Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held today a hearing to discuss the nomination of Scott Turner to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
“Given the severity of America’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis, I urge Scott Turner, if confirmed, to use his role as HUD Secretary to advance bipartisan, meaningful solutions, like many of those discussed during today’s hearing, to improve housing stability for those with the greatest needs,” said NLIHC Interim President and CEO Renee Willis. “While NLIHC will look for opportunities of alignment – as we do with any administration – we stand ready to mobilize our members, partners, and congressional champions if Mr. Turner doubles down on the cruel and harmful policies embraced by the first Trump administration, which, if enacted, would have worsened America’s housing crisis.”
During the confirmation hearing, Mr. Turner expressed support for several policies that would help address the housing crisis, including the following policies supported by NLIHC:
- Increasing the supply of affordable housing by encouraging states and communities to reform zoning and land use restrictions that drive up housing costs.
- Ensuring federal disaster recovery efforts reach households and communities more quickly by permanently authorizing HUD’s long-term recovery program.
- Improving federal housing programs, including Housing Choice Vouchers, to make it easier for families to access affordable housing.
- Reducing homelessness among veterans and other populations by focusing on successful, proven solutions and working collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Encouraging workforce development opportunities in low-income communities.
- Vigorously enforcing fair housing laws.
Turner also expressed support for several harmful policies that would increase housing instability and deepen racial inequity. Mr. Turner refused to commit to protecting funding for federal housing and homelessness programs – and the families who rely on these programs to afford a roof over their head – from facing significant spending cuts like those proposed during the first Trump administration. He advocated for increasing the role of private equity in the rental market, despite its track record of raising rents, imposing junk fees, evicting tenants, and failing to maintain properties in good condition. He opposed HUD’s efforts to advance equity, blamed immigrants for our nation’s homelessness crisis, and endorsed new barriers to assistance, including work requirements.
“The high cost of housing was a top election issue for voters in 2024, and voters have made clear that they want policymakers to advance real solutions,” said Willis. “NLIHC encourages Mr. Turner to lean on experts and best practices to solve America's housing crisis, not exacerbate it.”
To fully address America’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis, which disproportionately impacts Black, brown, and the most marginalized communities, Congress must invest at the scale needed to ensure that renters with the lowest incomes have an affordable place to call home. As outlined in NLIHC’s national HoUSed campaign policy agenda, federal investments are needed to bridge the gap between incomes and housing costs through universal rental assistance, build and preserve rental homes affordable to people with the lowest incomes, prevent evictions and homelessness by stabilizing families during a crisis, and strengthen and enforce renter protections to address the power imbalance that tilts heavily in favor of landlords.
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