CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump on Friday nominated former NFL player and White House staffer Scott Turner to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
If confirmed by the Senate, Turner would lead an agency that enforces fair housing laws, provides mortgage insurance for prospective homeowners, and provides rental subsidies to low-income households.
Turner is the director of the Center for Educational Opportunity at the America First Institute, an outside group with close ties to President Trump’s transition team that has helped shape the president-elect’s policies.
During the Trump administration’s first term, Turner served as executive director of the White House Council on Opportunity and Activation. The council is an initiative created by the president-elect in 2018 to “encourage public and private investment” in thousands of low-income census tracts, so-called “low-income neighborhoods.” “Opportunity Zones” under President Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This law created huge new tax incentives that make it cheaper to support real estate projects and business operations in these areas. In 2019, Turner accompanied former HUD Secretary Ben Carson to promote the program.
President Trump announced his selection Friday night, saying Turner would be tasked with leading an “unprecedented effort to transform our nation’s most distressed communities,” adding, “Former HUD Secretary Ben These efforts, in collaboration with Mr. Carson, were maximized by Mr. Scott’s policies.” Guidance for overseeing 16 federal agencies that implemented more than 200 policy actions to promote economic development. ”
Turner grew up in Texas and spent nine years in the NFL, playing for the Washington Redskins, who later changed their name to the Washington Commanders. San Diego Chargers. And the Denver Broncos.
After leaving the league, Mr. Turner ran unsuccessfully for California’s 50th Congressional District in 2006. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2012, and his term ended in 2017 after losing his bid for speaker of the state House of Representatives.
This story has been updated with additional details.
