A sweeping federal review has found that billions of dollars in housing assistance were improperly distributed during the final year of the Biden administration, with payments going to tens of thousands of ineligible recipients, including people who were already deceased, the NY Post reports.
According to a report released by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, auditors flagged $5.8 billion in “questionable” payments out of nearly $50 billion distributed through federal rental assistance programs in fiscal year 2024. The funds were paid out to public housing authorities, contractors, landlords, and other non-federal entities, according to the 183-page document.
Federal officials said the suspect payments were spread nationwide, with deceased recipients identified in every state. The highest concentrations of questionable disbursements were found in New York, California, and Washington, DC, which together accounted for a large share of the irregularities.
“A massive abuse of taxpayer dollars not only occurred under President Biden’s watch, but was effectively incentivized by his administration’s failure to implement strong financial controls resulting in billions worth of potential improper payments,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement.
The audit found that more than 200,000 tenants were potentially ineligible for assistance, accounting for roughly 11% of the reviewed funds. Among them were 29,715 deceased individuals, 9,472 non-citizens, and 165,393 tenants whose rental subsidies exceeded eligibility limits for their local housing markets, particularly in cities such as New Orleans and other major metropolitan areas.
HUD programs are intended to help low-income individuals and families afford housing. Officials warned that misuse of funds could have deprived eligible households of assistance they urgently needed.
Investigators pointed to policy failures under the Biden administration, citing directives that emphasized rapid distribution of funds with limited oversight. The report also noted that HUD programs placed “substantial trust and responsibility in these non-federal entities … to accurately assess tenant eligibility,” creating opportunities for abuse.
“HUD will continue investigating the shocking results and will take appropriate action to hold bad actors accountable. Additionally, the Department is advancing efforts made under President Trump’s first administration to strengthen program integrity and ensure taxpayer-funded assistance serves the vulnerable communities it was intended for.”
HUD officials said the department will now contact housing authorities and other participating entities to verify the scope of the misconduct. Depending on the findings, HUD may pause or revoke funding and refer cases for criminal prosecution.
“HUD is implementing processes and procedures to revoke or pause funding as part of its efforts to hold bad actors accountable,” one official said. “Additionally, the Department could make criminal referrals and exercise other enforcement actions once it has confirmed fraud occurred.”
The audit reviewed spending between October 2023 and September 2024, during which HUD disbursed $33 billion through Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) programs covering more than four million households, and $16 billion through Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA).
Of the TBRA funds, approximately $1.5 billion involved tenants flagged for eligibility concerns. PBRA programs showed even higher risk, with about $4.3 billion — or 26.4% of all PBRA payments — tied to recipients with unresolved eligibility issues.
HUD also reported that, working with the Department of Homeland Security, it identified “thousands” of non-citizens who were receiving Section 8 or Section 9 housing assistance despite not qualifying for those programs.
The financial review was described by HUD as part of an effort to fulfill President Trump’s pledges to improve “accountability and transparency” and to protect “taxpayer funds against waste, fraud and abuse.”
Concerns about HUD’s oversight are not new. An earlier audit by the department’s Office of Inspector General, conducted after large funding increases from Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan Act and President Trump’s 2020 CARES Act, found serious weaknesses in fraud prevention. That October 2022 review concluded that HUD “needed significant improvement” in its antifraud framework and that officials overseeing both PBRA and TBRA programs were not conducting meaningful risk assessments.
The audit also found that HUD “did not have a clear process in place for PHAs [Public Housing Authorities], PBCAs [Performance Based Contract Administrators], and grantees to report instances of known or suspected fraud to HUD and HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG).”
In one high-profile case highlighting those risks, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged 70 current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority by February 2024. The charges stemmed from a decade-long bribery scheme involving cash kickbacks from contractors.
US Attorney Damian Williams described the crackdown as “the largest single-day bribery takedown in the history of the Justice Department,” saying the scheme involved up to $2 million in corrupt payments and $13 million in no-bid contracts.
