Housing Secretary Ben Carson on Thursday announced sweeping changes to rein in lax spending policies at the agency that have left taxpayers holding the bag.
The new initiative is aimed at imposing financial controls on the Department of Housing and Urban Development. And he is creating an internal task force to sniff out waste, fraud and abuse.
“We simply need to do better,” said Carson in a statement.
“An updated system of internal controls will provide our agency with greater certainty that the dollars we spend are spent in a manner that satisfies all laws and regulations, and most importantly, the American people. We will approach this as any business would by increasing transparency and accountability. In the end, we will also support a culture that respects the fact that HUD funds belong to the public,” he added.
Carson’s plan is the latest by cabinet agencies to comply with President Trump’s call for less spending and greater accountability for taxpayers.
The changes are also aimed to shake up what insiders call a culture of uncontrolled and unchecked spending. Carson now wants agency officials to negotiate for lower prices and be more restrictive on what the agency really needs.
It also targets overall HUD financial accounting practices and will aim to get the agency’s books in order.
To help with that chore, Carson has appointed a HUD chief financial officer, the first in seven years.
According to the release, CFO Irving Dennis will lead the cost-tightening effort and the task force targeting waste.
“I’m excited to apply a business acumen to a task that is necessary for us as an agency,” said Dennis. “These new internal controls and management practices must be embedded into our organization to help prevent misuse and misappropriation of assets. The goal is to create more robust processes and systems of checks and balances to ensure our expenditures not only meet all of our requirements but pass a common sense ‘smell test,’” he added.
The fact sheet listed these goals:
- Agency Governance: Implementing an agency governance structure that allows for more oversight, transparency, monitoring and accountability.
- Finance Transformation: Developing a plan to restore discipline and accountability in the financial and reporting systems across the agency.
- Grant Modernization: Developing a holistic grant modernization plan to improve grant processes and reporting, including improved IT systems.
- Process Improvement: Promoting a HUD culture focused on documented and repeatable process with a focus on transparency and cost reasonableness.
