The Executive Orders, mass firings, and funding freezes that have made headlines over the last few weeks have a direct and potentially devastating impact on housing and community development in North Carolina, and we all have a role to play in preserving the transformative work that we do across the state. Here’s an overview on what’s going on, how it impacts housing in North Carolina, and what you can do to advocate for housing in this critical moment.
Preliminary Injunction on Executive Orders
On Friday, February 21, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on President Trump’s Executive Orders that directed Federal agencies to 1) terminate all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) related grants and contracts and 2) require federal contractors to certify that they don’t promote DEI or DEI related activities. The preliminary injunction means the Federal government now cannot terminate or amend existing grants based on these orders while litigation continues.
The vagueness of these Executive Orders is cause for concern. DEI is not defined in the orders and therefore left open to broad interpretation. Virtually all housing and community development work could fall under the umbrella of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion depending on who is interpreting. While the injunction is welcome news, these programs are still at risk, and some NC organizations, including the NC Housing Coalition, have already received requests from Federal agencies to self certify that they do not promote any DEI related activities or risk prosecution.
Preliminary Injunction on Funding Freeze
On Tuesday, February 25, another federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on the federal funding freeze, which the Coalition has been following closely over the last few weeks. The January 27 memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) put a temporary funding freeze on essentially every Federal housing and community development program. Following a national public outcry, OMB rescinded the memo, although the White House confirmed that the funding freeze was still in effect. Now, the preliminary injunction will ensure that lawfully appropriated funds will continue to flow during litigation. Over the past several weeks, some organizations have still encountered issues accessing Federal funds–if your organization is still having problems accessing funding that is owed to your organization, please let us know so we can help get that information into the right hands.
HUD to Lay Off 50% of Staff, 84% of CPD Staff
The planned 50% layoffs at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) includes includes 84% of staff at the Office of Community Planning and Development, which manages Federal disaster recovery, homelessness services, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the National Housing Trust Fund, and other critical housing and homelessness services. The resulting loss of infrastructure to administer these programs will be catastrophic. For a state that is still in the beginning stages of Helene recovery, disrupting the distribution of Federal aid in this way is unconscionable. Our delegation needs to know it and needs to hear it loudly and clearly.
House Drops Federal Budget
On Tuesday, February 26, the House passed their budget bill, which includes trillions in spending cuts but no specifics yet on funding for housing and community development programs. Budget negotiations will continue as we approach the March 14 federal spending deadline. Given the attempts to eliminate DEI related programs from the Federal government and the mass firing of HUD staff, deep cuts to housing and community development programs are likely.
How You Can Advocate for Housing and Community Development
Your voice matters now more than ever. What is happening is not normal, and it may be tempting to keep your head down and comply in advance with these anti-DEI orders in order to keep the resources flowing. But this is not a winning strategy, as this administration ultimately seeks to take away already appropriated funds and make deep spending cuts in the next Federal budget. It is only through collective advocacy that we are able to preserve these critical housing and community development funds.
Sign On Letter
More than 300 organizations, community groups, and individuals from every county in North Carolina signed onto our letter to NC’s Congressional delegation urging them to ensure appropriated Federal housing funds continue to flow and to prioritize housing and community development investments in this year’s Federal budget, which we sent on February 21. As we continue to advocate with our Senators and Congresspeople, we are continuing to accept signatures. Learn more and sign on here.
Share With Us
Several Federal agencies have sent notices to North Carolina grantees, including the NC Housing Coalition, demanding self-certification that the organization is not participating in any DEI-related activities. If you receive a notice like this or other irregular communications from HUD, the Small Business Administration, US Department of Agriculture, AmeriCorps, or other Federal agencies that fund your work, you are not alone, and we want to know about it. We are sharing this information both with our Congressional delegation and with partners who are working on litigation to ensure lawfully appropriated resources continue to flow. You can reach us at policy@nchousing.org.
Contact Your Legislators
North Carolina’s Senators and Congresspeople need to hear from you the importance of Federal housing investments and the potential consequences if those funds are reduced or eliminated. Those of us who work in housing tend to be patient, collaborative people, because it takes patience and collaboration to build, and we have members of this Coalition from across the political spectrum. But the current threats to housing and community development in North Carolina and across the country are existential, and we need to be communicating that loudly and clearly to our representatives. Consider designating one or more people on your staff to contact your legislators daily until these threats are resolved.
And while we are warning of the potential catastrophic impacts of these funding freezes and cuts, it’s important that we continue to articulate a vision that more just, affordable, and welcoming communities are possible through the key support of public resources. We don’t just want our representatives to react to threats at this moment–we want them to visualize a future we can all work toward together, so that they remain committed to prioritizing housing and community development.
Communicate the Role of Public Investments
In order to protect our public resources, we have to build a bigger coalition of housing advocates. Your donors, volunteers, board members, and other stakeholders need to know how Federal resources play a key role in the work that you do. From outside of the professional housing ecosystem, it may look like our work happens entirely through donations and private investments, but we know our work could not happen without programs like CDBG, HOME, and AmeriCorps. Our supporters need to know this, and they need to see our vision for just, affordable communities so that they can join us in advocating for the preservation of these resources.
We are in a significant fight. It cuts to the foundation of the work that we do, and the threats are existential. There’s no way to underplay it. For such a time as this. Now is the time to leverage the trusted relationships you have built with industry partners, communities, and elected officials to communicate the necessity of Federal housing and community development investments and the catastrophic impacts for communities across North Carolina if these funds disappear. In this moment, it is more important than ever to be a strong, vocal housing advocate.
