It doesn’t take a lot of news viewing, listening, or reading to recognize that things are starting to change in Washington, D.C. since President Donald J. Trump (R) and Vice President J.D. Vance (R) took their respective oaths of office and moved into their new addresses. It can be useful to step back and briefly review the facts. Candidates have to raise money to win elections. But the actual election, in the ideal, is predicated on legitimate voters casting their ballots either based on party allegiance (e.g.: the old canard of ‘vote blue no matter who’ – i.e.: vote Democratic regardless of the candidate) OR based on campaign promises and the perceived track record of the given candidates. Who is the best choice or who is the lesser of two evils is how those choices are sometimes described. According to the Cook Political Report tracker (see below), in 2024 Kamala Harris (D) got 75,017,626 popular votes. President Trump earned 77,301,997 popular votes. Trump earned 312 Electoral College votes to Harris’ 226. As a result of that outcome, despite the lawfare, years of smears, and multiple assassination attempts, Trump was declared the winner and was certified by Congress on January 6, 2025. That means Trump, per the guidelines of the U.S. Constitution, gets to pick his cabinet with the “advice and consent” of the U.S. Senate. Following Senate hearings, Eric Scott Turner was confirmed by a vote of the Senate by a vote of 55 to 44, with two Democrats voting with Republicans to confirm him as the new U.S. Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The facts, recent and significant background, and analysis start now.
1)
BREAKING: The Senate just voted 55-44 to confirm Scott Turner as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
All but two Democrats voted against him. I wonder why pic.twitter.com/9LKjfdICnq
— George (@BehizyTweets) February 5, 2025
Scott Turner confirmed as Trump’s HUD secretary after pledging to address housing shortageshttps://t.co/AQXUmgrf09
— WATE 6 On Your Side (@6News) February 5, 2025
✅ CONFIRMED: Eric “Scott” Turner as the 19th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pic.twitter.com/dfZ0Jy2uR1
— AJ Huber (@Huberton) February 5, 2025
NAR Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn issues statement after Scott Turner was confirmed by the United States Senate to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. https://t.co/LT60IgCGhY
— National Association of REALTORS® (@nardotrealtor) February 5, 2025
2) Apparently, Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA-D) was unaware that her party was in charge of HUD for the last four years and held the Senate too. For two years, Democrats held the House while Biden-Harris (D) were, rightly or wrongly, ‘in charge.’
All across the country, housing costs too much. Scott Turner has a limited public record, but if confirmed, he will lead our nation’s response to the housing crisis.
I’m here at @SenateBanking to get answers for the American people on his plans to make housing more affordable. pic.twitter.com/71rGjs7HTw
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 16, 2025
3) It is sad that Senator Mitch McConnell’s (KY-R) tumble caused some of the attention to Turner’s confirmation to be somewhat diluted.
Mitch McConnell fell down the stairs – again. Senators Daines and Mullin helped him back up.
He fell after he voted to confirm Scott Turner as HUD.TIME TO GO, MITCH. pic.twitter.com/JzViRd6Mwg
— Sara Rose 🇺🇸🌹 (@saras76) February 5, 2025
Term Limets – Yes, there are reports that Senator Mitch McConnell fell down the stairs while leaving the Senate on February 5, 2025. According to various media sources, this incident occurred after he voted to confirm Scott Turner as the Secretary of Housing and Urban… pic.twitter.com/BrkLosCKzj
— AMERICA FIRST 🇺🇸 (@DavideZ1911) February 5, 2025
BREAKING: Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been spotted in a wheelchair after falling twice today.
The 82-year-old Senator fell down the stairs after voting to confirm Scott Turner as HUD and then again at the GOP lunch.
The picture was taken as McConnell was leaving the… pic.twitter.com/fEGY7F726l
— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) February 5, 2025
4) Back to the more positive side are posts like the following.
