The Future State of HUD: What Difference Could MHC's Make?

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been a troubled agency for at least two decades. In the mid-1990s, the department’s troubles were so serious that GAO gave it a first-ever whole department “high risk” designation. The perception became widespread—both inside and outside the government—that HUD simply doesn’t work.

This situation has attracted many reformers. The Millennial Housing Commission (MHC) is by no means the first. So MHC has an opportunity to draw on other recent reform efforts to help it understand what needs to be done and how to do it successfully. The purpose of this paper is to examine how MHC’s main reform proposals might affect the future organization and management of HUD. The question is, “What would HUD look like if the Commission’s recommendations were to be implemented?”