President Trump has embarked on a strategy to cut federal agency budgets while promising to mitigate the housing crisis. However, his attempt to reclaim $20 billion from the EPA has jeopardized housing projects tied to prior funding agreements. Nonprofit groups assert that the withdrawal of funds undermines plans for 60,000 new homes, including affordable housing options. As crisis levels of housing shortages represent an urgent issue in the U.S., the potential loss of these projects complicates efforts to address the 3.7 million unit deficit identified by Freddie Mac.
The head of the EPA has justified the clawback attempt with unproven accusations that the grants were marred by 'programmatic fraud, waste, and abuse.'
There's a significant part of the strategy focused on building not only new housing but new affordable and workforce housing, said Beth Bafford, the CEO of Climate United.
Freddie Mac calculated recently that the country is short about 3.7 million housing units, highlighting the urgent need for new construction amid funding cuts.
Climate United estimates that about 30,000 single-family homes and another 30,000 apartment units were to be built with some of the withheld funds.
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