Only two Democrats voted to confirm Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, and they both still hope he’ll come through to build more affordable housing.
“I voted yes for him because I want to create and build more affordable housing,” Sen. John Fetterman told NOTUS when asked what he makes of how HUD is operating given his vote to confirm Turner. “You vote for someone, that doesn’t mean that you love and support everything that they do. Why is this even a question?”
Fetterman and Sen. Peter Welch joined Senate Republicans in confirming Turner by a vote of 55-44 in mid-February.
Since Turner took office, he has eliminated more than $1 billion from his department’s budget and changed policies around fair housing and equal access to federally funded homeless shelters. He is reported to be cutting up to 50% of the staff and reportedly planning to eliminate dozens of field offices.
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The agency is also working with the Department of Homeland Security on immigration enforcement by facilitating data sharing to “ensure taxpayer-funded housing programs are not used to harbor or benefit illegal aliens.” He has also called for federally funded homeless shelters to restrict access to noncitizens, and instructed Federal Housing Administration mortgage lenders to no longer consider non-permanent residents, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, as eligible.
Asked how he felt about his vote to confirm Turner now that he had been in his role for a while, Welch said he’s still waiting to see.
“To be determined,” Welch told NOTUS when asked how he feels about his vote in support of the housing secretary. “I mean, it’s over. He’s the secretary, so I want to build housing.”
When NOTUS asked about the changes Turner has implemented at HUD, Fetterman was quick to criticize them.
“I don’t agree with it, just like I don’t agree with the vast majority of everything that’s happening right now,” Fetterman said.
Democrats have been looking for the best strategy to navigate the new Trump era. At the time when many high-profile Trump nominations were up for a vote, several Democrats voted to confirm some of them rather than vote in blanket opposition. But as early as February, HuffPost reported that some of those Democrats already regretted doing so.
Democrats have written nearly a dozen letters to Turner’s office seeking clarity behind recent changes and joined advocates in bringing attention to housing issues. Among those who have been most vocal in opposition to Turner’s approach at HUD is Rep. Becca Balint, who like Welch represents Vermont. Asked what she made of Welch’s vote to confirm Turner, Balint fell short of endorsing it.
“In this moment, it can’t be business as usual, and I think that [there’s] very little indication that we’ve had from this administration, that they are trustworthy partners,” Balint told NOTUS last month. “I would have made a different choice. But … I’m not him, and he had his reasons I’m sure.”
Welch, who voted to confirm seven cabinet members, told NOTUS at the time he confirmed Turner because of Vermont’s housing crisis. Last week, he told NOTUS his priorities are now focused on economic policy.
“Look, I have a problem with the Trump administration, they’re really doing a lot of damage to the domestic economy, so that’s where my focus is,” Welch told NOTUS.
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Amelia Benavides-Colón is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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