Senate Confirms Dr. Stabby As HUD Secretary

The Washington Post reports:

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson was confirmed Thursday as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, bringing into President Trump’s cabinet a Washington outsider with no prior government experience and a staunchly conservative view of public assistance.

Support for Carson’s confirmation came down largely along party lines, highlighting the intense partisan and ideological conflicts in Washington and around Trump’s agenda. Carson, an acclaimed neurosurgeon, ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 against Trump and endorsed the celebrity real estate developer shortly after ending his unsuccessful bid.

The secretary has indicated that, now that he is confirmed, he will embark on a “listening tour” to learn from career HUD employees and public servants across the country. He and his allies have expressed intense dismay at his delayed confirmation, which was initially expected to pass through the Senate in early February.

During his confirmation hearing, Carson declared that LGBT citizens deserve no “special rights” when it comes to housing discrimination. The 2017 HUD budget is $49 billion. The Senate vote was 58-41.