What to know about Scott Turner, Trump's pick for housing secretary

Scott Turner, President-elect Donald Trump’s prime to pb the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is simply a erstwhile NFL subordinate who ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s archetypal term.

Turner, 52, is the archetypal Black idiosyncratic selected to beryllium a subordinate of the Republican's Cabinet. Here are immoderate things to cognize astir him:

From nonrecreational shot to politics

Turner grew up successful a Dallas suburb, Richardson, and graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He was a antiaircraft backmost and spent 9 seasons successful the NFL opening successful 1995, playing for the Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos.

During offseasons, helium worked arsenic an intern for then-Representative Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California. After Turner retired successful 2004, helium worked afloat clip for the congressman. In 2006, Turner ran unsuccessfully arsenic a Republican successful California’s 50th Congressional District.

Turner joined the Texas House successful 2013 arsenic portion of a ample harvest of beverage party-supported lawmakers. He tried unsuccessfully to go talker earlier helium finished his 2nd word successful 2016. He did not question a 3rd term.

Motivational talker and pastor

Turner besides worked for a bundle institution successful a presumption called “chief inspiration officer” and said helium acted arsenic a nonrecreational mentor, pastor and councilor for the employees and enforcement team. He has besides been a motivational speaker.

He and his wife, Robin Turner, founded a nonprofit promoting initiatives to amended puerility literacy. His church, Prestonwood Baptist Church, lists him arsenic an subordinate pastor. He is besides seat of the halfway for acquisition accidental astatine America First Policy Institute, a deliberation vessel acceptable up by erstwhile Trump medication staffers to laic the groundwork if helium won a 2nd term.

Headed assembly successful Trump's archetypal term

Trump introduced Turner successful April 2019 arsenic the caput of the caller White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. Trump credited Turner with “helping to pb an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s astir distressed communities.”

The ngo of the assembly was to coordinate with assorted national agencies to pull concern to alleged “Opportunity Zones," which were economically depressed areas eligible to beryllium utilized for the national taxation incentives.

Role of HUD

The Housing and Urban Development Department is liable for addressing the nation’s lodging needs. It besides is charged with just lodging laws and oversees lodging for the poorest Americans, sheltering much than 4.3 cardinal low-income families done nationalist housing, rental subsidy and voucher programs.

The agency, with a fund of tens of billions of dollars, runs a multitude of programs that screen a scope of responsibilities, from reducing homelessness to promoting homeownership. It besides finances the operation of affordable lodging and provides vouchers that let low-income families to wage for lodging successful the backstage market.

During the campaign, Trump focused mostly connected the prices of housing, not nationalist housing. He railed against the precocious outgo of lodging and said helium could marque it much affordable by cracking down connected amerciable migration and reducing inflation. Trump besides said helium would enactment to trim regulations connected location operation and marque immoderate national onshore disposable for residential construction.