Overview:

Chapter 15 outlines a plan to shrink the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), reduce government intervention in housing markets, weaken fair housing enforcement, and promote a conservative vision of individual responsibility and upward mobility.

Key Takeaways:

  • “Resetting” HUD: The chapter calls for “resetting” HUD by reversing what it sees as the Biden administration’s “progressive ideologies” and refocusing the agency on its core mission of providing affordable housing, suggesting a significant reduction in its role and scope.
  • Individual Responsibility: It emphasizes the importance of individual responsibility and self-sufficiency, arguing that HUD programs should encourage people to become independent rather than reliant on government assistance.
  • Weakening Fair Housing Enforcement: It recommends repealing the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulation, arguing that it is an overreach of federal power and undermines local control, potentially allowing for increased housing discrimination.
  • Restricting Housing Assistance: It proposes prohibiting non-citizens from living in federally assisted housing, arguing that HUD’s primary responsibility is to provide housing for American citizens.
  • Scrutiny of Foreign Ownership: It calls for greater oversight of foreign ownership of U.S. real estate, particularly by China, echoing the broader Project 2025 focus on countering Chinese influence.

Critical Quote:

“This effort should specifically include a broad reversal of the Biden Administration’s persistent implementation of corrosive progressive ideologies across the department’s programs.”

Why It Matters:

This chapter reveals a plan to significantly reduce the government’s role in addressing housing affordability and discrimination, potentially leading to increased homelessness, a widening of the racial wealth gap, and a more unequal housing market.

Red Flags:

  • Increased Homelessness: Cutting funding for affordable housing programs and promoting a more market-driven approach could exacerbate homelessness, particularly among vulnerable populations.
  • Housing Discrimination: Weakening fair housing enforcement could allow for increased discrimination against minorities and immigrants in housing.
  • Targeting of Immigrants: Restricting housing assistance to citizens would discriminate against immigrants, including those who are legally present in the U.S.

Bottom Line:

Chapter 15 outlines a dangerous agenda that would prioritize individual responsibility and free markets over the government’s role in ensuring fair and equitable access to housing, potentially leading to a more unequal and less just society.