, a former NFL participant, Texas state legislator, housing building government, and pastor who labored within the White Area right through President Donald Trump’s first time period. Again then, he was once in control of overseeing so-called “opportunity zones,” a program rolled out in 2017 to provide tax breaks for traders who spend money on poorer neighborhoods. The result of this effort had been described as “middling” by way of the New York Occasions.
Studies from NPR and the Related Press recommend that Musk’s so-called Division of Executive Potency (DOGE) will lay off part of the roughly 9,600 staff of the housing company within the coming months. Staff in 3 HUD workplaces are expected to undergo the brunt of the layoffs: Honest Housing, the place Bergstresser labored (which is unsurprising, given the struggle Trump has introduced on DEI around the federal govt); the Workplace of Group Making plans and Building, which distributes price range to native communities to take on homelessness, reasonably priced housing, and crisis reduction; and the Workplace of Coverage Building and Analysis, which supplies information on problems comparable to reasonably priced housing and crisis help that different HUD methods depend on to serve as.
In the meantime, Turner has touted what he claims is a “DOGE task force” at HUD, which he says has already produced $260 million “in savings,” together with by way of reducing $4 million in DEI-related contracts. Remaining month, greater than two dozen Senate Democrats despatched Turner a letter asking him to give an explanation for what, precisely, was once eradicated as a part of the alleged $260 million cuts. He does now not seem to have publicly answered to their request.
— Scott Turner (@SecretaryTurner) February 11, 2025
If the HUD cuts take impact, “people would not be on the ground doing the work of talking to people and connecting with organizations,” mentioned Kim Johnson, public coverage supervisor on the NLIHC. “It would make everything that people are experiencing now—in relation to the cost of housing and rising homelessness—worse.”
CPD additionally supplies block grants to state and native governments suffering from hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. A few of this enhance, referred to as RUSH price range, are supposed to supply emergency safe haven and speedy re-housing for other folks and households experiencing, or vulnerable to, homelessness within the wake of a herbal crisis. The price range had been created with $56 million in 2022, within the aftermath of Florida’s fatal Storm Ian, in line with a 2023 document from the NLIHC and the NHLP. Remaining 12 months, the price range helped enhance crisis restoration within the Carolinas following Storm Helene. “HUD plays a huge role in disaster relief,” Thrope mentioned, “and oftentimes can be sort of the first tranche of assistance that families are eligible for.”
The focused workplaces additionally play important roles in supporting survivors of home violence, who can also be vulnerable to or driven into homelessness on account of abuse. The Honest Housing Workplace is charged with implementing the housing provisions of the Violence Towards Ladies Act, which protects survivors’ rights to confidentiality and emergency transfers to flee abusers and forestalls them from being discriminated towards or evicted because of their standing as a survivor.
The considered the HUD staff who supply those products and services being fired, Bergstresser mentioned, “terrifies me.”
“HUD is not the only one in our ecosystem that does the work, but I like to say we’re the ground floor of the house,” she added. “Without it, in a very short amount of time, everyone in our community will start to feel it.”
What does Trump have to mention about all this? Not anything, thus far. Spokespeople for the White Area and HUD didn’t reply to questions from Mom Jones, and the president didn’t commit a unmarried phrase in his Tuesday evening speech to the joint consultation of Congress to the housing scarcity or affordability disaster. Bergstresser, who attended as a visitor of Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), was once now not “surprised, but of course, I’m disappointed.” HUD Secretary Turner’s affirmation had already raised alarm for housing advocates nervous about his feedback endorsing paintings necessities for federal housing help and advocating for extra personal fairness involvement within the housing marketplace. ProPublica reported that as a Texas legislator, Turner voted towards regulation increasing reasonably priced housing and enhance for unhoused other folks. However for now, he seems to be focusing his consideration in different places. He reportedly invited Sean Feucht, a Christian nationalist, on a excursion of the LA wildfire devastation to supply “Divine perspective” on learn how to rebuild.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that HUD plans to near dozens of box workplaces around the nation—probably in violation of federal regulation, which calls for the company to function a minimum of one box administrative center in each and every state to procedure loan insurance coverage programs. Thrope mentioned this may actually have a vital affect at the paintings of other folks like Bergstresser, who labored in HUD’s Boston box administrative center: “They’re the ones reviewing complaints in their region and making sure that people’s fair housing rights are realized.”
Resistance to DOGE’s doable decimation of HUD is ramping up as main points proceed to leak out. Monday evening, federal staff and lawmakers held a rally out of doors the HUD headquarters in DC to protest the deliberate firings. Loads of organizations from around the nation have additionally signed a letter to leaders of Congress, which the NLIHC plans to ship to lawmakers by way of subsequent week, urging them to oppose additional DOGE firings at HUD. “Rather than improving efficiency,” the letter says, “such drastic staffing cuts at HUD will cause significant, harmful, and costly delays and will worsen America’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis, as well as its significant disaster recovery needs.”
The day before today’s #HandsOffHousing match was once a convincing reminder that, jointly, we will be able to push ahead till the damaging threats towards essential housing & homelessness methods are defeated!
NLIHC thank you the congressional leaders, companions, & impacted other folks for his or her tireless paintings… percent.twitter.com/z5WbVsQdKZ
— Nationwide Low Source of revenue Housing Coalition (@NLIHC) March 4, 2025
The standing of Bergstresser’s former activity stays unclear after a federal pass judgement on closing week dominated that the firings of probationary staff had been almost definitely unlawful. This triggered the Trump management previous this week to factor revised steering to companies this week claiming that, if truth be told, it was once now not ordering them to fireplace probationary staff.
After we spoke on Wednesday morning, Bergstresser mentioned the following steps had been unclear, and he or she had now not but won an be offering to go back to her activity. But when this took place, she mentioned, “I’d take it.”
