The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a nomination hearing for Dr. Jared Bernstein to be chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and Solomon Greene to be an assistant secretary of Policy Development & Research at HUD and David Uejio to be assistant secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD. Following the witnesses’ testimony, the committee will meet again to vote on the nominations. If the nominations are approved by the committee, they will then advance to the full Senate for consideration. All three nominations did not advance in the 117th Congress and were resubmitted at the beginning of this Congress.
Uejio’s testimony cited the evolution of housing discrimination, including the use of “algorithmically-generated indicators in credit scoring and tenant screening, which themselves could bake in discrimination or exclusion in ways that are insidious and difficult to detect.”
In Ranking Member Tim Scott’s (R-SC) opening remarks, he indicated his lack of support for all three nominations. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked about how the tax code can be used to “juice housing supply,” including the LIHTC, New Markets Tax Credit and Neighborhood Homes Improvement Act. In response, Dr. Bernstein highlighted the administration’s budget request to increase LIHTCs saying, “I think that that policy has a particularly strong appeal right now and I would strongly urge to give that a close look. If confirmed, I would be happy to work with you and this committee on legislating those proposals.”
Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) questioned David Uejio about a February 2021 HUD memo, which directs the agency to assess all agency actions taken under federal statutes that prohibit sex discrimination and to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Senator Kennedy took issue with HUD applying the ruling in a fair employment case related to LGBT protections (Bostock v Clayton County) to HUD.
Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) questioned Solomon Greene about the increased role of institutional investors in the single-family and manufactured-home markets. Greene pointed to an expanded first-look period for for-sale properties within FHA’s portfolio to ensure that buyers are owner-occupants or community-based organizations.
