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Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is expected to resign his post as head of the Cabinet Department. The timing of this resignation is not a great indicator of how the White House and Congress are dealing with housing issues.

There have been reports that one of the stumbling blocks is the relationship between Jackson and the Democrats in the Congress. While this can not be a surprise, the Democrats want huge spending programs enacted to counter the housing issues while the administration is fighting for a market solution, it will put back any agreement between the two.

One of the problems facing the housing industry right now is they do no know how Washington is going to react to the housing and credit problems out there. Companies do not want to make the hard decisions if there is a bailout from Washington coming.

Mr. Jackson, a former top housing official in Texas, Washington, D.C., and Missouri, has consistently denied any improper behavior while leading HUD. Still, his poor relationship with Democrats has hurt the White House’s efforts to broker deals in response to the housing crisis. For example, Democrats have criticized the way he handled public housing after Hurricane Katrina, an issue that has dogged him ever since.

HUD, usually out of the spotlight among the federal agencies, has been at the heart of the administration’s attempts to ease problems for homeowners. Mr. Jackson has been the junior partner to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in that effort. At events, the HUD secretary generally stressed the human cost of the nation’s housing-induced financial woes, while Mr. Paulson handled the technical details. via WSJ.com.

Hat tip to the Industry Report.

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