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GUEST: Satyam Khanna, Research Associate with the Center for American Progress

Yesterday morning, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson resigned his post effective April 18th. In a prepared statement President Bush expressed regret for the decision made by his administration’s top housing official. Jackson, a longtime friend of the President, cited family as the reason for the decision to step down in a brief two minute announcement. However, he faced calls for his resignation last week from Senators Patty Murray and Christopher Dodd amidst investigations of cronyism and favoritism. Currently Jackson’s own department, alongside the FBI, a federal grand jury, and the Justice Department, is looking into allegations that Jackson gave favorable HUD contracts to his friends, and retaliated against those who didn’t comply. Jackson’s four and a half year tenure oversaw the housing crisis in the wake of Katrina, and his resignation comes at a time when the nation as a whole is experiencing the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression.

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