Secretary Scott Turner recently appeared on The Charlie Kirk Show to discuss various initiatives aimed at revising policies within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The conversation touched on eliminating gender ideology from HUD-funded facilities, auditing contracts to save taxpayer money, and rescinding the Obama-Biden Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule.
Turner addressed the issue of equal access in shelters funded by HUD. "There are two sexes—male and female. When you have HUD-funded shelters, for instance, when you have a shelter that is for women, we want to make sure that the leaders of those shelters can properly identify the people coming into those shelters. Men should not be entering a women-only shelter," he stated.
In line with this stance, Turner has directed HUD to halt enforcement actions related to a 2016 rule that recognized gender identity in housing programs. This rule allowed individuals to self-identify their gender without regard to biological sex.
On financial matters, Turner highlighted efforts under President Trump's administration to eliminate waste and improve efficiency within HUD. "With President Trump’s leadership and finding all the waste, fraud, and abuse and streamlining our processes, I’m happy to announce we have found $260 million dollars in savings already. We assume we will find more so that we are good stewards of taxpayer dollars," he said.
This initiative follows an executive order aimed at maximizing government efficiency by reviewing all contracts at HUD.
Turner also discussed plans concerning the AFFH rule, which he argues limits local governance by imposing federal regulations on zoning and building practices. "We are going after AFFH to restore the power, the flexibility, the rule-making authority back to localities, back to states because they understand their needs," Turner explained.
The AFFH rule has been criticized for adding burdensome regulations that affect local decision-making processes.
