Federal Land Can Be Used to Build Affordable Housing

President Donald Trump's Department of Interior and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are working up plans to repurpose misused or vacant federal lands for housing projects to make homes affordable again in America.

"America needs more affordable housing, and the federal government can make it happen by making federal land available to build affordable housing stock," Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and HUD Secretary Scott Turner wrote in a joint op-ed for The Wall Street Journal this week.

"The Interior Department oversees more than 500 million acres of federal land, much of it suitable for residential use. The Department of Housing and Urban Development brings expertise in housing policy and community development. Together we are creating the Joint Task Force on Federal Land for Housing to increase housing supply and decrease costs for millions of Americans."

The plan seeks to "take inventory of underused federal properties, transfer or lease them to states or localities to address housing needs, and support the infrastructure required to make development viable — all while ensuring affordability remains at the core of the mission," they added.

"This is about more than building houses: We want to build hope," the op-ed concluded. "Overlooked rural and tribal communities will be a focus of this joint agreement. We are going to invest in America’s many forgotten communities. As we enter the Golden Age promised by President Trump, this partnership will change how we use public resources.

"A brighter future, with more affordable housing, is on its way."

As with any Trump initiative seeking to make America great again, there will be Democrat obstruction fueled by leftist hysteria and "hyperbole," according to Institute for Energy Research senior fellow Dan Kish.

"There's gonna be people who scream bloody murder and say they're selling off the national parks, but that's hyperbole," Kish told the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF). "In essence what we're talking about here is taking a look at our resource base and seeing whether it doesn't make some sense to free it up."

It will probably have to start with red states "champing at the bit," since activists in Democrat-run states are powerful in their obstruction, according to Kish.

"Utah has been fighting for more control over its land for a long time," Kish told DCNF. "The ability to have more control over federal lands and more say-so over what happens on federal lands within its reach would lead [states] to a different conclusion.

"I think ultimately states would see it in the benefit to have a stake in ownership or partial ownership or more of a say in how their lands are managed."

The "regulatory regime" in Democrat-run states will have to be overcome, he admitted.

"It's just impossible to build anything because of the shortage of land, and yet you've got no shortage of land, what you have is a shortage of ownership in private hands and a regulatory regime that keeps people from being able to build anything," Kish told DCNF.

Burgum and Turner acknowledged there will be "bad-faith critics" obstructing the agenda here.

"Streamlining the regulatory process is a cornerstone of this partnership," they wrote. "Historically, building on federal land is a nightmare of red tape — lengthy environmental reviews, complex transfer protocols, and disjointed agency priorities.

"This partnership will cut through the bureaucracy. Interior will reduce the red tape behind land transfers or leases to public housing authorities, nonprofits and local governments. HUD will ensure these projects align with affordability goals and development needs.

"This isn't a free-for-all to build on federal lands, although we recognize that bad-faith critics will likely call it that. It's a strategic effort to use our resources responsibly while preserving our most beautiful lands."