A top official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development is leaving after a fight with other administration officials over whether to withhold disaster-recovery money from Puerto Rico.
Five sources with direct knowledge of the situation told the Washington Post that second-in-command at HUD, Pam Patenaude, is resigning Thursday because of the internal conflict.
In her resignation letter, the deputy secretary said she was resigning because of personal reasons.
“These jobs are all-consuming,” she said, adding that she wanted to spend more time with her husband. “There are no ulterior motives. I’m not mad at the administration.”
Both career HUD staffers and those working under the Trump administration say that during her 16 months at the agency, she was the main administrator running the department, and many viewed her as HUD’s most capable leader.
These staffers also told the Post that Patenaude’s departure was planned pre-shutdown, and therefore hurt the agency’s ability to anticipate and prepare for the closure.
