The Biden administration is under growing pressure to finalize a policy hailed by progressive Democrats as essential to ensuring people of color have access to affordable housing.
A group of 28 House Democrats is demanding the Biden administration quickly issue the long-pending policy amid growing anxiety that it won’t be released or would be released late enough in the president’s term that it could be subject to rollback by a potential Donald Trump administration.
“Until the AFFH rule is released, the Fair Housing Act’s promises to prevent discrimination and affirmatively further fair housing will remain unrealized, even 56 years after its enactment,” the group of 28 Democrats, led by Reps. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) and Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden first obtained by POLITICO.
A chief concern of the AFFH rule supporters is that the clock is ticking for the Biden administration to release regulations that cannot easily be rolled back if Trump is reelected, along with GOP majorities in both chambers. Regulations finalized within the last 60 legislative days of the term are subject to such rollback. When that will hit in 2024 is not yet clear because legislative days can change.
