Key housing industry groups congratulated Ben Carson on his selection as President-elect Trump’s nomine to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, opting for a measured tone rather than joining leading Democrats in criticizing the former neurosurgeon’s lack of experience.
“I’ve been in this business for well over three decades and it’s more typical than not that the HUD pick is not a person steeped in housing,” said David Stevens, head of the Mortgage Bankers Association, which sent out a statement congratulating Carson Monday.
The National Association of Realtors also congratulated Carson. Ed Brady, the chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, called Carson a “thoughtful leader who is sure to assemble a professional team of policy experts and be a great spokesperson for housing.”
Carson, a highly distinguished pediatric neurosurgeon and former Republican presidential candidate, does not have experience relevant to what his HUD responsibilities would be.
Earlier in the day, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called Carson “disturbingly unqualified” to run HUD.
Stevens, however, a former director of the Federal Housing Administration under President Obama, told the Washington Examiner that criticism based on experience is “sort of not fair,” since HUD secretaries in past administrations haven’t had much experience.
His group is in talks with the transition team about making sure that Carson is surrounded with capable staffers, Stevens said.
In November, as reports came out suggesting that Trump might be interested in putting Carson on his team, a spokesman for Carson had said that the former presidential candidate’s background didn’t prepare him to run a federal agency. Before Thanksgiving, however, Carson indicated that he had changed his mind and was considering taking a high-level post in the administration.
