U.S. House Financial Services Committee questions HUD on public housing safety and promotes Housing for the 21st Century Act

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a full committee hearing with Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner on HUD’s role and potential solutions to housing affordability, with a focus on public housing safety and legislative proposals intended to modernise federal housing programs and expand supply. Chairman French Hill highlighted alleged failures at the Little Rock Housing Authority, including not completing required audits and what he described as inadequate oversight by the city, the local HUD office in Little Rock and the regional office in Dallas Fort Worth, and referenced requesting a HUD Office of Inspector General investigation. Secretary Turner said HUD has established a task force and launched a hotline to report criminal activity in public housing authorities. Members also pointed to the Housing for the 21st Century Act, which the committee advanced in December, as a vehicle to cut federal “red tape” and increase flexibility, including Rep. John Rose’s Housing Supply Expansion Act of 2025 to remove an “outdated federal requirement” affecting manufactured housing. Subcommittee Chair Andy Barr promoted his Housing Plus Act, which would prohibit HUD from restricting CoC funds to providers that provide wraparound services, citing homelessness reaching an all-time high in 2024, while Turner said HUD has eliminated the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule as part of an overregulation rollback.