The head of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2015, has left his post at a time when the Trump administration has signaled it is seeking solutions to address the problem in cities beleaguered by the problem, including Los Angeles.
The Washington Post reported on Matthew Doherty being dismissed from his post. He sent an email to colleagues that said President Donald Trump “no longer wishes to have me” leading the council.
“It has been an incredible honor to serve at USICH, and I do feel like I am leaving on my own terms,” Doherty said in an email the Post obtained. “I believe that I have been able to keep my integrity intact; but, they have now told me to pack my things up and go.”
As Tweets from faster fingers than mine have been hinting, today was my last day in service as Executive Director at @USICHgov, at the administration’s request (as is their right.) Incredibly honored to have had the opportunity to serve in this role, and, as importantly … (1/4)
— Matthew Doherty 🏳️🌈 (@m_j_doherty) November 15, 2019
The council “is tasked with coordinating the federal response to homelessness across 19 agencies, including the Departments of Housing and Urban Development; Education; Labor and Commerce,” the Post reported.
The Post explained how the bureaucracy, which operates under the radar, works:
The council is chaired by Frank Brogan, an assistant secretary at the Education Department. For a while in the Obama administration, the council was chaired by the labor secretary, which suggests that the Trump administration has lowered its status.
The council so far has not been involved in planning the administration’s executive actions on homelessness, according to a separate person with knowledge of the administration’s planning who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. The council was created in 1987 and is supposed to coordinate the government’s approach to tackling homelessness. It is unclear who will lead the organization now.
Trump has promised to take action against California’s homelessness problem, arguing that homelessness hurts the quality of life and the “prestige” of some of its largest cities. The Washington Post reported in September that administration officials have considered razing tent camps for the homeless, creating temporary facilities and refurbishing government facilities.
“The people of San Francisco are fed up, and the people of Los Angeles are fed up,” Trump told reporters in September. “We’re looking at it, and we’ll be doing something about it.”
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