Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson is expected to announce his resignation Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, a decision that will deal a blow to the Bush administration’s efforts to tackle the housing crisis.
The exact reasons for Mr. Jackson’s decision couldn’t be learned. Earlier this month, two Democratic senators, Patty Murray of Washington and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, sent a letter to President Bush urging him to request Mr. Jackson’s resignation, arguing that accusations of wrongdoing had made him ineffective.
The department has scheduled an announcement for 10 a.m. Asked if Mr. Jackson was planning to resign, HUD spokeswoman DJ Nordquist said she was “not at liberty to say what the announcement is.â€
Mr. Jackson, a former top housing official in Texas, Washington, D.C., and Missouri, has consistently denied any improper behavior while leading HUD. Still, his poor relationship with Democrats has hurt the White House’s efforts to broker deals in response to the housing crisis. For example, Democrats have criticized the way he handled public housing after Hurricane Katrina, an issue that has dogged him ever since.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120692786807175983.html?mod=hps_us_whats_newsI agree with Michelle Malkin's comments -
Bush’s HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson is expected to resign this morning. The WSJ says the resignation “will deal a blow to the Bush administration’s efforts to tackle the housing crisis.†Two quick points on that.
1) To the extent that it will stop the administration from pandering on the subprime crisis and increasing government meddling to make it worse, I’m all for “dealing a blow†to those efforts.
Regarding the newly announced Bush administration mortgage bailout plans today, I’m with Hans Bader and Right Truth, who say these plans turn the Aesop’s fable about the ant and the grasshopper on its head
2) Jackson’s alleged cronyism sounds like past Bush administration cronyism I’ve criticized sharply before (see my blogging on Michael Brown, Julie Myers, and DHS). If half of what’s alleged is true, how would his resignation “deal a blow†to the administration?
http://michellemalkin.com/
