The U.S. Agency for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has rejected an effort to repair Hurricane Helen in Asheville, North Carolina.
“HUD looks forward to helping thousands of North Carolinians rebuild Hurricane Helen by directing financial support to affected businesses, nonprofits and neighborhoods.” said in a statement on monday.
“However, Asheville's draft action plan incorporated the DEI standard to prioritize residents affected over other residents, which was not accepted,” he added. “After HUD informed Asheville that its plan was inadequate and not approved, the city has ensured that it is updating its draft action plan to comply.”
Asheville Draft has been expanded The 2025 Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Action Plan was allocated $225 million last Tuesday by HUD. The 125-page plan states that the funds will be spent on economic recovery, infrastructure and housing. The biggest part of that, $130 million, will be spent on infrastructure.
HUD denounced part of the 76-page plan, saying, “Within the Small Business Support Program, the city will prioritize supporting minority and women-owned businesses (MWBEs) within the scoring standards outlined in the policy and procedures.”
“Day is dead in HUD. I'll look into this,” Turner I wrote it last Wednesday With Social Platform X, less than a week has passed before the official rejection of Asheville's recovery efforts.
On his first day in office, January 20th, Trump wrote an executive order seeking to eliminate federal government DEI practices. The order directed the Office of Personnel Management and Management and Budget to work with the agency to end “all discriminatory programs.”
North Carolina was devastated by Hurricane Helen. The storm has passed Estimated $59.6 billion in damagesaccording to the state's state budget management report released last December.
Western North Carolina, particularly the area around Asheville, was the worst affected in the state due to landslides and floods, killing dozens of people and destroying roads and buildings.
“Let's once again reveal that Dei is dead in HUD. We will not fund programs or grantees that do not comply with President Trump's executive order,” Turner said.
