Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson appeared for an oversight hearing recently, and it went about as badly as expected:
At a hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Al Green grilled Housing Secretary Ben Carson about the $6 billion cuts to HUD outlined in the federal budget proposal the Trump administration released in March.
Federal officials testifying before Congress typically try to say as little of import as possible, and this session was no exception
Carson has a point in declining to discuss the numbers: Why go over the fantasy budget that Trump released seven months ago, which even Republicans said was crazy? Cutting 13 percent of the HUD budget would make thousands of families homeless overnight.
Still, one of the HUD chief’s main roles is to advocate for the agency and the people who depend on it. Carson has never seemed interested in that, even as the plight of poor Americans without federal housing assistance grows more and more dire. Last month, he told PlanPhilly’s Jake Blumgart that it “didn’t matter” what the final department budget was.
Here’s the video:
You will recall that when Carson was first floated as a possible Cabinet slot after the election it was reported that he rebuffed the idea because he didn’t believe he was qualified for the role. He seems to be proving that he was right. Unfortunately for him, he apparently forgot that advice when Trump offered him this position.
