Page 54 - The GSE Report March-April 2018

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Senator Duckworth’s hold on HUD nominations adversely impacts FHA
On April 19, Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) placed a blanket hold on all Trump nominations for vacant positions in HUD after the agency failed to respond in her prescribed deadline regarding more than 25 questions posed by Duckworth and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) regarding the closure of two dilapidated public housing complexes, impacting 85 residents. The senators called the closures “an ill-advised and heedless decision. In 2016, HUD placed the county public housing authority in receivership due to mismanagement—a move both senators widely praised at the time.
“It is unacceptable for HUD to make yet another rash decision that uproots dozens of families from their homes without providing a detailed explanation, especially after Donald Trump promised throughout his campaign to help communities exactly like Cairo and Thebes [referring to the towns where the facilities were located],” said Duckworth. “As long as hundreds of Illinoisans’ lives are stuck in turmoil because of rash decisions that HUD fails to effectively or fully explain, I will object to every nominee Donald Trump sends our way.”
Duckworth’s hold may have more detrimental ramifications on FHA—and first time homebuyers— than the senator is anticipating.
“The delay on the nomination of Brian Montgomery is a political game played at the expense
of homeownership,” said Five Star President and CEO Ed Delgado in reaction to the hold. “For three and a half years, FHA has been without a confirmed, permanent commissioner. This hold continues the practice of depriving HUD of vital leadership at one of its most crucial positions. These types of parliamentary tricks are out of step with the needs of homeowners and represent politics at its worst.”
In a letter on behalf of multiple trade organizations to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-IL), Delgado wrote:
On November 28, 2017, and again on January 8, 2018, the Senate Banking Committee voted to recommend the nomination of Brian D. Montgomery [by a vote of 18-5] ... Now, nearly four months since being approved by the committee for the second time, the status of Mr. Montgomery’s nomination to lead the Federal Housing Administration remains uncertain, with no vote scheduled in the near term.
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