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Dodd, Murray call on HUD’s Jackson to resign |
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By Jessica Holzer
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Posted: 03/21/08 01:49 PM [ET] |
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Two key Senate Democrats called for Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Alphonso Jackson to step down on Friday, saying that he had refused to clear up allegations of impropriety clouding his tenure at the agency. In a letter to President Bush, Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) accused Jackson of stonewalling them during two recent appearances before their panels. The senators are the respective heads of the Senate Banking Committee and the Housing Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversee HUD. “Secretary Jackson refused to answer our questions, effectively rejecting our oversight role — a role we take very seriously,” they wrote. They argued that the allegations — including the claim that Jackson sought to retaliate against a state housing authority for not helping one of his friends — made him unfit “to effectively address the current housing crisis.”
Recent charges of partisan dealings and cronyism have tainted Jackson just as the troubles in the housing market have deepened. An Inspector General’s report revealed that Jackson had urged senior staff to take political affiliation into account when awarding contracts. According to e-mails recently reported by The Washington Post, high-level HUD officials appeared to be scheming to take away federal funds from the Philadelphia Housing Authority after it did not turn over land to one of Jackson’s friends. Dodd and Murray said Jackson rebuffed their inquiries into these matters at hearings earlier this month. |
