HUD Secretary-designate Scott Turner will hold a Senate hearing next week
The US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs has announced that it will hold a confirmation hearing on Thursday, January 16 that will put Scott Turner in charge U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Turner was one of several Cabinet-level nominees and other leadership candidates announced by President-elect Donald Trump just before Thanksgiving. He will be part of a committee that is public.
Turner was the former executive director of the Trump administration in the first Trump administration White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC), where he helped “lead an unprecedented effort that transformed our nation’s most distressed communities,” according to a statement from Trump’s transition team.
He worked closely with former HUD Secretary Ben Carson by “overseeing more than 200 policy actions that promote economic development,” according to the announcement. Turner has described Carson as a “mentor.”
Last month, Carson called Turner the “perfect choice” to lead the agency. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), a former member of the committee who is now chairman in the new term of Congress, also praised Turner’s nomination shortly after the nomination was made public.
But ranking member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who ascended to a leadership role following the election defeat of former Speaker and ranking member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), will have her own opportunity to question Turner at the hearing alongside other Democratic senators.
Warren expressed her thoughts on his nomination on social media shortly after it was announced. She said she ‘look[s] I look forward to learning more about Turner’s views on addressing the housing crisis and will review his record with an objective and open mind ahead of his confirmation hearing.”
A recent ProPublica report examined Turner’s record on aid programs while he was a state lawmaker in Texas. The report concluded that Turner’s views may indicate a lack of commitment to federal programs to support Americans with housing-related economic challenges.
Turner’s confirmation hearing comes a little later in 2025 than Carson’s in 2017. Carson’s confirmation hearing took place on January 12 of that year. He was ultimately confirmed for the role on March 2 and sworn in by then-Vice President Mike Pence on March 3.
