Local leaders grappled with the implications of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department’s suspension of federal funding to the V.I. Housing Finance Authority, and candidates for elected office wasted little time transmuting the news into campaign talking points.
In a statement posted on social media early Monday afternoon, the official campaign page for Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett and Senate President Milton Potter — who are vying to be the territory’s next governor and lieutenant governor, respectively — said the U.S. Virgin Islands “cannot afford four more years of failed oversight, weak accountability, and business as usual.” Plaskett told the Source Monday evening that she had yet to hear from Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. regarding HUD’s decision to suspend VIHFA from participating in future procurement and non-procurement transactions involving federal funds.
“My office has the relationships in Washington to understand exactly what HUD needs to see in order to restore confidence,” she said. “We’re prepared to help in any way we can, but so far we haven’t been engaged by the administration.”
Plaskett said her office immediately reached out to U.S. House Financial Services Committee leadership, HUD officials, a White House liaison and other federal partners to better understand the action — and what steps the territory can take next. Based on those conversations, Plaskett said HUD’s concerns are long-standing. According to Plaskett, federal officials have repeatedly warned the Bryan-Roach administration about weaknesses in financial controls, procurement practices, administrative costs and the pace of disaster recovery spending. While emphasizing that the funding itself has not been taken away, Plaskett said the suspension effectively prevents VIHFA from accessing those resources while the agency responds to HUD’s allegations.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said during a press briefing Monday that the territory will contest HUD’s findings within an allotted 30-day appeal period. Speaking to the Source and in a subsequent press release, Plaskett called for a turnaround plan that would involve handing the reins of recovery over to contractors.
“To date, there have been several companies that have been engaged and should have the expertise and experience to develop a plan which meets the satisfaction of the federal government,” Plaskett said in a statement. “Jacobs, Ernst and Young, and Witt O’Brien’s should be asked to provide pro bono support to create a plan that responds to the real concerns of the federal government. Our major contractors who have been contracted to partner in the rebuild with the Virgin Islands should be brought along in the process. Many have independent relationships with the Trump Administration and have seen other similar issues. As a plan is developed which removes authority from VIHFA and puts the entire program in a body which has more controls and oversight, the Governor should engage with and receive support from the Legislature of the Virgin Islands by bringing them along with our major contractors into the discussion, many of whom have worked on this in other jurisdictions.”
Plaskett wasn’t the only gubernatorial candidate to respond to news of the funding suspension.
In a statement posted to social media Monday, former senator and current gubernatorial candidate Donna Frett-Gregory called the funding suspension “one of the most serious challenges” in the territory’s recovery and said she agreed with the delegate to Congress in that “relationships do matter.”
“But, we also need leadership who can deliver results regardless of who occupies the White House. Federal officials control the funding and resources our Territory depends on,” Frett-Gregory wrote. “So ask yourself: Who is best positioned to help us restore confidence in Washington?”
Frett-Gregory noted that Plaskett led impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump in 2021 and “has been one of his most outspoken critics in Congress. Those are facts.”
“Today, Donald Trump is President of the United States,” she wrote. “The President appoints the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and his administration oversees the federal agencies that play a critical role in disaster recovery, including HUD and FEMA. Those relationships matter to the people of the Virgin Islands.”
Without mentioning him by name, Frett-Gregory wrote that Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach — whom she referred to as her “other opponent” — is “serving in this current administration whose watch has produced the very accountability failures that have placed our recovery efforts in jeopardy.”
“On one hand, we have an opponent who must answer for the management failures that have brought us to this point. On the other hand, we have an opponent whose long and highly public opposition to the current President raises legitimate questions about her ability to effectively advocate for the Virgin Islands with this administration,” Frett-Gregory wrote. “The Virgin Islands cannot afford either.”
Roach’s campaign issued a statement Monday night supporting the government’s appeal and stating that agencies should be scrutinized and individuals should be held accountable for their actions — “No exceptions.”
“This is not the time for finger-pointing or laying blame,” according to the campaign’s statement. “The real question before the people of this Territory is simple: Who is best positioned to advocate for the Virgin Islands with the federal government?”
Roach’s camp stressed that the funding suspension came on the first day of early voting, “and it targets two jurisdictions squarely in the President’s crosshairs: Minnesota, whose Congresswoman is at war with the President, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, whose nonvoting Delegate led the process that resulted in his impeachment.”
Monday’s funding suspension does not appear to impact Minnesota — which has been a frequent target of the Trump administration — in any way, but a Fox News article which broke the story of HUD’s funding freeze referred to the territory as the “Minnesota of the Caribbean.”
Multiple lawmakers weighed in on the funding suspension. Sens. Marise James and Clifford Joseph Sr. wrote to Potter Monday asking him to convene a Committee of the Whole to examine the issue.
“The Virgin Islands has received billions of dollars in federal disaster recovery funding following Hurricanes Irma and Maria,” Joseph stated. “These funds were entrusted to rebuild our homes, restore our communities, strengthen our infrastructure, and improve the quality of life for our residents. Any action that jeopardizes our ability to receive or administer those funds demands the highest level of attention by the Legislature.”
Sen. Marvin Blyden, who chairs the Senate Housing, Transportation and Telecommunications Committee, also wrote to VIHFA Chief Disaster Recovery Officer Dayna Clendinen directly Monday to request a full accounting of the semiautonomous agency’s projects.
“While certain portions of HUD’s letter are written in unusually strong terms, the Authority must focus its response on the substantive findings and alleged deficiencies identified in the notice,” Blyden wrote. “Many of the concerns described by HUD — including weak internal controls, inadequate auditing, delayed expenditures and the failure to deliver urgently needed housing — have been raised repeatedly during legislative oversight hearings.”
Following Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.’s responses to questions during Monday’s briefing, Government House issued a statement indicating that Bryan is seeking “formal clarification” from HUD.
“Like many Virgin Islanders, I first learned of this reported action through the Fox News story published today,” Bryan stated. “As of this moment, neither my office nor I have received formal notification from HUD beyond the correspondence sent to the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority.”
Bryan added that many of the matters raised by HUD “reflect issues that have been known for some time” and that “significant corrective actions have already been undertaken in the years since many of those findings were first identified.”
While stating that his administration looks forward to working with HUD to address the federal agency’s concerns, Bryan emphasized that any review or enforcement action shouldn’t hamper housing assistance, disaster recovery or community development projects.
“These resources support families, communities and projects that remain essential to the territory’s continued recovery,” he said. “It is important that this process be handled in a manner that protects the people of the Virgin Islands and does not unnecessarily disrupt critical housing and disaster recovery programs.”
