Senate leaders sound out about Scott Turner’s HUD nomination
Late last week, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he had selected Scott Turner, the former executive director of US presidential elections White House Opportunity and Revitalization Councilto lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The response from the housing sector was particularly positive for Turner. They include vows from organizations such as the Association of Mortgage Bankers (M.B.A.), Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) and National Housing Conference (NHC) to work with the new HUD Secretary on key issues facing America’s housing system.
But Turner will continue the confirmation process in the Senate before taking on his new role. In the meantime, two influential lawmakers on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee have spoken out about Turner’s nomination.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the current committee member who will likely become its next chairman, praised Turner’s nomination in a press release from the committee’s minority shortly after the nomination was made public.
“For too many Americans across the country, access to quality, affordable housing is out of reach,” Scott said. “Federal housing policies have failed hardworking Americans for decades, and they deserve a different approach. I look forward to working with Scott Turner to help more Americans on their path to homeownership and financial opportunity. The Senate Banking Committee will move quickly to consider his nomination.”
After losing the Senate majority in this month’s elections, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) – the current committee chairman – will no longer serve in the House after being defeated by his Republican opponent, Bernie Moreno.
But Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), an influential committee member and current chair of the Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy, handily won reelection this month. Warren will participate in Turner’s confirmation hearings and voiced her thoughts on his nomination in a social media post this week.
“A good HUD secretary must be serious about building more housing, tackling predatory corporations and lowering costs for families,” Warren said in a message on the social media platform X. “If Turner implements Trump’s Project 2025 plans, it will be a disaster for first-time homebuyers and working people struggling to pay rent.”
Project 2025 refers to a series of proposals published by The Heritage Foundationa conservative mindset, which could reform many federal agencies and systems to better align with conservative ideology. It includes a section on housing written by Ben Carson, the HUD secretary during Trump’s first term, although Trump and his campaign sought to distance themselves from the document in the run-up to the election.
But many of Turner’s views on specific housing issues and the management challenges that would accompany the new HUD leader are currently unknown. Warren said she aims to keep an open mind as Turner goes through the confirmation process.
“I look forward to learning more about Turner’s views on how to address the housing crisis and will review his record with an objective and open mind ahead of his confirmation hearing,” she added.
HousingWire contacted Warren’s representatives for further comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Warren’s concerns about the housing plans mentioned in Project 2025 have been questioned by supporters of the newly elected president due to Trump’s statements aimed at distancing himself from the playbook. But so does Trump nominated an important architect of the policy script – Russell Vought – to take charge White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the new term.
Vought previously served in the same role during the final two years of the first Trump administration. But a spokesperson for the transition team repeated the claim that Trump “never had anything to do with Project 2025,” according to reporting from The Associated Press.
In a message on social media addressed to the newly elected president shortly after his appointment was announced, Turner said he is “excited to continue the excellent work we started at HUD during your last administration with an incredible team. I am deeply humbled by your confidence in my nomination.”
Turner also described Carson as his mentor and said the former HUD secretary leaves him with “big shoes to fill.”
