By April Ryan

Large-scale protests in major cities across the nation and Washington D.C. continue to grow in number and discontent against the drastic Trump administration job cuts. The mass demonstrations have not moved President Trump and Elon Musk to change course to make the US government leaner. Recently, Black Press USA spoke with Black Republican and media mogul Armstrong Williams. “Trump is in charge, and no one is stopping him,” according to Williams.

One of the many DOGE targets is the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Elon Musk and DOGE are expected to reduce HUD staff by 50%. According to a source close to the department, those cuts would “hollow out the agency.” That same former official confirms HUD senior staff have already been eliminated. The DOGE anticipated next step in the elimination process targets job cuts of four to five thousand people [HUD employees] across the country.” These cuts would create a work slowdown and a backlog for the “8 million” people serviced monthly by HUD, said the former official who wishes to remain anonymous.

Meanwhile, one of the first cuts in the Trump HUD agency was the program to halt discrimination in housing appraisals that targeted Black homeowners. On a related note, the Black homeownership rate in 2025 is lower than that of 1968, the year the Fair Housing Act was implemented. Sources have said the HUD job cuts will create a negative jolt for some cities that depend on block grants, funding for public housing, housing vouchers, monies for housing the homeless, housing counseling, remediation of lead pipes, FHA loans, Fair Housing programs along with down payment assistance that helps first time home buyers. As we count the numbers, hundreds of thousands of people receive home loans from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Viewing the current state of the housing market, there is “a slowdown in the Housing Market” as there is inventory for higher priced homes but those houses are “staying on the market longer” according to Marvetta Bozeman the President of the Empire Board of Realtists. When asked about affordable housing, Bozeman says, “The affordability is gone.”