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Donald Trump administration Secretary of Housing and Urban Development appointment, 2017
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Following his election as the 45th President of the United States in 2016, Donald Trump and his transition team considered individuals to fill the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The secretary of housing and urban development is "responsible for programs concerned with the Nation's housing needs, fair housing opportunities, and improvement and development of the Nation's communities," according to the Federal Register.[1] Ben Carson was nominated to the position on December 5, 2016, and confirmed on March 2, 2017.
| Nomination tracker | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate: Ben Carson | ||
| Position: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | ||
| Confirmation progress | ||
 | Announced: | December 5, 2016 |
| Hearing: | January 12, 2017 |
| Committee: | Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs |
| Reported: | January 24, 2017 23-0 |
| Confirmed: | March 2, 2017 |
| Vote: | 58-41 |
To read more about the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and its current staff, click here.
Timeline
- See also: Ben Carson
The following timeline highlights noteworthy events related to this appointment.
- December 5, 2016: Trump nominated Ben Carson for the position.[2]
- January 12, 2017: Carson appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for a confirmation hearing.
- January 24, 2017: The committee unanimously voted to favorably report Carson's nomination to a full Senate vote.[3]
- March 2, 2017: The U.S. Senate voted 58-41 to confirm Carson.[4]
Confirmation hearing
At his confirmation hearing, Carson discussed a range of topics, including housing regulations, public assistance programs, fair housing, and connections between housing and health.
- On deregulation. Trump made deregulation a key part of his 2016 campaign platform, and Carson noted that deregulation includes federal regulations related to housing policy. In his opening statement, he said, "President-Elect Trump has talked about the importance of deregulation. That applies to housing as well. Overly burdensome housing regulations are bad for everyone and are increasing income inequality. But when land use for local housing supply is less regulated, workers of all skill types will choose to move to the productive locations. Many forms of land use regulation have perpetuated segregation. Complex webs of covenants and zoning ordinances across U.S. cities—in particular for low-density development—superimposed on already highly-segregated neighborhoods, have slowed integration."[5]
- On public assistance programs. Asked by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) about limits to public assistance programs for low-income Americans, Carson responded, "We have to be cognizant of our fiscal responsibilities as well as our social responsibilities. Would we love to put every single person in a beautiful unit forever? Absolutely, that would be ideal. But don’t have the necessary funding. But the other thing that I emphasize is that safety net programs are important, and I would never advocate abolishing them without an alternative."
- On the Fair Housing Act. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) asked Carson to elaborate on his views on HUD's role in implementing the Fair Housing Act. Carson responded, "As you probably know, that act says that we want people who are receiving HUD grants to look around and see if they find anything that looks like discrimination, and then we want them to come up with a solution on how to find the problem. They're not responding to people saying there's a problem, they're saying go and look for a problem and give us a solution. ... We have people sitting around a desk in Washington, D.C., and deciding how things should be done. ... I don't have any kind of problem with affirmative action or at least integration, but I do have a problem with people on high dictating it when they don't know anything about what's going on in the area."
- On the connection between health and housing. Carson noted that a connection between health and housing would be a key focal point of HUD under his leadership. In his opening statement, he said, "There is a strong connection between housing and health, which is of course my background. ... Substandard housing conditions such as pest infestation, the presence of lead paint, faulty plumbing, and overcrowding, which disproportionately affect low-income and minority families, lead to health problems such as asthma, lead poisoning, heart disease, and neurological disorders. ... I can tell you that lead poisoning irreversibly affects brain and nervous system development, resulting in lower intelligence and reading disabilities. ... I am passionate about health as you may have guessed, and where one lives should not cause health problems. So I look forward to working with HUD's Safe and Healthy Homes program and others on these issues. We cannot have social mobility without a strong healthy foundation in the home."
Considered candidates for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
The table below highlights individuals who were either nominated to the position by Trump or were mentioned in the media as potential nominees.
| Considered candidates for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Notable experience | Source | |
| Pamela Patenaude | Director of Bipartisan Policy Center's Housing Commission | Politico | |
| Scott Brown | Former U.S. Senator from Massachusetts | Politico | |
| Rick Lazio | Former U.S. Representative from New York | Politico | |
| Bob Woodson | Head of Center for Neighborhood Enterprise | The Washington Post | |
Ben Carson  |
Former pediatric neurosurgeon | Politico | |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Federal Register, "Housing and Urban Development Department," accessed June 20, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Trump to nominate Carson to lead U.S. housing, urban policy," December 5, 2016
- ↑ U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, "Executive Session to vote on a Nomination," accessed January 24, 2017
- ↑ The Hill, "Senate confirms Carson to lead HUD," March 2, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, "Written Statement for the Record by Dr. Ben Carson," January 12, 2017
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