The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Scott Turner to steer the Division of Housing and City Growth (HUD), cementing one other one among President Trump’s Cupboard selections.
Senators voted 55-44 on Turner’s nomination. Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) voted in assist alongside each Republican.
Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-S.D.) mentioned in a flooring speech Tuesday that Turner is going through a “big job” on the HUD, however believes he “has the grit, the determination, and passion to get it done.”
“This is an important role. Our country is facing a housing crisis affecting big cities, rural areas, tribal lands — literally every part of our country. Higher construction costs and burdensome regulations have made homebuilding challenging. And what homes are on the market are too pricey for many Americans,” Thune mentioned.
“Many parts of the country have homelessness challenges. Too many distressed communities are struggling to turn their fortunes around,” Thune continued. “And despite a windfall of additional funding for HUD, these problems are, in many cases, getting worse.”
Turner will now flip his consideration to implementing plans atop a division with a $70 billion funds and eight,000 staff, together with on housing prices and the U.S.’s homelessness disaster, which the ex-NFL participant cited particularly throughout his affirmation listening to.
“HUD is failing at its most basic mission, and that has to come to an end,” Turner mentioned. “As a country, we’re not building enough housing. We need millions of homes, all kinds of homes: multifamily, single-family, duplex, condos, manufactur[ed] housing, you name it.”
His affirmation marks the twelfth Trump nominee greenlighted by the Senate in lower than three weeks.
The chamber can also be anticipated to verify Russell Vought to steer the Workplace of Administration and Price range on Thursday night time.
