As President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Scott Turner will be questioned on Thursday by lawmakers of both parties in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
But ahead of that hearing, a familiar Trump foe — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — is vowing to press Turner on a series of housing issues he may be addressing if he gets the job.
In a letter sent to Turner on Sunday, Warren highlighted a series of housing issues she said will come up in the hearing. And she mentioned the positions Turner has publicly taken in the past that she is asking him to account for as he seeks to lead HUD and pursue its overarching mission.
Some of the questions are straightforward, such as asking whether Turner is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing. Warren also asks for Turner’s views on the housing policy blueprint included in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 playbook, which lists former HUD secretary Ben Carson — whom Turner has described as a “mentor” — as author.
Another question asks for Turner’s thoughts on several HUD programs Warren contends could be targeted for cuts by the incoming administration. These include the Housing Trust Fund, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program and Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing).
Warren also asks for Turner to explain his views on consolidation in the homebuilding industry and whether or not he sees it as a problem; the government’s role to provide capital to the housing sector; and whether Trump’s vow to institute mass deportations could adversely impact the supply of workers to construct homes.
Warren also asked if there are “guardrails” the government should use for its Opportunity Zones program, which Turner helped oversee during his time at the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC).
Such zones “have been used to subsidize luxury real estate development for wealthy investors and in neighborhoods that already have significant resources and investment, rather than to build affordable housing or boost development in disinvested communities,” she said, according to reporting from The New York Times in 2019.
Warren also included specific lines of questioning related to renter support, as well as questions about affordable homeownership. She specifically brings up the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s mortgage insurance premiums (MIPs), since the Project 2025 housing agenda described a purported need to raise them.
“Raising the MIP would increase housing costs for the hundreds of thousands of people who become homeowners and build wealth through FHA financing — disproportionately borrowers of color,” Warren said, “even as the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund’s capital ratio stands at 11.47%, far above the 2% capital ratio required by statute.”
She asks if Turner supports raising the MIP, as many mortgage industry participants are advocating for it to be further reduced in light of the capital ratio performance indicated in the FHA Annual Report to Congress published late last year.
Warren also included separate lines of questioning for other topics, including homelessness and whether he supports “Housing First” policies; fair housing policies and the impact that proposed immigration policies could have on them; the role of institutional investors and landlords in the housing market; natural disasters and climate resilience; and HUD agency staffing and other resources.
“HUD’s housing and development programs have a profound impact on the lives of millions of Americans, especially in the midst of our housing affordability crisis. The agency needs and deserves a strong, capable leader who believes in its mission and has the interest and ability to carry out that mission,” Warren said.
For some lawmakers, Turner is an unknown quantity, adding to uncertainty about what the agency will be like under his leadership.
“I don’t know him. I have never heard his name mentioned previously. I have a vague recollection of him playing football,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) told news outlet NOTUS. Cleaver serves on the housing and insurance subcommittee under the broader House Financial Services Committee. He that he would “just like to know what [Turner’s] theology of housing is.”
But Republicans seem publicly aligned behind Turner, a contrast to some of Trump’s other controversial cabinet picks. In an analysis of nominees and their likelihood to be confirmed by the Senate, Politico characterized Turner’s nomination as “healthy.”
“He’ll face tough Democratic questions over Trump’s plans to Biden initiatives at HUD, but expect little GOP skepticism,” the report stated.
