Carson facing lawsuit for rescinding Obama-era fair-housing rule: report

Fair-housing advocates plan to file a lawsuit early Tuesday accusing Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson of violating fair housing standards.

The Washington Post reported on Monday that the lawsuit focuses on Carson’s decision to suspend a 2015 rule that enforced the 1968 Fair Housing Act requirement for communities to desegregate or lose federal funding.

Three fair-housing groups have signed onto the lawsuit, which claims that Carson unlawfully suspended the 2015 rule by not providing proper public notice or a chance for public comment, the Post reported.

{mosads}The Obama-era rule required that communities receiving money from HUD develop and submit plans addressing segregation issues in their neighborhood. Those that did not receive subsequent approval for those plans would no longer receive federal funding.

The 2015 rule was put in place to address a lack of action in response to the 1968 law.

In a 2015 op-ed in The Washington Times, Carson called efforts to desegregate communities “failed socialist experiments.” 

“These government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality create consequences that often make matters worse,” he wrote.

In January, Carson said that his comments were taken out of context.

However, he proceeded to roll back the Obama-era regulation later that month.

Carson has drawn fire from Democrats dating back to his narrow confirmation as HUD secretary. Some have questioned the former surgeon’s credentials for the position, and he faced more recent criticism for the purchase of a $31,000 dining set for his office.

During a March Senate hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) went after Carson for his inattention to housing discrimination.

“It is HUD’s job to help end housing discrimination. That’s what the law said. You said you would enforce these laws. You haven’t, and I think that’s the scandal that should get you fired,” Warren said.