DOGE Cancels Affordable Housing Deals in Anti-DEI Push

The Trump administration’s anti-DEI crusade is hitting affordable housing groups across the country.

After a review by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, millions of dollars of federal contracts in the sector were canceled, Bloomberg reported. DOGE staff determined which contracts to cut by searching nonprofit websites and LinkedIn pages for terms associated with diversity, equity and inclusion.

The contracts were cut in February after DOGE directed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to inform nonprofits if they were “not in compliance with the Executive Order titled ‘Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.’”

Projects in more than 1,000 communities were affected by the canceled contracts. The projects involved addressing homelessness, disaster recovery, persistent poverty and more housing issues.

At least eight national organizations saw technical assistance contracts canceled, taking away grants for consulting on tools, coordination and systems. Two of the three groups that administer Section 4 — which provides support for capacity-building and community development and requires recipients to “advance housing justice” and “support underserved communities,” according to HUD — had awards eliminated too.

The nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corporation had all of its technical assistance and Section 4 awards canceled, according to the organization. The $30 million in lost contracts included providing first-time homebuyer support in the Mississippi Delta to local teachers.

Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit run by former HUD secretary Shaun Donovan, had four contracts canceled, including a $32 million reward under Section 4, for which the nonprofit would redistribute funds to groups that build and preserve affordable housing.

Donovan said the cuts “will raise costs for families, hobble the creation of affordable homes, forfeit local jobs, and sap opportunity from thousands of communities in all 50 states.”

The third group that administers Section 4, Habitat for Humanity, did not appear to be affected by the cuts; its website describes the group as a nonprofit ecumenical Christian organization.

While HUD acquiesced to the cuts, the agency said it was planning to allow appeals and is now communicating that process with grantees.

— Holden Walter-Warner