ABC News(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nomination of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday.
Carson was confirmed by a 58-41 vote on Thursday, leaving just three of Trump’s cabinet nominees still unconfirmed.
Carson ran for president in 2016, and endorsed President Trump shortly after ending his bid. After initially saying that he would not take a position in Trump’s administration, Carson later accepted the nomination for HUD secretary.
Now, Carson says he will embark on a “listening tour” to learn from HUD employees and public servants around the country about the agency he will head and the issues he will face.
Critics of Carson’s nomination have questioned his lack of experience heading a government department.
The Washington Post says that HUD’s annual budget for 2017 is nearly $49 billion, which is to be used to provide rental assistance, programs to fight homelessness and investments to battle urban poverty. The department provides assistance to Americans in nearly five million homes.
Carson spoke about his experience growing up with an illiterate single mother in Detroit, explaining that that experience helped him to understand “what housing insecurity was.”
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., issued a statement on Carson’s confirmation, saying that he has “no doubts about Dr. Carson’s commitment to serving this nation.”
“Dr. Carson will look at housing policy with fresh eyes and move forward with programs that will help communities thrive so that all Americans can reach their full potential,” he added.
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