1. United States
2. N.C.
3. Letter

I am writing about HUD’s recent retaliatory firings of civil rights attorneys Palmer Heenan and Paul Osadebe. Both of these employees were fired on the sole basis of their exercise of legal procedures to report that the Trump administration had dismantled efforts to combat residential segregation. I would like you to request that the appropriate oversight committees conduct hearings to investigate these firings by HUD as well as the merits of the complaints filed by these attorneys about political interference in the agency’s carrying out its statutory purposes. These firings represent a troubling and illegal abuse of authority. They are also a violation of the transparency and accountability which must guide any federal agency, regardless of party… These actions send a disturbing message to the American people and other HUD employees that loyalty to the Administration is primary, rather than the Constitution and the Department’s statutory obligations. The enforcement of the Fair Housing Act must be protected and independent from political interference. The “Fair Housing Act” is not optional, and HUD must defend civil rights in housing!