Ben Carson One Step Closer to Becoming HUD Secretary

10 Democrats Vote to Advance Debate

Dr. Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon, author, former presidential candidate and Trump surrogate is one step closer to becoming the head of the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, a job for which he has absolutely no experience.

The Senate early Tuesday afternoon voted 62-37 to advance his nomination. 10 Democrats voted in favor, no Republicans voted against. 

The full Senate will take up his nomination later this week, when he in all likelihood will be confirmed.

Carson, who, through a spokesperson last year admitted he had no qualifications to be a cabinet secretary, will be in charge of a $50 billion federal government agency whose mission he has said he does not support.

“These government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality create consequences that often make matters worse,” Carson wrote in an op-ed last year, as Politico noted. “Based on the history of failed socialist experiments in this country, entrusting the government to get it right can prove downright dangerous.”

In addition to its $50 billion budget, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) “which is part of HUD,” Politico observes, “manages a $1.6 trillion mortgage portfolio and currently funds 34 percent of the home loan market, making it a close second in size to Fannie Mae, the mortgage giant that has been under government conservatorship since the housing collapse.”

In November, Carson conflated the role of HUD Secretary with that of a faith leader: “We have much work to do in strengthening every aspect of our nation and ensuring that both our physical infrastructure and our spiritual infrastructure is solid,” he said.

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Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license