Senate panel grills housing regulators on racial bias, pandemic

The Senate Banking Committee channeled the nation’s concerns about racial disparities and COVID-19 into an oversight hearing with federal housing regulators Tuesday.

Democrats lambasted Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson over proposed changes to anti-discrimination rules while Republicans pressed Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Mark Calabria about the transition to a post-coronavirus world.

Ranking member Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, laced into Carson for administrative moves that civil rights groups say will weaken housing discrimination protections.

“Secretary Carson, under your leadership, instead of addressing the deep inequities in our housing system, you are trying to systematically dismantle basic civil rights protections that previous