President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk, has said it plans to lay off 50% of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's workforce and eliminate half of its field offices.
Those cuts would increase homelessness in Connecticut, according to U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
“We’ve asked for information in three to four letters. And the secretary for Housing and Urban Development has answered not one of them,” Blumenthal said.
“They have denied essential information about these cutbacks in federal support for housing at a time we all know there is a housing shortage,” he said at a news briefing at the state Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Friday.
That would not be good for Connecticut, which had a 13% increase in homelessness last year.
“We are losing housing rather than creating more of it. HUD is vital to the middle class, as well as people with lower incomes and wealth. And all of us, regardless of how much we make or own, because the supply of housing will continue to go down,” Blumenthal said.
The Trump administration should stop gutting programs that protect families and instead focus on addressing the homelessness crises and providing resources to communities to tackle the housing shortage, he said.
In Connecticut HUD programs assist more than 160,000 people, 66% of which are seniors, children and people with disabilities, according to officials.
