Scott Turner, who was tapped to promote investment in distressed neighborhoods during President Trump's first term, has been confirmed as secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The Senate vote Wednesday was 55-44.
Turner spent nine years as a professional football player before being elected twice as a Texas State Representative. He's also been chief visionary officer at the multifamily housing developer JPI.
During his confirmation hearing, Turner said HUD is "failing at its most basic mission," noting record-high homelessness and a shortage of affordable housing that leaves people struggling every day. He did not offer specifics for fixing that, but said he would review every HUD program to assess which ones are working.
Turner also resisted the suggestion from Senate Democrats that more federal dollars could help. "There's record funding from HUD," he said, "and we're still not meeting the need."
He declined to say whether he would oppose major spending cuts to the agency, something the first Trump administration repeatedly proposed, but which did not pass Congress.
As a lawmaker in Texas, Turner opposed expanding affordable rental housing and supported a bill to let landlords refuse to rent to someone on federal housing assistance, according to ProPublica.
He told senators that HUD needs to streamline programs, specifically citing the Section 8 housing voucher program, which many landlords find cumbersome. He also said burdensome regulations slow down construction and add to the cost of housing, and that he would work with states to ease their own rules.
At the hearing last month, he noted that the high cost of building materials is another problem but declined to weigh in on Trump's plan to increase tariffs on Canadian lumber. Last week, the National Association of Homebuilders asked Trump to exempt building materials from any tariffs on Canada and Mexico "because of their harmful effect on housing affordability."
The National Apartment Association and the National Multifamily Housing Council issued a joint statement congratulating Turner. "Secretary Turner's expansive background in rental housing, community development and economic revitalization makes him the right leader for HUD at the right time," they said.
"I'm looking forward to working alongside Sec. Turner to confront the very concerns he mentioned in his hearing — from rising homelessness to increased rental costs," former HUD secretary Shaun Donovan said in a statement. Donovan now leads the housing nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners.
The nonprofit National Association of Housing and Redevelopment said in a statement that it stands ready to work with Turner on a "shared vision of thriving communities with affordable homes for all."
But NAHRO also seemed to reflect concerns following the Trump administration's recent move to pause federal payments for grants and other programs, adding that the group would help ensure that "housing and community development agencies nationwide receive their federally appropriated funds without disruption."
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