Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon-turned-politician who ran for president in 2016 before becoming President Donald Trump’s U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary, is the frontrunner to lead the agency once again, according to a report published by Politico.
Citing sources familiar with the transition, the outlet reported on Friday that Carson “is a favorite to return to the role if he wants it.” Carson was one of the few cabinet-level appointees in the first Trump administration who remained in his role for the entirety of the first Trump administration, and served as one of the president-elect’s most loyal campaign surrogates in both the 2020 and 2024 cycles.
Earlier this week amid rumors that he was under consideration for the position of surgeon general, Carson dispelled those rumors in a Nov. 17 post on social media platform X, saying “contrary to reports, I will not be serving as the surgeon general.”
Carson’s return to HUD would likely be palatable for U.S. Senate Republicans who would oversee the nomination and confirmation process, particularly after Trump’s first pick for attorney general — House of Representatives member Matt Gaetz — was announced and withdrew in only eight days. But Carson himself has been hot and cold on the role, even while he was serving in it.
In 2019 as Trump was ramping up his second campaign for the presidency, Carson had indicated that he planned to exit the administration at the conclusion of the first term and would prefer to return to the private sector. However, the following year and in the final months of the 2020 campaign during a speech in Atlanta, reporters were able to make out notes on Carson’s podium that were not uttered during the appearance.
“I am very loyal to you and after you win I hope to stay in your administration,” the notes read, apparently designed for a meeting with the president. “I am not happy with the way [the White House Office of Presidential Personnel (PPO)] is handling my agency.”
However, Carson has remained in the orbit of housing issues following the 2020 election. His name was presented on the byline of a Heritage Foundation policy playbook dedicated to housing as part of “Project 2025,” which crafted a potential blueprint for housing policy in a new, conservative administration. Trump and his campaign aimed to distance themselves from the playbook during the run-up to the election.
During his time as HUD secretary, Carson oversaw the rollback of the Barack Obama-era affirmatively furthering fair housing rule that was later re-implemented by the Biden administration, initially advocated for changes to local zoning regulations to permit more construction before changing course alongside the president, expressed alignment with the president on removing the government-sponsored enterprises be from conservatorship, and repeatedly sought to reduce the budget of the agency.
If ultimately nominated and confirmed, Carson would be the only first-term cabinet secretary to return in the second Trump administration, and in the same role he served the first time. Reports from other media outlets have claimed that other names have emerged as potential candidates for the role, however, including Bill Pulte and former deputy HUD secretary and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) commissioner Brian Montgomery.
Over the past few transition cycles, the pick for HUD secretary has not typically been formally announced until early December, but the Trump-Vance transition has been moving quickly to name picks for leading positions.
Following his election victory in 2016, Trump first floated Carson’s name in November, but he was announced in the first week of December and ultimately confirmed the following March.