NYCHA, the largest housing authority in the country, serves more than 500,000 residents and received $3.86 billion in HUD funding in 2023. A March 2025 HUD OIG audit warned that funds flowing to the agency were at “greater risk of fraud” due to insufficient safeguards and unclear guidance.
“NYCHA partners with law enforcement to root out the corruption that directly led to the 2024 arrests,” a spokesperson for the housing authority said in a statement.
“Each of the 70 cases brought by DOI has led to a conviction, and all of the defendants have separated from employment. NYCHA has implemented all recommendations, while rebuilding its operations and procurement processes.”
{Matzav.com}
Yesh Atid announced on Tuesday that it has turned to Israel’s Supreme Court seeking immediate intervention over the transfer of more than one billion shekels approved by the Knesset Finance Committee for haredi educational institutions.
In its filing, the party claimed the allocations were carried out in violation of the law, asserting that the recipient institutions neither teach core curriculum subjects nor operate under required state supervision, and that the funding move sidestepped established budgetary limits and procedures.
The petition was submitted by attorneys Oded Gazit and Eliram Bakal of the Gazit-Bakal law firm, who contended that “the Finance Committee abused its authority and transferred funds unlawfully to institutions that do not meet the educational criteria required by law, rendering the transfers null and void.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid, along with fellow Yesh Atid lawmakers Vladimir Beliak, Moshe Turpaz, and Naor Shiri, said the legal action is part of a broader campaign against the current coalition, declaring that “the petition joins a prolonged struggle against a rotten, corrupt, and wasteful government that disregards Israel’s citizens and treats our money as a bargaining chip and political bribe to solve coalition problems.”
Yesh Atid further argued that the funding benefits “institutions that do not prepare Haredi children for modern life,” adding that the transfers were approved in a manner designed to obscure them from public scrutiny, saying that “the funds are being transferred while attempting to conceal the transfers from the public.”
{Matzav.com}
Iranian officials issued sharp warnings this week amid renewed tensions with Washington and Yerushalayim, after President Donald Trump indicated he could authorize additional US military action if Tehran resumes rebuilding its nuclear or ballistic missile capabilities.
Speaking earlier this week, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States, Israel, and Europe of waging a broad campaign against his country. “We are in a full-scale war with the US, Israel, and Europe; they don’t want our country to remain stable,” he said, describing what he portrayed as escalating pressure on Iran.
Pezeshkian also addressed the possibility of military escalation in a post on the social media platform X, warning that Iran would respond forcefully to any attack. “Answer of Islamic Republic of Iran to any cruel aggression will be harsh and discouraging,” he wrote, without providing further details.
Trump’s remarks came during extensive discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. After their meeting, Trump publicly suggested that renewed strikes could be on the table if Iran attempts to reconstitute capabilities damaged during the recent conflict. “Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again,” Trump said during a news conference with Netanyahu after their meeting, “and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully that’s not happening.”
The comments followed the June outbreak of a 12-day air war between Israel and Iran, which began after a surprise Israeli operation targeting senior Iranian military figures, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment facilities, and elements of Iran’s ballistic missile program. Israel said the strikes were intended to block Iran from approaching nuclear weaponization and to counter Tehran’s stated goal of destroying the Jewish state.
During that conflict, the United States conducted a single round of strikes against key Iranian nuclear facilities before quickly moving to broker a ceasefire between the two sides.
Trump later reinforced his warning, saying he would not hesitate to act again if developments warranted it. “If it’s confirmed, they know the consequences, and the consequences will be very powerful, maybe more powerful than the last time,” Trump said.
Iranian leaders responded swiftly. Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, posted a defiant message on X, asserting that “Iran’s #Missile_Capability and defense are not containable or permission-based. Any aggression will face an immediate #Harsh_Response beyond its planners’ imagination.” Shamkhani later shared the same message in Hebrew.
According to Iranian media reports, Pezeshkian himself narrowly survived the conflict and suffered a leg injury from an Israeli strike during the fighting.
