Tag: Ben Carson

Ben Carson hires his crooked best pal’s kid as deputy chief of staff

The following article by Oliver Willis was posted on the Shareblue.com website May 31, 2018:

HUD Secretary Ben Carson added more corruption to the Trump administration by hiring the son of a close friend who was convicted of fraud.

HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson with Pres. Trump in the White House. Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Ben Carson, Trump’s Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary, hired the son of his close personal friend and former business partner to be his deputy chief of staff.

Echoing Trump’s practices, the familial hire puts the offspring of a convicted felon — with no experience in housing — in a position of power and authority over housing. HUD has considerable oversight across the entire country regarding housing policies and other rules and regulations related to American life.

Carson’s department is already under government investigation for ethics violations specifically because Carson has hired his family to work within HUD. Continue reading “Ben Carson hires his crooked best pal’s kid as deputy chief of staff”

Business HUD Secretary Ben Carson to be sued for suspending Obama-era fair-housing rule

The following article by Tracy Jan was posted on the Washington Post website May 7, 2018:

Fair-housing advocates planned to file a lawsuit early Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and HUD Secretary Ben Carson for suspending an Obama-era rule requiring communities to examine and address barriers to racial integration.

The 2015 rule required more than 1,200 communities receiving billions of federal housing dollars to draft plans to desegregate their communities — or risk losing federal funds. Continue reading “Business HUD Secretary Ben Carson to be sued for suspending Obama-era fair-housing rule”

HUD Secretary Ben Carson to propose raising rent for low-income Americans receiving federal housing subsidies

The following article by Tracy Jan, CaitlinDewey and Jeff Stein was posted on the Washington Post website April 25, 2018:

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson meeting with lawmakers and advocates in Lexington, Ky., last month. Credit: Philip Scott Andrews, Washington Post

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson proposed far-reaching changes to federal housing subsidies Wednesday, tripling rent for the poorest households and making it easier for housing authorities to impose work requirements.

Carson’s proposals, and other initiatives aimed at low-income Americans receiving federal assistance, amount to a comprehensive effort by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to restrict access to the safety net and reduce the levels of assistance for those who do qualify. Continue reading “HUD Secretary Ben Carson to propose raising rent for low-income Americans receiving federal housing subsidies”

Trump officials went on a taxpayer-funded shopping spree. Here’s the bill.

The following article by Adam Peck was posted on the ThinkProgress website April 24, 2018:

Last week, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer joined the cabal of cabinet-level officials from the Trump White House who have to defend themselves against charges of misusing taxpayer dollars for his own benefit.

The New York Post discovered that Lighthizer had authorized nearly $1,000,000 in spending to renovate two of his Washington, DC offices on the taxpayer’s dime. That figure included a 30-inch, $859 plaque emblazoned with the words “Executive Office of the President,” 90 office chairs billed at $600 apiece, and a $3,500 antique desk for himself. Continue reading “Trump officials went on a taxpayer-funded shopping spree. Here’s the bill.”

Under Ben Carson, HUD Scales Back Fair Housing Enforcement

The following article by Glenn Thrush was posted on the New York Times website March 28, 2018:

Ben Carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, on a housing tour last year in Columbus, Ohio. This month, he struck the words “inclusive” and “free from discrimination” from his department’s mission statement. Credit Ty Wright for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is attempting to scale back federal efforts to enforce fair housing laws, freezing enforcement actions against local governments and businesses, including Facebook, while sidelining officials who have aggressively pursued civil rights cases.

The policy shift, detailed in interviews with 20 current and former Department of Housing and Urban Development officials and in internal agency emails, is meant to roll back the Obama administration’s attempts to reverse decades of racial, ethnic and income segregation in federally subsidized housing and development projects. The move coincides with the decision this month by Ben Carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, to strike the words “inclusive” and “free from discrimination” from HUD’s mission statement. Continue reading “Under Ben Carson, HUD Scales Back Fair Housing Enforcement”

While you weren’t looking: 5 stories from the Trump administration that aren’t about John Bolton

The following article by A.P. Joyce was posted on the mic.com website March 23, 2018:

This week, the news cycle has centered squarely on the ongoing Russia probe and unfolding drama at the White House, and excluded many other political news developments.

