Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner rejected a draft action plan on aid to Asheville, North Carolina, over its inclusion of diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.

More than 200 people died as a result of Hurricane Helene touching down in Florida last October, spreading to Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina. Damages to public property in North Carolina alone added up to roughly $1 billion.

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The city of Asheville drafted an action plan for HUD in its request for aid to rebuild its infrastructure. A key point of the plan has delayed action, as it goes against President Donald Trump’s executive order that repealed previous administrations allowing DEI-based operations.

“The impact of disasters is often disproportionately borne by vulnerable populations including [low to medium income] households, marginalized communities, persons with disabilities, and other underserved groups,” the action plan read.

“[T]his draft action plan that the city of Asheville presented at first has elements of DEI in their draft action plan, and that is not acceptable to HUD, it’s not acceptable to the president according to his executive order to get rid of all DEI,” Turner said on Fox Business’s Mornings with Maria Tuesday. “And so we’re working with the city of Asheville. They have been very responsive to make sure that their upcoming draft action plan is in compliance with HUD and how we give funds out according to HUD’s principles.”

Asheville had initially promised to “prioritize assistance for Minority and Women-Owned Businesses with scoring criteria.” This will likely be undone by Turner, who is in Asheville Tuesday to assess damage. He said he is “looking forward to helping the people of Asheville recover from this disaster.”

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“So 77 million people, as you know, Maria, voted for this type of change, voted for this type of transition. And oftentimes, you know, transition is hard. Being uncomfortable is hard. But when you’re uncomfortable, like the president stated, we’re going through this time of transition that brings growth. And we are laser-focused not only at HUD, but I know the president is, for the posterity of this nation,” Turner said. “$4 million that we found in DEI contracts. Well, Maria, DEI at HUD is dead. We will serve every American no matter their color, their race, their tongue, their creed because that’s what we’re called to do.”

Tuesday will be the Asheville City Council’s next meeting, during which they anticipate voting on Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. On the agenda, the council plans to ratify an emergency contract with Campbell Inc. to fix the Mills River Water Treatment Plant and authorize a reallocation of undedicated public art funds to provide “arts business relief grants and activation of Asheville’s Art Districts.”