…The White House also plans to dismantle a key office in the #housing agency that helps communities recover from deadly #NaturalDisasters, a move that could slow much-needed #emergency #aid. Separately, #Trump issued an #ExecutiveOrder last month eliminating a decades-old, government wide commission meant to coordinate the federal response to #homelessness.

…The expected cuts to #RentalAssistance reflect #Trump’s broader desire to *shrink the footprint of government & its reach into Americans’ lives* [more like kill the #poor, party with the #rich, eradicate the middle], a project that includes sharp #cuts to federal #antipoverty programs viewed as *too generous or wasteful*.

#Project2025’s #RussVought, #Trump’s director of the Office of Management & Budget [#OMB], previously endorsed an end to the federal #voucher program. He [falsely] wrote in 2022 that the #Section8 program in particular “brings with it crime, decreased property values, & results in dependency & subsidized irresponsibility.”

Federal #voucher programs currently provide assistance to ~2.3M #LowIncome #families, acc/to the govt’s estimates, who enroll through their local public-#housing authorities. The #aid is part of a broader universe of #RentalAssistance programs that are set to exceed $54B this fiscal year. But the annual demand for these subsidies is far greater than available funds, creating a sizable wait list as rents are rising nationally.

…the expected overhaul would most likely amount to more than just a technical change, resulting in fewer federal dollars for #LowIncome #families on top of additional cuts planned for the rest of the Dept of #Housing & Urban Development [#HUD]. On Thurs, the #Trump admin took the first steps toward potentially selling the agency’s HQ in Washington.

Admin ofcls recently discussed cutting or canceling out the #vouchers & other #RentalAssistance programs & potentially replacing them with a more *limited* system of #housing grants, perhaps sent to states, acc/to 3 people familiar with the matter…. The overhaul would be included in #Trump’s new #budget, which is expected to be sent to #Congress in the coming weeks.

The potential changes primarily concern federal #housing #vouchers, including those more commonly known as #Section8. The aid generally helps the poorest tenants cover the monthly costs of apartments, town homes & single-family residences.

@muiren We watched Origins last night, excellent, just as we’d expected of Ava DuVernay, and are glad to see our local public library has Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents in multiple formats, including large print, sound recording, and book adaptation for young adults. https://www.montereylibrary.org/cgi-bin/koha/opac-search.pl?idx=&q=caste+isabel+wilkerson&limit=&weight_search=1

Aristophanes, the most prominent playwright of Old Comedy, frequently targeted politicians, philosophers, and societal norms, using his plays to critique the Peloponnesian War and other political matters.

The comedies also depicted everyday life and common people, often highlighting their rise to higher status.