Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney of New York indicated the “deep state” was behind the purchase of a $31,000 dining room set at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Tenney was asked about the pricey furniture during a radio interview Wednesday with WUTQ’s “Talk of the Town” and defended Ben Carson, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
“That Ben Carson story is so misunderstood,” Tenney said. “First of all, I like Ben Carson a lot. I think he’s really trying to do a good job there. But his staffer, one of his key people, was in my office the other day to talk about some of the housing issues that we have in our region, and we were talking about that. And he said that’s the most … Somebody in the deep state — it was not one of his people apparently — ordered a table, like a conference room table or whatever it was, for a room, and that’s what the cost was.”
The deep state refers to deeply entrenched federal employees in the intelligence community and executive branch who are allegedly working to undermine President Trump and his agenda from within.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development bought the dining room set for Carson’s office last year. With a $31,000 price tag, the set included a custom hardwood table and chairs.
Carson told lawmakers Tuesday he wasn’t involved in the decision to buy the table and had asked his wife to help redecorate.
“I invited my wife to come and help,” Carson said. “I left it to my wife, you know, to choose something. I dismissed myself from the issues.”
The HUD secretary said when he heard the expensive set had been purchased, he had it canceled.
Tenney said Carson’s difficulty with voiding the furniture order underscores the issues with the federal government’s procurement process.
“That’s one of the biggest problems with our government is how bureaucratic and huge it is that there are so many procedures in place,” she said. “Imagine him sending it back. It’s a bigger problem sending it back than it is to take it.”
