Trump appoints Scott Turner as the new HUD secretary
President-elect Donald Trump announced late Friday that he has selected Scott Turner, the former executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC), as the next White House secretary. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in its records.
Turner, an ally of the president-elect and member of the America First Policy Instituteis a former professional football player and Texas State Representative for part of Collin County and Rockwall County, from 2013-2017. He played for the National football competition (NFL) for nine seasons before entering politics for teams such as the former Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos.
Turner helped lead ‘an unprecedented effort that transformed our nation’s most distressed communities’ according to a statement of Trump released by the transition team, and he worked closely with former HUD Secretary Ben Carson by “overseeing more than 200 policy actions that promote economic development.”
The president-elect added that Turner oversaw approximately $50 billion in private investment in opportunity zones, and is the founder and CEO of the Community Engagement and Opportunity Council (CEOC) that offers sports programs and mentorship in local communities. He is also an associate pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church located in Plano, Texas.
Housing industry groups responded quickly. From the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA): “CHLA congratulates Scott Turner on his appointment as the next HUD Secretary. We look forward to continuing to work with HUD and the rest of the administration to create affordable and accessible homeownership, especially for first-time and underserved borrowers.
“Towards 2025, CHLA will continue to lead key initiatives at FHA that protect borrowers and the community lenders who serve them, such as: risk-proportionate premiums, a partial claim payment option, streamlining the approvals of apartments and the comparability of pay scales.”
David Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference (NHC), also weighing in: “Scott Turner has an established commitment to community development and was a vocal advocate for investing in underserved communities during the first Trump administration,” he said. “We look forward to working with him in the coming years.
“He has been an outspoken advocate for the Opportunity Zone program and we expect to work with him to expand and expand the program to encourage the construction of homes that are affordable for first-time homebuyers, especially homebuyers from the first generation.”
Turner’s announcement comes alongside a slew of other key appointments the transition made late Friday, including hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as secretary of the US Department of the TreasuryRep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) as secretary of the US Department of LaborRussell fought to run the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Marty Makary as Commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and physician and former Congressman Dave Weldon as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Association of Consumer Bankers (CBA) President and CEO Lindsey Johnson issued the following statement on Bessent’s appointment: “On behalf of America’s largest retail banks, we congratulate Scott Bessent on his appointment as President Trump’s Treasury Secretary.
“As an experienced and accomplished businessman, we applaud Mr. Bessent’s recent comments in which he has called for a wave of optimism for small businesses, a smart deregulatory banking agenda and support for Main Street. If confirmed, we look forward to working with Mr. Bessent to advocate for sound financial regulatory policies that enable banks to better support consumers, small businesses and the economy as a whole.”
This is a development story.
