Scott Turner, President Trump’s secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) nominee, is an inspired choice to lead the department.
I first met Scott in 2019, shortly he began leading the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. He had an unenviable task. Scott would need to wrangle 17 federal agencies to support the promotion of public and private investment in opportunity zones.
I’m not sure where Scott found the energy. He personally visited over 70 economically distressed areas to see first-hand the struggles and hopes of these communities. The results speak for themselves. Opportunity zones have attracted more than $200 billion in investment — igniting economic development and job growth.
Scott’s experience and passion for creating economic opportunities will serve HUD well. He will have a heavy workload running an agency focused on perpetuating government programs handling poverty.
On day one, Scott may look around and wonder if he’s HUD’s only employee. A recent report by HUD’s Inspector General found 85% of the department’s employees teleworking, while another 9% working remotely. On day one, Scott should recall all HUD employees back to their desks.
Homelessness numbers continue to skyrocket. HUD’s most recent count found a dramatic 18% spike since 2023. The increase in homelessness coincided with the single biggest funding increase in the history of HUD’s homelessness program. Clearly, money alone isn’t the issue. HUD needs to move on from the one-size-fits-all “Housing First” approach. Instead, it must refocus resources on programs that have a demonstrated track record of success.
Enforcing the Fair Housing Act is one of HUD’s statutory responsibilities. Yet, the Biden Administration has been more focused on creating complexity, bureaucracy, and litigation risk rather than combatting discrimination. The administration should repeal the unworkable Affirmatively Further Fair Housing Rule. Also, the Disparate Impact rule should align with a Supreme Court ruling from nearly a decade ago.
Then there’s HUD’s budget, which is replete with programs that are unjustifiable when we have a $36 trillion national debt. For example, the Community Development Block Grant — which sends blank checks annually to wealthy communities — could be eliminated immediately.
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is well capitalized, for now. But its programs need to be better targeted, so they don’t crowd out private capital.
Finally, rental assistance and public housing continue to eat an ever-growing share of the overall HUD budget. But they don’t serve any additional households. Given the limited resources and the long waitlists for assistance, we need to do all we can to graduate residents to self-sufficiency.
That’s a lengthy to-do list — but I know Scott Turner is up to the task. The Senate should overlook the fact that he played for the Washington Redskins and confirm him swiftly so he can begin addressing our nation’s profound housing challenges.
Len Wolfson is a partner at Federal Hall Policy Advisors. He served as the assistant secretary for congressional and intergovernmental relations and acting FHA commissioner during the Trump administration (2017-2020). He is a lifelong Giants fan.
