Ben Carson, the Secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, addresses National American Indian Housing Council at its legislative conference in Washington, D.C., on March 6, 2018. "A strong economy & efficient governance make it easier for families to achieve prosperity & self-sufficiency on their own. By that measure, we have some good reasons to be optimistic ab achieving our mission of empowering everyone to reach their American Dream," a post on Twitter read. Photo: Secretary Carson

National | Politics

Housing Secretary Carson played role in purchasing $31,000 furniture set

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Ben Carson, the Secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, played a direct role in the purchase of a $31,561 set of furniture for his office in Washington, D.C., according to newly released emails.

Just last week, Carson said he was "as surprised as anyone" to learn about the controversial acquisition. But documents obtained by American Oversight, a liberal watchdog group, under the Freedom of Information Act indicate otherwise, with one showing that the secretary and his wife, Candy, "picked out" the furniture themselves.

After the news hit the media, Carson said he was canceling the order. But he and his wife, whom he has said is part "Cherokee," are already facing allegations that they pressured career employees to circumvent a federal law that requires Congressional approval of costly furnishings.

"While it’s encouraging to see that HUD’s career ethics officials tried to stand up to the extravagant requests from Secretary Carson and his wife, it’s still deeply troubling each time we learn about secretary involving his family in his taxpayer-funded job,” Austin Evers, the executive director of American Oversight, said in a statement on Wednesday.

The spending comes as Carson seeks to cut more than $110 million from Indian housing programs as part of his fiscal year 2019 budget request. Despite making two appearances before tribes in the last two months, he has not explained the need to reduce the budget for the Native American Housing Block Grant or to eliminate the Indian Community Development Block Grant altogether.

"Tribal communities are already doing amazing work to meet their peoples' housing needs in ways that work for them," Carson said his prepared remarks to the National American Indian Housing Council on March 6.

Officials from the Trump administration are currently making the rounds on Capitol Hill to discuss their budget proposals. Carson is expected to testify in the coming weeks.