President-elect Donald Trump announced late Friday that he has chosen Scott Turner, the former executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC), to serve as the next secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in his administration.
Turner, an ally of the president-elect and member of the America First Policy Institute, is a former professional football player and Texas state representative for part of Collin County and Rockwall County, from 2013-2017. He played for the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons prior to entering politics for teams including the former Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos.
Turner helped “lead an unprecedented effort that transformed our country’s most distressed communities,” according to a statement from Trump released by the transition team, and he worked closely with former HUD Secretary Ben Carson by “overseeing more than 200 policy actions furthering economic development.”
The president-elect added that Turner oversaw roughly $50 billion of private investment in opportunity zones, and is the founder and CEO of the Community Engagement and Opportunity Council (CEOC) that offers sports programs and mentorship in local communities. He is also an associate pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church based in Plano, Texas.
Housing industry groups were quick to react. From the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA): “CHLA congratulates Scott Turner on being nominated as the next HUD Secretary. We look forward to continuing to work with HUD and the rest of the administration on creating affordable and accessible homeownership, particularly for first-time and underserved borrowers.
“Heading into 2025, CHLA will continue to spearhead important initiatives at FHA that protect borrowers and the community lenders that serve them, such as: premiums commensurate with risk, a partial claims payment option, streamlining condo approvals, and pay-scale comparability.”
David Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference (NHC), also weighed in: “Scott Turner has a well-established commitment to community development and was a vocal advocate for investing in underserved communities in the first Trump administration,” he said. “We look forward to working with him in the years ahead.
“He has been a vocal advocate for the Opportunity Zone program and we anticipate working with him to extend and expand the program to incentivize the construction of housing affordable to first-time home buyers, especially first-generation homebuyers.”
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) also quickly released a statement offering congratulations to Turner.
“On behalf of MBA, I congratulate Scott Turner on being nominated to serve as the next HUD Secretary,” said MBA president and CEO Bob Broeksmit. “Pursuing policies and initiatives that help solve our nation’s housing affordability crisis for owners and renters should be a top policy priority under the Trump administration. Scott’s leadership as executive director of the [WHORC] in the first Trump administration, where, alongside Secretary Ben Carson, he was instrumental in implementing Opportunity Zones, will serve him well.
“MBA is committed to working with the incoming HUD leadership and staff on policies and programs that boost housing supply, improve affordability, and address challenges and opportunities at the Federal Housing Administration and Ginnie Mae,” Broeksmit added.
The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) also weighed in on the move in a statement provided to HousingWire.
“We are thrilled about the nomination of Scott Turner as HUD secretary,” said MHI CEO Lesli Gooch. “We appreciated his engagement and attention to manufactured housing in his previous role during President Trump’s first term. We look forward to working with him again to elevate innovative housing and expand attainable homeownership.”
Turner’s announcement comes alongside a slew of other major appointments the transition made late Friday, including hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) as secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor, Russell Vought to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Marty Makary as commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and physician and former congressman Dave Weldon as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) President and CEO Lindsey Johnson issued the following statement on Bessent’s appointment: “On behalf of America’s leading retail banks, we congratulate Scott Bessent on being tapped to be President-elect Trump’s U.S. Treasury Secretary.
“As an experienced and accomplished businessman, we applaud Mr. Bessent’s recent comments in which he has called for a surge in small business optimism, a smart deregulatory banking agenda, and support for Main Street. If confirmed, we look forward to working with Mr. Bessent to advocate for sound financial regulatory policy that enable banks to better support consumers, small businesses, and the economy at large.”
Editor’s note: This is a developing story. It has been updated with statements from NHC, MBA and MHI.
