During a House Financial Services Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA) spoke of her disapproval for cuts in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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00:00Chairman Yales, the gentleman from Georgia, Ms. Williams, is now recognized for five minutes.
00:08Thank you, Chairman Muzer and Ranking Member Green.
00:10Under former HUD Secretary Marsha Fudge, y'all HUD's mission was very clear.
00:15Create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality, affordable homes for all.
00:22So I'm curious today, exactly what part of that mission statement are President Trump and his billionaire buddy against?
00:29Let's start with the part about building strong, sustainable, inclusive communities.
00:34How is Trump and Musk building on this with firing so many HUD staff that it can't even carry out its statutory requirements?
00:41Trump and Musk are illegally firing hundreds of HUD staff, including Trump's own former HUD inspector general, and closing critically needed field offices.
00:51All of this is happening when I know, just as my Republican colleagues know, just as our witness said today, that we still face a housing affordability and availability crisis in this country.
01:04Y'all, this isn't about cutting waste, because that's something that we can all agree on.
01:08You should see how I pinch a penny in my monthly budget.
01:11My husband will let you know, and my son, who wants to shop all the time, but we just can't.
01:17So we get that.
01:19This is about destroying and dismantling HUD while our communities back home are left to suffer these disastrous decisions of Trump and Musk that my Republican colleagues are enabling.
01:30This is the exact opposite of what HUD was doing under the leadership of Democratic former Secretary Marsha Fudge.
01:37So, how about the next part of HUD's former mission statement?
01:41Creating quality, affordable homes for all.
01:44With the reckless Trump tariffs, taxing hard-working Americans, and massive cuts to federal housing,
01:49the Trump-Musk administration is making housing even more unaffordable for folks back home while giving tax cuts to billionaires.
01:57The bottom line is Trump is prioritizing his billionaire buddies and personal vendettas over what's right for the household budgets of hard-working American families.
02:07To sum it all up, Trump and Musk are on the track to widen the racial wealth gap and increase housing insecurity for families and communities across the country that we were all sent here to represent.
02:18And the only way that we're going to stop this is stop them from making American families pay for billionaire tax cuts is if we expose them.
02:28And then together, Democrats and Republicans must demand better from our government.
02:33So let's do that today.
02:35Mr. Begg, Elon Musk and Doge gained access to the personal confidential data of the American people through government databases.
02:42Doge gained access to HUD's enforcement management system, which contains medical records, financial files, social security numbers, medical details, and the addresses of domestic violence survivors.
02:55What controls does HUD have in place to protect the data of the people of America from private entities seeking to exploit the data for their own personal and private gain?
03:04Thank you for the question.
03:06In general, the data that you're mentioning is protected from improper disclosure under the Privacy Act.
03:15That's the primary legal control in place.
03:19HUD has a number of information security controls within its information security program that are designed to ensure that that information is not improperly released.
03:29Mr. Begg, who is enforcing that?
03:32That would be the chief information officer.
03:34And do you have safeguards in place?
03:37Have you been aware that this data is being secured by the chief information officer?
03:43We do an annual review of their information security program.
03:47So that has not yet been done since January 20th?
03:50It's ongoing.
03:52So it would be, our review would include any, and it would look to identify any improper disclosures or removals of information from HUD systems.
04:01So that's just one of the many concerns that I'm hearing about from constituents back home since January 20th.
04:06Another concern that I'm hearing a lot about is cancel HUD contracts.
04:11The city of Atlanta, which is in my district, has one of the widest racial wealth gaps in the country.
04:15And many of my constituents rely on HUD to help them just get a jump start.
04:20Mr. Begg, there are multiple fair housing advocates in my district, all of whom have shared concerns about judges' cuts at the Office of Fair Housing and equal opportunity.
04:29One example is the Fair Housing Initiative Program's grant termination.
04:32On the night of February 27th, 2025, HUD sent notices terminating 78 grant contracts effective immediately.
04:40These canceled contracts severely impacted communities in their long-time work to enforce the Fair Housing Act, protecting seniors, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, families with children, people of color and faith, LGBTQ plus individuals, underserved rural communities, and other people who've been victims of housing discrimination.
04:59Mr. Begg, can you speak to the contracts, agreements, or activities relating to Fair Housing that have been canceled or being considered for cancellation?
05:08The cancellations are currently subject of litigation.
05:12And so what we're doing right now is monitoring the litigation to see what the outcome would be.
05:17Mr. Begg, I'm sorry, my time has expired, but I would love an answer to this in writing.
05:21Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.