President Donald Trump began the week by attacking special counsel Robert Mueller specifically, rather than the Russia probe in general, for the first time on Twitter. He kept up his criticism as the week dragged on, even as his top lawyer in the case, attorney John Dowd, unexpectedly resigned on Thursday. Continue reading “While you weren’t looking: 5 stories from the Trump administration that aren’t about John Bolton”

Ben Carson Defends Buying $31,000 Dining Set to Congress: ‘I Left It to My Wife’

The following article by Glenn Thrush was posted on the New York Times website March 20, 2018:

Ben Carson, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Tuesday. Credit Erin Schaff for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Ben Carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, told a House committee on Tuesday that he had “dismissed” himself from the decision to buy a $31,000 dining room set for his office last year, leaving the details to his wife and staff.

Mr. Carson offered a rambling, at times contradictory, explanation of the purchase of the table, chairs and hutch, a transaction that turned into a public relations disaster that led President Trump to consider replacing him, according to White House aides.

The hearing, before the House Appropriations subcommittee that determines the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s budget, was supposed to center on the administration’s proposed budget cuts to the agency. Instead it was dominated by questions about Mr. Carson’s judgment, the conduct of his wife, Candy Carson, and son Ben Carson Jr., and Mr. Carson’s initial denial that he was aware of the expenditure, a position he has modified. Continue reading “Ben Carson Defends Buying $31,000 Dining Set to Congress: ‘I Left It to My Wife’”

HUD Secretary Carson’s wife weighed in on redecorating effort, new emails show

The following article by Juliet Eilperin and Jack Gillum was posted on the Washington Post website March 14, 2018:

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has mainly kept a low profile at HUD. Here’s some of what he has been up to. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)

Housing and Urban Development officials repeatedly consulted with Secretary Ben Carson’s wife about the prospect of redecorating his office last year, according to new documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

The push to redecorate Carson’s office in the weeks following President Trump’s inauguration — even before the former pediatric neurosurgeon had taken office — has come under congressional scrutiny in recent weeks. HUD’s former chief ­administrative officer, Helen Foster, filed a complaint with the department’s special counsel last fall charging that she was demoted in part because she warned other officials that the planned refurbishment would require congressional notification because it would exceed $5,000. Continue reading “HUD Secretary Carson’s wife weighed in on redecorating effort, new emails show”

Ben Carson’s HUD abandons fighting housing discrimination in new mission statement

The following article by Zack Ford was posted on the ThinkProgress website March 7, 2018:

Ben Carson wants HUD to do less to improve the housing experience across the country.

HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson with Pres. Trump in the White House. Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has a new mission statement, thanks to Secretary Ben Carson — and gone is language about creating communities that are inclusive and free from discrimination or working to strengthen the housing market to protect consumers.

According to a memo sent out Monday to HUD’s political staff and obtained by the Huffington Post, the new proposed mission instead focuses on Carson’s priority of “self-sufficiency”: Continue reading “Ben Carson’s HUD abandons fighting housing discrimination in new mission statement”

Ben Carson, or the tale of the disappearing Cabinet secretary

The following article by Ben Terris was posted on the Washington Post website February 6, 2018:

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson meeting with lawmakers and advocates in Lexington, Ky., last month. Credit: Philip Scott Andrews, Washington Post

It was Christmastime in Washington, and Ben Carson couldn’t stop talking about the apocalypse.

“Did you know,” the secretary of housing and urban development asked his acting chief of staff, Deana Bass, at a Capitol Hill holiday party, “that if North Korea detonated a nuclear weapon into our exosphere, it could take out our entire electrical grid?”

Bass shook her head.

“What’s that movie where there’s complete lawlessness and anarchy for one night a year?” Carson said, calmly resting his right hand over his left. “ ‘The Purge’! It will be like ‘The Purge’ all the time.” Continue reading “Ben Carson, or the tale of the disappearing Cabinet secretary”