Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Cisneros Removes His HUD Portraits

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros, lamenting a stubble and a “just woken up” expression, last month ordered his official portrait removed from 220 HUD offices across the United States at a cost of $2,200. The 8-by-10-inch color photograph depicts Cisneros in a bureaucrat’s navy blue suit in front of the American flag, but a dull facial expression sparked an order to yank the mug from the walls of HUD field and administrative offices. Cisneros, the 45-year-old former mayor of San Antonio, said the photos would not be replaced.