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Trump picks former aide Scott Turner to be HUD secretary

Former NFL player leads a community engagement foundation

A sign advertises an apartment for rent on Capitol Hill.
A sign advertises an apartment for rent on Capitol Hill. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

President-elect Donald Trump said Friday he would nominate Scott Turner, a White House aide during his first term, to become secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Turner was executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council in Trump’s first term, a role in which he worked with distressed communities. Trump noted that Turner worked at the time with then-HUD Secretary Ben Carson and was involved in “overseeing 16 Federal Agencies which implemented more than 200 policy actions furthering Economic Development.”

Turner, a veteran of the NFL, graduated from the University of Illinois. He is the CEO of the Community Engagement and Opportunity Council, a family foundation that works to revitalize communities.

Senate Banking ranking member Tim Scott, R-S.C., in line to chair the committee next year, said the panel would work quickly to consider Trump’s choice. 

“For too many Americans across the country, access to quality, affordable housing is out of reach,” Scott said in a statement. “Federal housing policy has failed hardworking Americans for decades, and they deserve a different approach. I look forward to working with Scott Turner to put more Americans on the path towards homeownership and financial opportunity.”

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