AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Housing and Urban Development is one of the latest agencies hit by layoffs during this government shutdown, and many of the targeted staffers work in fair housing. It's part of a larger shake-up that critics say is undermining HUD's ability to enforce fair housing laws. NPR's Jennifer Ludden joins us now to tell us more. Hi, Jennifer.
JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE: Hi there.
CHANG: OK. So let's start with the latest firings. And we should mention that a judge has paused the firings while a lawsuit plays out, right? But in the meantime, who exactly was targeted at HUD?
LUDDEN: So there were more than 300 layoffs over all across offices, but nearly a third were people around the country who investigate fair housing complaints. I spoke with Sasha Samberg-Champion at the National Fair Housing Alliance. He says these investigators work with ordinary people who feel they've been discriminated against because of things like, you know, their race, sex, religion or a disability.
SASHA SAMBERG-CHAMPION: It might be you need a handlebar in your apartment, or you need your service animal, or you were denied a rental apartment because you have an arrest record from 30 years ago. No lawyer is going to take these little cases.
LUDDEN: So he said HUD really fills a gap here. In some cities, though, like Denver, Atlanta and Fort Worth, the layoffs really gutted those offices. Now, in a statement to NPR, HUD said all these firings were to align the agency's programs with Trump administration priorities.
CHANG: Well, I know that you've reported on previous rounds of cuts that also impacted fair housing staff. So if these offices are now being gutted, how are those staff members going to be able to do their jobs?
LUDDEN: Right. Well, that's exactly what advocates like Samberg-Champion wonder. All told, he says - between the layoffs and fork-in-the-road resignations, he says HUD's fair housing staff will be down by two-thirds. And we've seen civil rights attorneys at HUD sound the alarm about that and also other changes. They say political staff are interfering in fair housing cases. They're changing settlement terms, rejecting compensation, even pulling out of some cases. That includes one this year where a large homeowners association in Texas had been charged with discriminating against Black renters.
Now, Paul Osadebe is a HUD civil rights attorney and union steward who spoke with me in his personal capacity. He says these moves violate the landmark Fair Housing Act, which means the agency is not doing its job, and that has consequences.
PAUL OSADEBE: It means that companies and landlords and states feel that the government isn't watching what they're doing, and they don't have to worry about their practices. And the practices range so widely, and they affect everyone.
LUDDEN: I should add that Osadebe and several colleagues went to Congress with all these allegations. He says he and another attorney have been targeted for dismissal.
CHANG: Wow. OK. Well, why does HUD say it's making all of these changes?
LUDDEN: I did not get a reply from HUD's press office, but last month, the head of HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity put out a long memo explaining why and how they are changing priorities. Basically - and this is interesting - the memo accuses previous administrations of going beyond the law to protect not just individuals but groups of people. It cites things like gender identity, environmental justice and race-based guidance, and it says those will no longer be a priority. The memo also says HUD is reviewing its approach to redlining that could include cases where, say, someone in a largely Black neighborhood has trouble getting a loan.
CHANG: And real quick, Jennifer, that does sound like a major rethinking of fair housing enforcement.
LUDDEN: It is. And advocates like Samberg-Champion really want to hear what Congress thinks about this. They say, look, Congress passed the Fair Housing Act and gave money for enforcement, and now HUD's refusing to spend it.
CHANG: That is NPR's Jennifer Ludden. Thank you, Jennifer.
LUDDEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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