Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is cleaning up his mess. The neurosurgeon turned presidential Cabinet member has moved to cancel a controversial order for a luxurious dining room set.
“I was as surprised as anyone to find out that a $31,000 dining set had been ordered,” Carson wrote in a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner. “I have requested that the order be canceled. We will find another solution for the furniture replacement.”
Carson has come under fire for the lavish spending on exquisite mahogany pieces that exude a certain kind of robber baron chic—not exactly the style best suited for a member of a supposedly populist, everyman administration. The controversy quickly became a family affair when CNN reported that the secretary’s wife, Candy Carson, had played an oversized role in the decorating decisions.
Carson is trying to put all of that behind him. The secretary insists that he wanted to use “remediated” furniture, that he was informed “used furniture” was not an option, and that he was told that he had to use or lose a $25,000 decorating budget.
“I made it known that I was not happy about the prices being charged and that my preference would be to find something more reasonable,” Carson said referring to the dining room furnishings. And there is reason to believe him. Carson spent just $3,500 to hang some blinds and buy some chairs for his personal office.
There is no excuse for the more lavish spending, of course. The bureaucrats at HUD could do the same job around card tables if need be. But Carson seems to be making an honest effort at doing away with an ugly scandal. He deserves some credit.
“I left this matter alone to concentrate on much bigger issues,” Carson said, concluding his explanation of how furniture costs ballooned, before signing the statement off — not as HUD secretary, but as “Benjamin S Carson Sr. MD.”
