An exodus of top-level officials during the previous administration has left the Department of Housing and Urban Development short of expertise even as its role expands.
WASHINGTON — During the 2020 campaign, President Biden pledged to transform the Department of Housing and Urban Development into a frontline weapon in the fight against racial and economic inequality.
But when his transition team took over last fall, it found a department in crisis.
The agency’s community planning and development division, the unit responsible for a wide array of federal disaster relief and homelessness programs, had been so weakened by an exodus of career officials that it was faltering under the responsibility of managing tens of billions of dollars in pandemic aid, according to members of the team. Continue reading.