LEILA FADEL, HOST:
As the Trump administration lays off tens of thousands of federal workers, there's a lot of confusion about which jobs and programs are getting cut and why. There's also a lot of fear and pushback - like yesterday, outside the federal housing agency known as HUD.
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UNIDENTIFIED RALLYGOER #1: Come on. Let's hear those voices.
UNIDENTIFIED RALLYGOER #2: (Yelling) Yeah.
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED RALLYGOER #1: Yes. Yes. Yes.
FADEL: Democratic members of Congress joined the rally and called for more information from Elon Musk's DOGE. NPR's Jennifer Ludden joins us now to talk about all this. Good morning, Jennifer.
JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: So you've been reporting that the Trump administration was planning deep cuts at HUD - half the staff overall - and possibly closing some offices around the country. What did members of Congress show up to say?
LUDDEN: Well, obviously, they're concerned about what cuts might mean for the millions of people struggling to afford housing. And they really questioned how it is that Elon Musk's DOGE team can exert so much power. Maxine Waters was at the rally. She's the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.
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MAXINE WATERS: I want Elon Musk to know nobody elected him.
UNIDENTIFIED RALLYGOERS: (Yelling) No.
WATERS: The people did not select him.
UNIDENTIFIED RALLYGOERS: (Yelling) No.
WATERS: But the people are going to eject him.
UNIDENTIFIED RALLYGOERS: (Yelling) Yeah.
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LUDDEN: Now, Waters and 120 other Democrats wrote HUD, demanding to know what more is on the chopping block. They also want to know which political appointees have access to HUD data. And they're concerned that two known DOGE people at HUD have a conflict of interest because they came from real estate companies that could benefit from less oversight.
FADEL: Yeah. And overall, a lot of these DOGE decisions are the subject of court cases. What does HUD say to these concerns that you just laid out?
LUDDEN: Well, I did ask, but in a statement to NPR, the agency did not address those concerns. Instead, a HUD spokesperson said employees who had been working remotely were on a, quote, "taxpayer-funded vacation," but that now public money is being used efficiently and effectively. And, you know, to be clear, even many at HUD agree there is room to make the agency more efficient. They just don't think mass firings is the way to do it. At the rally, I met Abigail Young. She's a former HUD attorney, one of many probationary employees fired last month. She says her team went after businesses and housing providers for fraud, waste or abuse - you know, things like wrongfully charging extra money when people paid their mortgage by phone or online.
ABIGAIL YOUNG: I think the hypocrisy is astounding, in that specifically my job, we get money back for HUD. And it's scary to see, really, the dismantling of the government before our very eyes.
FADEL: Now, President Trump wants to shrink the government. He's also promised to make housing more affordable. What are you hearing about how all these changes might affect people's ability to pay rent or a mortgage?
LUDDEN: One big fear is for those with federal housing vouchers. I mean, losing so many staff could really slow down processing them all. People could lose vouchers and be evicted. But there's also concern about sprawling ripple effects in the private market. David Garcia is with the nonprofit Up For Growth, which wants to boost housing supply. He says if HUD programs get cut, there would be less affordable housing built, and because HUD insures mortgages, fewer people would be able to buy a home. Last year, Garcia says the agency helped nearly half a million first-time buyers, many of whom would not have qualified for a mortgage otherwise.
DAVID GARCIA: HUD touches so much of housing throughout the country that it's really hard to wrap your head around all of the impacts of such a huge reduction of the workforce and how that will impact everyone's day-to-day lives.
LUDDEN: And Garcia says the confusion right now brings risk. And that means some developers may just hold off building - especially affordable housing, when really, the country desperately needs more of it.
FADEL: NPR's Jennifer Ludden. Thank you, Jennifer.
LUDDEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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