Washington - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner released the following statement after the City of Asheville, North Carolina posted a draft action plan on its website which included DEI criteria as part of how it intends to distribute millions of dollars for Hurricane Helene disaster relief. HUD will not approve the city’s draft action plan in its current form.

“HUD looks forward to helping thousands of North Carolinians rebuild after Hurricane Helene by directing funding assistance to impacted businesses, non-profit organizations and neighborhoods. However, Asheville’s draft action plan incorporated DEI criteria to prioritize some impacted residents over others, which was unacceptable. After HUD informed Asheville that its plan was unsatisfactory and it would not be approved, the city assured us that it was updating its draft action plan to be compliant.

“Once again, let me be clear DEI is dead at HUD. We will not provide funding to any program or grantee that does not comply with President Trump’s executive orders,” Secretary Scott Turner stated.

HUD allocated $225 million in Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding to the City of Asheville for unmet disaster-related needs following Hurricane Helene. In its draft action plan, the City of Asheville wrote: “Within the Small Business Support Program, the City will prioritize assistance for Minority and Women Owned Businesses (MWBE) within the scoring criteria outlined within the policies and procedures.”

President Trump’s Day One Executive Order to end radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing eliminated discriminatory government-funded DEI practices. President Trump an end to manipulated standards in the name of discriminatory “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) initiatives.

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HUD.gov