HUD Secretary Scott Turner Highlights Achievements and Future Goals in First 100 Days
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner recently engaged in a discussion with Fox News Digital, offering insights into the agency’s key accomplishments during the initial 100 days of the Trump administration. He also outlined the department’s primary objectives for the subsequent 100 days.
According to Turner, a significant win for HUD has been the rescinding of regulations implemented during the Biden and Obama administrations, a move intended to stimulate innovation and foster creativity within the housing market. Additionally, HUD has implemented reforms aimed at prioritizing American citizens as the primary beneficiaries of HUD resources and ensuring fair and secure access to these resources.
Looking ahead, Turner emphasized that implementing work requirements for individuals participating in HUD-funded housing programs will be a key focus, among other initiatives.
"We are very focused, we’re very detailed, and we’re very deliberate about what we do here," Turner stated. "Progress and success doesn’t just happen. You have to be very intentional about it. You have to be very focused about it. One thing we did on the first day when we came in here is we said we’re going to restore the mission-minded focus of HUD. We’re called to a specific mission to serve the most vulnerable people of our country, as it pertains to housing, as it pertains to homelessness, as it pertains to disaster recovery, the development of communities, forming public-private partnerships."
A central aspect of restoring this "mission-minded focus," as Turner explained, involves dismantling "burdensome regulations," such as the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule established under the Obama administration and later reinstated by the Biden administration.
"We took this rule down in order to restore flexibility and restore the power back to localities. Because every city, every community, is unique," Turner noted, adding that the rescinded rule granted bureaucrats in Washington the authority to arbitrarily select "winners and losers" in local communities.
Turner also highlighted a new collaboration between HUD and the Department of Homeland Security, designed to prevent noncitizens from accessing HUD resources intended for American citizens.
"We are ensuring that American people live in HUD-funded housing," Turner affirmed. "Also with this partnership, it’s a data collection emphasis to understand who’s living in housing that’s funded by HUD and our FHA insurance, our FHA-backed mortgages, which is also backed by American taxpayers. We took out the non-permanent residence category out of the FHA, which the Biden administration turned a blind eye to."
Turner further emphasized his initial actions as HUD secretary, which included rescinding the Obama-era equal access rule. This rule required HUD-funded programs and shelters to determine eligibility based on an individual’s self-identified gender.
"We wanted to take this rule down to protect the women of America and ensure that when people enter into a HUD-funded facility, they are entering in after sex at birth," Turner clarified regarding the reform.
Looking forward, Turner stated that the agency’s focus will be on assisting those receiving public assistance in becoming more self-sufficient. This includes implementing work requirements for participants in HUD-funded housing programs.
"Social safety nets were never meant to be a hammock or a resting place. Social safety nets were meant to be a trampoline, if you will, a tool to project people into a life of self-sustainability and longevity, and so that’s something that we will be concentrating on going here forward these next 100 days, if you will," Turner said. "Our heart here at HUD is not to grow the amount of people on subsidies, but it is to reduce the number of people on subsidies and help people to live a life of self-sustainability, really, to change the trajectory of peoples lives."
Turner emphasized HUD’s desire to streamline operations and reduce the size of government.
"We don’t want to grow the size of government," Turner added. "We want to shrink the size of government."
Additionally, Turner stated that the agency will concentrate on expanding public-private partnerships to address housing affordability and the homelessness epidemic. He underscored the pivotal role of local entities in implementing on-the-ground solutions to help HUD achieve its mission.
When questioned about potential backlash regarding the policy changes implemented during the Trump administration’s first 100 days, Turner stated that being a strong "servant leader" involves making difficult decisions that may not be universally accepted.
"But, I consider them to be healthy decisions for our country," Turner said. "At the end of the day, our job is one, to be stewards over taxpayer dollars, but also to be stewards over the lives of Americans as it pertains to entering in HUD-funded facilities."
In summary, Secretary Turner’s discussion highlighted HUD’s focus on regulatory reform, prioritizing American citizens, and promoting self-sufficiency through initiatives such as work requirements. The agency is also committed to fostering public-private partnerships and streamlining operations to better serve the needs of vulnerable populations and address housing challenges across the nation. The Trump administration hopes that these policies will provide better outcomes for both the people they serve, and the tax payers that fund these programs. It is unknown how these policy change will work out in the long run, but the secretary seems confident that they are the right choices for the future of the country.
