At Forum with HUD Whistleblowers, Warren Calls Out Trump Administration’s Attack on Fair Housing Amidst Housing Crisis

At Forum with HUD Whistleblowers, Warren Calls Out Trump Administration's Attack on Fair Housing Amidst Housing Crisis

"The Trump Administration has worked to destroy federal protections for renters and for homeowners, all across this country"

Warren spotlights HUD whistleblowers who exposed the Trump Administration for violating the law

Watch opening statement here (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, gave opening remarks at the "Fair Housing Under Fire" Spotlight Forum on the Trump Administration's failure to enforce fair housing and civil rights laws amidst a housing affordability crisis. The forum featured two HUD whistleblowers, Paul Osadebe and Palmer Heenan, who exposed the Trump Administration for violating federal law and abandoning Americans facing housing discrimination.

Below is Ranking Member Warren's opening statement as delivered at the beginning of the Spotlight Forum:

Welcome, Thank you all for joining today's forum.

I would like to start by thanking my co-conspirator here, Senator Smith, who has a long history of engagement on housing issues, long before she came to the United States Senate and during her time here in the Senate. And I appreciate that she is here. Today we will also have other Senators who are deeply engaged in questions around how people across America get access to housing and they may have to come and go because we've got a lot going on. But I appreciate that they show up, they're here, they care, and everybody will have a chance to look at the video that comes out of this.

You know, I also want to begin by thanking our two brave whistleblowers, Paul Osadebe, did I get it right? I practiced. Paul Osadebe and Palmer Heenan, also right, Palmer? At HUD, they helped expose the Trump Administration's dismantling of work to protect fair housing and civil rights.

I also want to thank Sasha Samberg-Champion, who is Special Counsel for Civil Rights at the National Fair Housing Alliance, and Martie Lafferty, Executive Director of the Tennessee Fair Housing Council. They are here to explain how much the Trump Administration's approach to housing is hurting people across the country.

Our nation is in a housing crisis. Costs are through the roof, families are struggling, and it's harder than ever for people to find safe housing.

Before President Trump took office, if you were a veteran with disabilities, and you were trying to rent an apartment or you were a homebuyer, and you've denied a mortgage because of the color of your skin, the Department of Housing and Urban Development stood up for your civil rights under the law. There was someone in Federal government assigned to help you.

But the Trump Administration has worked to destroy federal protections for renters and for homeowners, all across this country.

Last September, Mr. Osadebe, and Mr. Heenan, and other anonymous whistleblowers at HUD provided documents suggesting that the Trump Administration is obstructing fair housing and civil rights enforcement - and completely ignoring the law.

Now, According to these documents, the Trump Administration views the office that enforces legal civil rights protections in housing as a, quote, "optics problem."

Imagine thinking that defending Black families denied a mortgage or protecting a renter from sexual harassment by her landlord is an "optics problem." Imagine thinking that it is an "optics problem" to help the dad with a bad knee whose landlord refuses to install a handrail on the stairs.

Let's be clear: HUD has a legal responsibility to enforce the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws for every person in this country.

But as the whistleblowers have told us, HUD is failing to do its job.

Instead: They're firing, reassigning, intimidating, and silencing staff.

They're launching bogus investigations into Boston's efforts to build more housing and bring down costs.

They're letting corrupt landlords get away with overcharging on rent, while Donald Trump continues to break his promise to cut housing costs in half.

They're working to weaken rules that protect people from discrimination in the housing market.

They're abandoning the Violence Against Women Act, leaving survivors of domestic violence with nowhere to turn to access safe housing.

They're refusing to disburse funds that Congress instructed must go to organizations to help enforce fair housing protections.

And the list goes on…

The consequences are enormous. Already, hundreds of housing discrimination cases have been dropped or stalled. People who are already struggling have to ask themselves, why even file a complaint if there's no one there to enforce the law?

What the Trump Administration is doing is wrong, and we won't stand by while they hurt families and make the housing crisis even worse.

So here's what we're doing:

I've called for HUD's Office of the Inspector General to launch an independent investigation into the Trump Administration's attack on civil rights exposed by the whistleblowers' complaints.

I teamed up with Ranking Member Maxine Waters on the House Financial Services Committee to push for hearings on the whistleblower claims. So far, our Republican counterparts have refused.

I've even invited HUD Secretary Scott Turner to testify today to explain the dismantling of fair housing protections. You will notice, he is not here.

The Trump Administration is doing worse than nothing in response to the whistleblowers' claims. Instead, it escorted the whistleblowers out of the building. That's their view of how to deal with the problem.

Now, while Democrats don't control Congress, we will use every tool at our disposal, like today's forum, to hold President Trump and his lackeys accountable for undermining fair housing and civil rights for families all across this country.

So, Members of the panel, I look forward to your testimony.

Again, I want to say, Mr. Osadebe and Mr. Heenan, thank you very much for your service and for speaking out. The American public deserves to know the truth.

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