By Jennifer Porter Gore
Over the weekend, President-elect Trump announced his nomination of Scott Turner to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Turner, a former NFL player and Texas legislator, would be the first — and so far, only — Black appointee in Trump’s second cabinet. But for housing advocates, his nomination and Trump’s anti-fair-housing agenda raise plenty of red flags.
Indeed, while most housing advocates know little about Turner, they’re amply aware of and concerned about what the second Trump Administration has signaled will be its housing policy.
Trump’s Housing Policies Weren’t Great
During Trump’s first term, HUD — under Dr. Ben Carson — focused on policies like the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, designed to repair aging public housing. Since much of the nation’s public housing is more than 50 years old, many of the buildings need billions of dollars in repairs and updates. Sounds great, right?
Not so fast — those policies often came with a catch: HUD also supported closing public housing properties deemed “too expensive to fix,” leaving families with Section 8 vouchers that didn’t always translate into homes.
Having a voucher doesn’t guarantee finding housing. So, families may be unable to find a landlord who will accept the voucher — and, in some cases, the voucher can expire before the family finds a home.
“I suspect that a key initiative for this next administration will be to increase the number of public housing properties eligible for RAD, especially considering that Congress is now Republican-led and Congressional authorization is needed for this program,” Sue Popkin, a fellow with Urban Institute, tells Word In Black about Trump’s plans.
“Over the next four years, I hope that HUD will ensure these agencies have the support and resources needed to allow their residents to thrive,” she says. “I hope that Turner does not follow in Carson’s path by proposing cuts that would displace older adults and people with disabilities [who have] very low incomes.”
Evictions, Homelessness, and Project 2025
Peggy Bailey, executive vice president for policy and program development at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, says the new administration’s agenda could make things even worse.
“The incoming Administration has laid out an agenda that makes clear they will try to make it harder for people who are struggling to afford rent, worsen discrimination, and undercut effective efforts to address homelessness, similar to what we saw in the first Trump Administration,” she says.
Bailey is especially concerned because Turner’s nomination comes against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s previous efforts — criticized by both Democrats and Republicans — to dismantle fair housing protections. Slashing programs like the Community Development Block Grant falls right in line with the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which would reverse gains in fair housing and fair lending and shred the housing safety net.
An NFL and Trump 1.0 Background
For nine years, Turner played NFL football for the formerly named Washington Redskins, the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos. He later was elected to the Texas legislature and served as a state representative until 2017.
During Trump’s first term he led the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, which was positioned as serving the nation’s “most distressed communities” in his Friday night announcement. He also serves as a chair at the Center for Education Opportunity at America First Policy Institute, a think tank aligned with Trump.
Ultimately, Bailey says, “Their plans will lead to more evictions and homelessness. We’ve seen this playbook before. Policymakers should reject these extreme proposals and prioritize making sure that everyone in this country can afford a home.”
This editorial was originally published in Word In Black.
