The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was created on September 9, 1965, to coordinate the federal government’s efforts to tackle urban issues, such as substandard and deteriorating housing.
President John F. Kennedy launched the initiative, and following his assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson carried out the consolidation of five independent federal housing and community development agencies:
- The Federal Housing Administration was launched in 1934 to make homeownership possible for first-time homebuyers;
- The Public Housing Administration was established in 1937 to oversee the nation’s public housing;
- The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) was established in 1934 to create a secondary market in home mortgages;
- The Urban Renewal Administration was created in 1949 to direct slum clearance projects in almost 800 communities; and
- The Community Facilities Administration oversaw community development programs, including city planning grants, housing assistance for students and hospital and college employees, and mass transit grants.
In remarks on that September day, President Johnson celebrated next steps for housing.
“This legislation can be the Magna Carta to liberate our cities. It is vast in scope and vast in promise. With it, we have new means to win new rights for every American in every city and on every country road,” he said. That new right is the fundamental, and the very precious American right, to a roof over your head – a decent home.”
Today, it seems HUD is under siege as President Donald J. Trump’s presidential advisor Elon Musk is already delivering mandates to Scott Turner, who was recently appointed as HUD secretary.
Turner said: “We’re no longer in a business-as-usual posture, and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force will play a critical role in helping to identify and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse and ultimately better serve the American people.”
According to an agency worker and a union leader who has spoken to other HUD employees with direct knowledge of the upcoming plans, the Trump administration aims to lay off half of HUD’s staff.
According to NPR, recently announced program and staff cuts have agency officials “visibly upset,” at the “drastic” and “shocking” decision making.
A former HUD employee, Solomon Greene, recently described the work environment on LinkedIn as follows:
“For many reasons, I’ve been hesitant to post anything about the horrors happening at HUD and across the federal government, but sometimes it just hits too close to home. HUDUser, which is HUD’s website to share research, evidence, data, and innovation, has been gutted. Almost all its serial publications have been removed, including the Edge (HUD’s only online magazine), Evidence Matters (the name says it all!), and Policy & Practice,” Greene said.
But that’s not all that’s changed, according to the former HUD employee.
“The new political leadership also abruptly cancelled the Innovation in Affordable Housing Student Design Competition, in which students team up with public housing authorities to identify creative ways to improve the environment and lives of residents and communities,” Greene continued. “When science, evidence, and education in the service of communities are removed and cancelled, a new line has been crossed.”
There are certainly areas where HUD can be streamlined for greater efficiency. This is true for every federal agency and department under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
However, these cuts must be made compassionately and humanely by the billionaire president who currently resides in public housing and has done so for a total of 1,460 days.
This is where the Trump administration missteps with its heavy-handed approach to dismantling HUD.
“One of the first cuts in the Trump HUD agency was the program to halt discrimination in housing appraisals that targeted Black homeowners. On a related note, the Black homeownership rate in 2025 is lower than that of 1968, the year the Fair Housing Act was implemented,” April Ryan, White House bureau chief for Black Press USA reported.
Some may recall that during the Nixon Administration, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Trump, his father Fred, and Trump Management for racial discrimination against Black renters in their Queens properties.
Throughout its 40-year history, HUD has contributed significantly to decrease the Black homeownership gap. For instance, since 1934, the Federal Housing Administration and HUD have insured more than 44 million home mortgages and about 50,000 multifamily project mortgages.
President Johnson had big plans for HUD that worked toward equity for all Americans.
“America must ensure that every family lives in a home of dignity and a neighborhood of pride, a community of opportunity, and a city of promise and hope,” Johnson said in his closing remarks on the day HUD was established.
But look at where we are headed now.
I’m at 60-year-old woman who owned her own home and lost it through a squatter the justice system failed me. I was her fifth victim coconut creek please failed me. . Broward county Justice system failed me
Without going into grave detail, the last three years have been hell I never saw this coming
I found myself in the system immediately homeless I was a victim of a crime as well. All my money was taking my siblings are all ill and I have nowhere to go.
I had to deal with the government
HUD
This is been the worst experience of my life dealing with the Fort Lauderdale, Broward county housing development
They don’t care
They are rude when they do have you on the phone? It’s as though you’re annoying them. They never return your call. I was number 713 last year and a half
I started going down. I am disabled 52 and then I went backwards I could get no explanations why no help whatsoever it’s a horrible horrible thing to have to go through and not knowing where you’re going to land
as I stand here today telling you this, I’m still waiting.
Homeless and praying
I’m an American
My father was a prisoner of war
We’ve always worked paid our taxes. I was in charities myself helping.
And now I sit here with the world upon my shoulders, I have four grandchildren I haven’t seen in three years
They don’t know I’m homeless
I have been waiting almost 2 years. My number goes up back down. I am disabled and Hud has been a nightmare.!!!
I am disabled and Hud .. was investigating my illegal eviction because I complained about black mold and I was illegally evicted and my locks were changed and all of my possession was taken out my apartment. I have not ever been written up for at lease violation or anything. I was not serve a proper notice of eviction proceeding . In the event of the legal eviction I was left homeless for 8 months to sleep in my truck in the freezing cold without any notice left homeless. The investigation started November 13, 2023 it is now February 22, 2025. I have not received a determination notice from Hud with the findings my prior investigator retired without no communication with the complainant . I received a hundred day notice and I haven’t received anything else about the investigation. The chief of investigation told me if I didn’t take the money she was going to dismiss and close my case. Do the investigation supposed to last a year or longer?
Do the investigation for fair housing supposed to last a year? My prior investigator retired after a year another investigator told me she could not receive any information from the prior investigator and the investigation was reopened. I haven’t signed any thing to reopen investigation I was waiting on the determination letter.