Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner kept repeating the same phrases to Congress in defense of President Donald Trump’s proposal to cut the agency’s budget by 51%.
“It’s time for a paradigm shift.” “We have to refocus.” “We want to be efficient and effective, not bloated and bureaucratic.”
Democrats on House and Senate appropriations subcommittees were outraged — and even some Republicans were skeptical.
Turner was tasked with explaining what Trump’s proposed $45 billion cut to HUD’s funding would look like in practice. The agency would be among the hardest hit parts of the federal government under Trump’s plan to eliminate $163 billion in federal spending.
But the secretary offered little detail on plans for how his agency would continue serving millions of older, disabled, and low-income Americans, people struggling to recover from disasters like hurricanes and wildfires, and those experiencing homelessness.
“The goal here is not to serve less Americans. The goal here is to serve Americans better,” Turner said during his testimony before the House subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development on June 10.
While Democratic lawmakers were particularly critical of Turner’s approach and Trump’s massive budget cut request, some Republicans also probed Turner for more detailed explanations he didn’t provide. The hearings highlighted how the nation’s major housing affordability challenges have become a bipartisan concern.
“The federal government doesn’t have all the answers, and the budget empowers collaboration with states and localities,” HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett told Business Insider.
Few details, lots of frustration
During the House hearing, Republican Rep. David Joyce asked Turner how HUD plans to continue helping victims of disasters, like flooding and fires, if the agency slashes funding for the Community Development Block Grant — Disaster Recovery program, as the budget proposes. The agency has long helped FEMA rebuild homes destroyed in natural disasters that lack sufficient insurance, as well as repair roads and bridges.
In response, Turner insisted that HUD “will not allow disaster recovery and those that need assistance in disaster recovery to be lost on us” and that HUD is simply pursuing a “different way of distributing these funds.”
Joyce, who represents Northeast Ohio, wasn’t satisfied. “Thank you, sir, that was a great answer, but it didn’t demonstrate a plan. Do you have a plan?” the congressman responded.
Turner ultimately conceded that the plan for supporting disaster victims “is forthcoming.”
Joyce ended the exchange by warning that the agency has a role to play. “The one thing I know is, you’re right. Disasters come. All over the country, disasters come. And you need to be ready for them.”
Rep. Rutherford, a Florida Republican, pressed Turner on how states will help support homeownership in low-income communities when the president’s budget proposes eliminating HUD’s Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP), a competitive grant program that Rutherford said has been successful in his district.
“Everywhere that homeownership went up, violent crime went down,” said Rutherford, a former sheriff. “How are we going to address this issue if we’re doing away with SHOP?”
Turner replied by saying that states can support homeownership programs if they see fit going forward, but didn’t clarify where that funding would come from.
Spokespeople for Rutherford and Joyce didn’t immediately return BI’s requests for comment.
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‘People will die’
Democratic lawmakers expressed more direct frustration about the program cuts and lack of detail the secretary presented.
“People will die,” Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat, told Turner of HUD’s proposed cuts to homelessness services, including the elimination of the Housing for Persons with AIDS program. “If you just want to say we’ve got to cut these things because that’s our plan, I’d respect you a lot more than telling us that you care about people as you put them on the street.”
Turner replied that the agency isn’t just cutting funding but is “going to be more effective and more efficient.”
“How?” Quigley asked.
“It’s a new paradigm. It’s a new way to do things,” Turner replied.
During Turner’s testimony before the Senate on June 11, Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, who’s made housing a key priority, urged Turner to reinstate a bipartisan program Schatz championed that incentivizes states and localities to cut red tape that hampers housing construction.
“It’s the most significant pro-housing deregulatory mechanism that we’ve passed,” Schatz said.
Turner didn’t answer Schatz’s question on the eliminated program, and simply said he’s encouraging local leaders to find ways to cut regulations.
But the president’s budget isn’t law. Government funding is set to run out in September, and Congress has the final say on what the federal budget looks like.
The House hearing concluded with the chairwoman, Republican Rep. Stephanie Bice, suggesting that Turner hasn’t had enough time in the few months he’s been in office to nail down more specifics about where HUD funding will go and how programs will be reformed.
“Is it safe to say that you have a framework for a plan that you want to move forward, but maybe not all of the nuts and bolts that you need to be able to present those details?” Bice asked Turner.
“Yes, ma’am,” Turner replied.
