President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) says he will make American housing affordable again by making it “easier to build” without state intrusion.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner’s conservative agenda for the cabinet-level agency involves taking a critical look at the regulatory regime that former President Joe Biden expanded. Turner now has the task of working to reverse housing costs that hit record highs under Biden and largely blamed him for causing them in an interview days before the Senate confirmed him on Wednesday in a 55-44 vote. Turner was sworn in on Wednesday.
“It is our desire that we can build as many homes as possible — quality living spaces of all kinds for the American people,” Turner told the Daily Caller News Foundation, mentioning “millions” as his goal.
A spokesperson for Turner said he “is the person we need to reform failed federal housing policies, cut red tape, and find innovative solutions to expand access to quality, affordable housing.”
Turner pledged to carry out Trump’s day-one executive order on “defeating the cost-of-living crisis” that blasted Biden’s “radical policies designed to weaken American production.”
Biden’s HUD drew criticism for, among other things, imposing green energy standards on federally funded housing that critics argued would drive up costs.
“The regulatory burden is extremely difficult in our country,” Turner told the DCNF. He promised to review HUD’s policies and work with private sector partners to “ease the regulatory process to make it better, to make it more flexible.” Turner referenced data showing that government regulation at all levels comprises about a quarter of what it costs to build a home in the U.S.
Home prices reached an all-time high last March, rising 6.5% nationwide and 8.2% in America’s 10 largest cities. The last year of Biden’s presidency had the lowest rate of home sales since 1995, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Turner said the blame for high prices also falls on inflation and interest rates under Bide, which made the economy harsher in general and affected “construction costs” for housing.
“The cost is going up, and supply has gone down,” the former Texas state legislator said. “That’s a big reason [for this] crisis in our country.”
Turner played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons before representing Texas’s 33rd district as a Republican from 2013 to 2017. He also founded the Community Engagement and Opportunity Council, a faith-based nonprofit in Texas with community programs for children in poverty.
In 2019, Trump appointed Turner as executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council to encourage investment toward housing projects in low-income areas dubbed “opportunity zones.” HUD reported in 2020 that the council’s effort was on track to lift one million people out of poverty before Biden took office.
“That is one of the most positive data points that I can make,” Turner said. “Opportunity zones are still being very effective in our country right now and so I hope that we can rev it up again and continue the great work.”
Turner also said Trump will make his job easier by “getting immigration under control” through ongoing mass deportations. He called the migrant surges under Biden an “America First issue.”
“You have to look at how we’ve had millions and millions of illegal immigrants come into our country, which has caused a huge burden on the homelessness issue and on the home affordability issue,” Turner said. HUD data show that homelessness in the U.S. rose by 18% in 2024, the largest annual increase the department has recorded, with other record-breaking increases for certain demographics such as families with children.
“We have a big job ahead but we are ready,” Turner said about reducing those numbers.
The Richardson, Texas native said he hears the concerns of the 60% of Generation Z Americans who reportedly fear they will never afford their own home. “Don’t be weary,” he said. “That’s why we’re here.”
“You can look for me, ’cause I will be on the road going to these states, going to cities, listening to the people on the ground to see how we can work together to make HUD a very efficient and impactful body and agency for our country,” Turner said.
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