If you’re Donald Trump and you straight-out say you want to get eliminate the the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the reaction, even among many Republicans, will be outrage. Further, as a federal department, it would require congressional approval, and that’s hard.
Worry not. You can kill it off just as easily by …
… appointing a HUD Secretary who knows nothing about the subject, still seems to know nothing about the subject, and believes that housing problems amongs the impoverished can be solved through the power of positive thinking.
… leaving many of the other appointed positions vacant, so that there’s no program guidance and nobody to answer questions from within the ranks …
… except for the positions you fill with right-wing crackpots who, similarly, know nothing about housing or urban development, but who were loyal supporters in the campaign.
… let various programs languish so that the people who want to make a difference leave and the only people who feel motivated to stay are the clock-watchers who will reinforce the narrative about lazy government employees that you want people to have.
… cut the budget by double-digit percentages, which budget cuts your HUD Secretary will wave aside as nothing to worry about because there will be pie, in the sky, by and by.
Keep it up for a few years and, heck, maybe Congress will offer to put the place out of its misery. And if that means more homelessnes, more people out on the streets, more economic insecurity … well, most of those folk are your base voters anyway, so who cares?
Injecting common sense and logic? Has he decided to resign?