Bush Housing Secretary Steps Down

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson resigned this morning, after a series of accusations of political favoritism. The departure marks a setback to the Bush administration's efforts to stem the housing crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports, as Jackson has been a central player on key initiatives. He cited family reasons in his brief announcement.

Jackson was Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's wing man on a program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, and spearheaded a plan to insure new loans for borrowers faced with negative equity. But Congress—targeting his department's poor performance after Katrina—recently began probing claims that he awarded contracts based on political affiliations, and even punished a housing authority for denying one to a crony. (More Bush administration stories.)