Trump Shocks Nation by Choosing NFL Veteran Scott Turner to Overhaul Housing Department

Scott Turner, a former NFL player and first-term veteran, is being appointed by President-elect Donald Trump to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council was the previous organization Turner was executive director of. In a statement, the president-elect commended Turner’s efforts to “lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.”

In Trump’s second term, Turner is the first Black American appointed to a Cabinet position. Turner would lead a department tasked with coordinating national policy addressing the nation’s housing needs, including initiatives to support affordable housing, aid low-income Americans, stop market discrimination, and promote urban development, if confirmed by the US Senate. Turner, a former cornerback, spent nine seasons with Denver, San Diego, and Washington in the NFL. He later served in the House of Representatives in Texas.

Prominent neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Trump’s first-term choice for the agency, caused a stir since, according to his detractors, he had no prior experience or affiliation with government housing policy. Carson, who helped the president-elect increase his outreach to Black voters during the previous campaign, is still one of Trump’s most ardent supporters. The so-called Opportunity Zones, which provided incentives to entice investments to economically challenged neighborhoods, were implemented by HUD under Carson. Those who claimed that the breaks primarily benefited affluent developers opposed that endeavor.

The agency also finalized a rule under Trump and Carson that civil rights organizations claimed undermined efforts to stop housing discrimination. Trump frequently attacked Democratic-run communities during his campaign, portraying them as plagued by homelessness and violence. Trump has promised to establish “tent cities” on “inexpensive land,” “ban urban camping,” and hire social workers and physicians.