Tehran, which has repeatedly vowed to wipe out Israel, has claimed that it is no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country, signaling to Western governments that it remains open to possible negotiations over its nuclear program.
US intelligence agencies, along with the International Atomic Energy Agency, have assessed that Iran last maintained an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003. However, prior to the war, Iran had been enriching uranium to levels of up to 60 percent — a short technical step from weapons-grade enrichment of 90 percent. Western experts and the IAEA say such levels have no civilian justification.
{Matzav.com}
Rav Reuven Feinstein, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva of Staten Island, has been hospitalized and is in need of a refuah.
All are asked to daven for the complete refuah of Shalom Reuven ben Shima.
{Matzav.com}
Health officials are warning of a potentially punishing flu season as a new strain of influenza circulates widely, prompting concern among doctors and researchers as winter illnesses accelerate nationwide.
The strain drawing attention has been dubbed the “super flu,” a variant of influenza A H3N2 known as subclade K. Previous H3N2 outbreaks have been associated with more intense illness and longer recovery periods compared to other flu strains.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that the variant first surged in the United Kingdom before spreading across Europe and Australia, eventually reaching the United States.
“The United Kingdom got hit pretty hard by this,” said Neil Maniar of Northeastern University. “I think that’s a pretty good harbinger of what we are likely to see here. This is going to be a very difficult flu season.”
People infected with the K subclade have reported classic flu symptoms such as high fever, severe body aches, extreme fatigue, persistent cough, sore throat, and intense headaches. Doctors say many patients are also experiencing shortness of breath, chest pain, gastrointestinal distress, and lingering weakness well beyond the acute phase of illness.
As case numbers continue to climb, physicians stress the importance of early treatment, particularly for patients at risk of severe disease. Antiviral medications remain a central tool in managing serious infections.
The CDC currently recommends four antiviral drugs: Tamiflu, Xofluza, Relenza, and Rapivab. Xofluza is prescribed as an oral treatment for uncomplicated flu in patients aged 5 and older. Relenza is approved for individuals 7 and older, while Rapivab can be administered to patients as young as 6 months.
“Be sure to drink plenty of fluids, get sufficient rest and take Tylenol or Advil to manage fever, headaches and muscle aches at home,” said Dr. Mark Mulligan of NYU Langone Health’s Vaccine Center.
Public health experts say warnings about the flu have been circulating since early fall, but the emergence of the super flu strain combined with lagging vaccination rates has intensified concern.
“This can be a very serious illness. We need to take it seriously, and we need to take measures to protect ourselves,” Maniar said. “As we go deeper into the flu season, this is likely to be a tough one.”
Infectious disease specialists fear that relatively low vaccine uptake could result in one of the most severe flu seasons in recent memory, though they emphasize there is still time to reduce the impact.
“It is certainly not too late, especially as we’re thinking about holiday gatherings and travel,” said Dr. Andrew Pekosz. “Now would be a great time for individuals to go out and get that last influenza vaccine or that COVID vaccine to provide one layer of protection for this holiday season.”
Some experts have noted concerns that this year’s flu vaccine may not be a perfect match for the K subtype. Pekosz said it nonetheless remains effective.
“There are three different influenza strains that cause influenza. The vaccine covers all three. And with two of them, it looks like there’s a pretty good match right now … and we think it’ll provide at least partial protection against this clade K H2N2 virus.”
The CDC continues to recommend annual flu vaccination for everyone aged 6 months and older.
While the latest nationwide flu data has been delayed due to the Christmas holiday, figures through mid-December already showed a sharp rise in positive cases. Virus activity has reached “very high” levels in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Louisiana, and Colorado. Manhattan alone recorded a 104% jump in infections earlier this month.
“We see the sudden spike in New York because of their more dense population,” said Dr. Ulysses Wu of Hartford Hospital. “They’re a center for international as well as domestic travel.”
Significant flu activity has also been reported in Connecticut, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, and South Carolina, adding to fears of a widespread and difficult season ahead.
{Matzav.com}
