President-elect Donald Trump on Friday named former NFL player and White House official 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, administers mortgage insurance to prospective homeowners and gives rental subsidies to lower-income families, among other things.
Turner serves as chair of the Center for Education Opportunity at the America First Policy Institute, an outside group with close ties to Trump’s transition team that has helped develop the president-elect’s agenda.
During Trump’s first term, Turner served as the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, an initiative the president-elect created in 2018 to “encourage public and private investment” in thousands of low-income census tracts designated as so-called “opportunity zones” by Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That law created a massive new tax incentive that made it cheaper to back either real estate projects or operating businesses in those areas. In 2019, Turner traveled with former HUD Secretary Ben Carson touting the program.
Trump, in announcing his selection Friday night, said Turner helped in that role “to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities,” adding: “Those efforts, working together with former HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, were maximized by Scott’s guidance in overseeing 16 Federal Agencies which implemented more than 200 policy actions furthering Economic Development.”
Turner grew up in Texas and spent nine years in the NFL, playing for the Washington Redskins, which has since changed its name to the Washington Commanders; the San Diego Chargers; and the Denver Broncos.
After leaving the league, Turner mounted an unsuccessful run for California 50th Congressional District in 2006. He was elected to the Texas House in 2012 and finished out his term in 2017 after losing a bid for the state House speakership.
This story has been updated with additional details.
