GovernmentExecutive.com

ksaldarini@govexec.com

A recent negative review of a Housing and Urban Development program has prompted HUD officials to brand Inspector General Susan Gaffney as politically biased against the agency.

A report released last week by HUD's IG office criticizes the department's Community Builders program, an effort to separate customer service from other agency operations.

The audit was part of the IG office's continuing reviews of HUD's 2020 management reform plan, an attempt to reorganize the department and repair its reputation as a department plagued by scandal and mismanagement. The Community Builders program, a major piece of the HUD 2020 plan, transferred 400 employees into customer service functions.

According to the report, "the one clear effect of Community Builders is the dramatic increase in the number of people at HUD not part of a specific program, engaged in customer relations, and owing their jobs to the department's political management."

But agency officials say that criticism was tailored to support Republican opposition to the program as Congress debates HUD's fiscal 2000 budget, according to an Associated Press report.

The recent spat is the latest in a long line of disputes between the HUD IG's office and top department officials. Last year, Gaffney accused HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo of "harassing and undermining" her.