00:00work with both of you on this committee. Secretary Turner, welcome. You know, the entire point of your
00:07department is to help Americans keep a roof over their head. I am really afraid that pretty much
00:14everything that you and President Trump have done to date appears kind of in direct opposition to
00:19that goal. First off, the President's illegal funding freezes are causing chaos across the
00:25country. I was in Everett in my home state of Washington a few weeks ago. I was talking to
00:30organizations that help people find housing, and if they can't get their already awarded funding,
00:37they will be forced to start evicting people this summer and may even have to shut down their
00:43services altogether. And on top of that, you're pushing out 2,300 staff who are dedicated public
00:50servants with decades of experience. And I just don't see how you can tell us with a straight
00:55face that forcing out over a quarter of your workforce is going to have no effect on your
01:01department's ability to meet its statutory responsibilities under law. And now, after all
01:06the damage that's been done, you're here today requesting that Congress slash funding for your
01:12department nearly in half, nearly in half. That would force millions of Americans out of their homes.
01:18Your request would force states to make up for the draconian cuts and abdication of responsibility.
01:24And I don't know what state can afford to do that, especially when this administration
01:29is simultaneously working to shift even more costs to states for things like SNAP and health care.
01:37It is kind of absurd to claim that we cannot afford basic programs that keep people off the streets,
01:43but we can hand trillions of dollars in new tax cuts to billionaires and big corporations.
01:48You know, housing affordability and homelessness is a crisis in Washington State and in many places
01:56across the country. You know that. But this administration just appears to me to be trying
02:01to make it all worse. And I'll tell you right now, looking at your budget request, as far as I'm
02:07concerned as vice chair of this committee, it's not going anywhere. I want to start with the funding
02:13that you are illegally freezing. The continuum of care program is essential to addressing homelessness
02:20in my home state of Washington. In March, HUD began issuing grant agreements with a host of new
02:28conditions that are deeply concerning and completely unrelated to HUD's mission. HUD did so, did that
02:37without notice and without any explanation of what the vaguely worded conditions mean or what a grantee
02:44would be required to do. As I said earlier, organizations I have talked to in my state say
02:49that without these funds, they are going to evict people this summer. The courts, as you know,
02:55are sorting this out. I'm glad to see that they have extended the preliminary injunction to stop HUD
03:01from enforcing these new and extreme requirements. But Mr. Secretary, I want to ask you, are you
03:07going to, and I quote from the court order, take every step necessary to effectuate this order,
03:13including clearing any administrative, operational, or technical hurdles to implementation?
03:22Thank you, Madam Senator. Great to meet you. As you have said, this is under active litigation,
03:28and so we'll leave it there. And once this is through litigation, I look forward to having a
03:35conversation, but right now I won't comment on it. Not even to tell us if you're going to, if you're
03:39following the court order? I will follow the law, but I won't, I won't mention it anymore if it's
03:45under active litigation. Are you following the court order? Our team follows the law and the court order,
03:51yes, ma'am. Are you in full compliance with the court order? I'm not going to speak anymore
03:55because of the active litigation. You can't even tell us? You know, the other thing that I wanted
03:59to mention to you. Well, let me just follow up on this. When will you be in full compliance with
04:07the court order? Are you, are funds being withheld today? We will be with you as soon as we can once
04:14it's done with active litigation. So are funds being withheld right now, even though the court
04:19order is in place? You know, you talked about the 2,300 people. So, Mr. Secretary, I'm, I just want you to
04:26know I'm talking about this continuum care because I am hearing from providers in my state that funds
04:32are being withheld, meaning you are not in compliance. Are you aware of that?
04:38Ma'am, I am aware of the litigation. Yes, ma'am. It's an active litigation center.
04:42Yeah, and I'm hearing that funds are still being withheld despite the court order. So I want, I need to
04:49know if you know that and if you're going to make sure that the funds are released.
04:53Yes, ma'am. I'm the secretary. And so things that go on at HUD, I'm well aware of. But I also know with this
05:00active litigation that I'm not going to say very much in our hearing today, but happy to talk to you
05:05as time goes on and as I'm able to. Well, the. I commit to that. Well, we are running out of time.
05:10They're going to start evicting people and they need those funds. I want to move on to another example
05:15because I just have. Can I address the 2,300 people right quick? Well, you're just going to. Okay.
05:19You got 10 seconds because I need to talk to you about. I'll take. So just to clarify the 2,300 people
05:26that left HUD, it was voluntary. They were not forced. I know. I've been hearing that from every secretary
05:31that comes before. Well, no, ma'am. This is just me from HUD and I'm just telling you it's 2,300 that
05:36they took the DRP. 2300 that were told if you don't get out now, you're going to be sorry in the future. So
05:40it is people that we need there. Anyway, let me move on to another example.
05:45Your green and resilient retrofit program, that was created to help make properties more resilient to disasters
05:52and less expensive to heat and cool. On day one, you and the president deemed this common sense program
05:59woke somehow and have illegally attempted to terminate it. The courts have now directed HUD to process and disperse
06:06those funds. But I want you to know we are hearing from owners that HUD is doing nothing to restore the
06:13administrative contract that Doge canceled, which is holding up this deal for moving forward.
06:20This committee has now asked five times for HUD to brief my staff on this, yet they've refused to speak
06:28to us about basic legal requirements. So let me just ask you here today, why are you preventing HUD
06:34assisted property owners from making overdue upgrades to low income and senior housing?
06:40Again, Senator, this also is under active litigation, as you know. And so my comments on this will be zero to limited. It's under active litigation. As soon as we get done with that, I'm happy to speak with you.
06:52Well, there are people waiting. And this fund's critical. And there are court orders. I expect them to be followed. And I'm just going to say for the record, there is nothing objectionable about this funding. It is stunning to me that we are under a court order and you're not giving the money out. It's for things like replacing windows that are
07:10and outdated HVAC systems, installing fire resistant roofs. These are things that are badly needed for people in this country. And I am out of time. So thank you, Madam Chair.
07:20Thank you, ma'am. Senator Cairns. Thank you, Chair Hyde-Smith and Ranking Member Gillibrand, Secretary Turner.
07:28Later, Chair Hyde-Smith and Ranking Member Gillibrand.
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07:49He just applied to the library house.
07:52I spent more five years ago.
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07:55It was now a fourth time.
07:56A fourth time later.
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