Department of Housing and Urban Development
The Department of Housing and Urban Development engages in a range of housing and community activities that used to be the responsibility of local governments and the private sector. Its public housing subsidies, rental assistance, and housing finance activities have proven to be costly and damaging to the economy. The department's poor management and misguided policies have led to fraud, corruption, and much wasteful spending.
The department will spent about $61 billion in 2011, or about $520 for every U.S. household. It employs 9,700 workers and operates 118 different subsidy programs.
Timeline of Government Growth
- See this timeline for key events in the department’s growth.
Reading Room
- Here are background studies that examine the department’s activities.
Cato Experts
- Mark Calabria, Director, Financial Regulation Studies
- Chris Edwards, Director, Tax Policy Studies
- Tad DeHaven, Budget Policy Analyst
Spending Cuts Summary
- Here are proposed spending cuts to the department to save taxpayers $63 billion annually.
Downsize This!
- HUD Scandals. The department has suffered many management failures, with corruption and cronyism a common occurrence in the executive suites.
- Public Housing and Rental Subsidies. Public housing projects and federal vouchers for low-income renters have proven to be expensive failures.
- Housing Finance and the 2008 Financial Crisis. Programs to subsidize home ownership have created large economic distortions and were an important cause of the recent financial crisis.
- Community Development. The department disregards traditional federalism and spends taxpayer money on properly local and private activities such as museums and parking lots.
"[The Department of] Housing and Urban Development has done an enormous amount of harm. My god, if you think of the way in which they have destroyed parts of cities under the rubric of eliminating slums . . . there have been many more dwelling units torn down in the name of public housing than have been built."
- Milton Friedman, Interview, Hoover Institution, February 10, 1999
