HUD Nominee Carson Faces Senate Banking Committee
Former presidential candidate and current HUD secretary nominee Ben Carson gets his day on Capitol Hill this morning.
The Senate Banking Committee meets this morning at 10:00 a.m. ET in Dirksen Senate Office Building room 608 (live hearing link: http://www.banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/1/nomination-hearing).
Carson, 65, is best known for his presidential run during the 2016 campaign; before that, he was a renowned neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where he gained fame for his work separating conjoined twins. Carson dropped out of the Republican presidential race last March, throwing his support behind eventual nominee and president-elect Donald Trump. In December, Trump nominated Carson as HUD secretary.
Ahead of the meeting, the Mortgage Bankers Association sent a letter to committee members in support of Carson’s nomination. MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, urged the Committee to forward Carson’s nomination to the full Senate.
“MBA believes that HUD needs to address several critical priorities in its management of the Federal Housing Administration, including enhancing the FHA’s efficiency and technology deployment, clarifying existing lender guidance, and ensuring the long-term financial stability of the FHA program,” Stevens wrote. “HUD can benefit from a fresh perspective to address these critical issues. Dr. Carson has demonstrated throughout his career that he possesses the intellect to understand and respond to complex challenges. We believe he will put those talents to good use, helping strengthen America’s housing market, promoting the production of affordable rental housing and improving communities nationwide.”
Carson’s nomination has raised concerns among housing policy analysts over Carson’s lack of background in housing issues. Current HUD Secretary Julián Castro expressed concerns to NPR that Carson’s tenure could result in “going backward” amid speculation that Carson could roll back several HUD initiatives.
However, Stevens, who has made several media appearance on behalf of Carson, noted in the current issue of MBA Insights (https://www.mba.org/publications/insights/articles/current-issue/daves-desk-in-transition?_zs=WqkwB1&_zl=o23W3) that few recent HUD secretaries have come in with extensive housing experience.
“It’s very typical that the HUD secretary doesn’t have a lot of housing expertise,” Stevens said. “Outside of Shaun Donovan [Obama’s first-term HUD secretary], we couldn’t think of anyone. I assumed all along that the HUD nominee wouldn’t be a policy expert. Those concerns are more political than anything else. At the end of the day, both Democrats and Republicans have picked HUD secretaries with little housing experience.”
MBA NewsLink will provide coverage of the hearing.