Proud to support Scott Turner throughout his confirmation process and congratulate him on being confirmed as our Secretary of Housing and Urban Development! I look forward to working with him and trust that God’s guidance will lead him to great accomplishments. https://t.co/ACmjGpUaQm
— U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (@SenHydeSmith) February 5, 2025
Confirmed ✅
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner pic.twitter.com/9ZRpRvBzdU— Sen. John Barrasso (@SenJohnBarrasso) February 5, 2025
CONFIRMED
Scott Turner advocates for reducing government intervention in housing matters and instead promotes partnerships with local communities and faith-based organizations. His confirmation emphasized his commitment to reforming the Department of Housing and Urban Development… pic.twitter.com/outQkPS8kv— Brian Eastwood (@BrianEastwood_X) February 5, 2025
Congratulations Scott Turner who has been confirmed as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
He was an associate pastor at Prestonwood Baptist for @jackngraham
TRUMPS Cabinet has SEVERAL committed Christians on it. pic.twitter.com/Jxa0rNL2im
— Tyler Feller (@tylerfeller22) February 5, 2025
Scott Turner was confirmed as the housing secretary, a role central to President Trump’s domestic agenda at a time when most Americans say the cost of living around necessities are a top concern. https://t.co/omYSA3PAxP
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) February 5, 2025
🚨🇺🇸 BREAKING | FROM THE NFL TO HUD: SENATE CONFIRMS SCOTT TURNER AS HOUSING CHIEF
The Senate just confirmed Scott Turner—former NFL player, ex-Texas lawmaker, and Trump official—as the new HUD secretary in a 55-44 vote.
Now in charge of a $68 billion agency, Turner says he… pic.twitter.com/Ngmx2qJ8R8
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 5, 2025
🚨BREAKING🚨 Scott Turner has been CONFIRMED as HUD Secretary.
The vote was 55-44 with Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) voting in support with every Republican. pic.twitter.com/WOpaJ2SSoo
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 5, 2025
Robin and I were so glad to see our dear friends @RealBenCarson and their family at the Candlelight Dinner this evening held at the National Building Museum. pic.twitter.com/BmPAuHR2VR
— Scott Turner (@sturnerofficial) January 20, 2025
— Scott Turner (@sturnerofficial) January 28, 2025
5) As a result of the election and the proverbial process of the changing of the guard in Washington, D.C., it is now known from revelations made by DOGE – the Elon Musk led Department of Government Efficiency – that the USAID has been to some degree a kind of slush fund for apparent political (including Central Intelligence Agency or CIA) and media linked operations around the world, including here in the U.S., where millions of taxpayer dollars went to left-leaning media operations such as Politico, the New York Times, and the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Meaning, there is now more evidence that the media environment in the U.S. has been manipulated for some years by news outlets that tend to favor Democrats, and to a lesser degree, so-called “establishment” Republicans.
6) Given that there is ample evidence that much of the major media in the U.S. already favored Democrats, and were often staffed by Democratic supporters, it is that much more surprising that Trump prevailed in 2024. Furthermore, the emerging insights from investigative reporters like Michael Shellenberger (see the report linked above) is that the first Trump Administration was sabotaged by several different efforts that apparently included taxpayer money that flowed from USAID into foreign and domestic sources that in turn impeached Trump on arguably spurious grounds during his first term in office. While there is no doubt that certain Republicans (presumably so-called “RINO” Republicans a.k.a. “Republicans In Name Only”) purportedly benefited from these dark money machinations that funded efforts meant to keep “the Swamp” or “Deep State” or “Blob” in place in Washington, D.C. by subverting Trump 1.0. and more recently, the anti-Trump smears and lawfare.
7) It is a wonder that with indictments, convictions, and all sorts of smears of Trump (R) while elevating Kamala Harris (D) via much (not all) of big media and much (not all) big tech, that Trump prevailed in 2024. In essence, the gaslighting by much of the media and big tech that kept telling citizen-voters to believe that things were better under Joe Biden (D) and Kamala Harris (D) than their own lived experiences reflected. But for those who paid attention to their own checking account and credit card balances, many recognized that the so-called Green New Deal wasn’t working out well for them personally or for their household/family. Combined with complaints that Kamala Harris and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz (MN-D) were poor candidates that didn’t go through the normal nomination process, the Democratic Party is for the first time in years perceived in a much poorer light than the Republican Party.
Some recent polling by YouGov reflects the following.
The start of Trump’s terms: 2025 vs. 2017
-
Republican support for Trump heading into his second term is far more solidified than it was when he first took office in 2017: This time around, more approve of his handling of the presidency, view him as a strong leader, and expect he will improve the country’s standing around the world
-
94% of Republicans strongly or somewhat approve of how Trump is handling his job as president one week in, while 2% strongly or somewhat disapprove
-
That compares to 81% of Republicans approving of Trump in January 2017, while 9% disapproved
-
In Joe Biden’s first week as president in 2021, 89% of Democrats approved of his job performance and 5% disapproved
8) According to Fox 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada, party registrations in various states have been shifting towards Republicans, so it isn’t just polling, it is actual party registrations, which may be a more reliable indicator of public mood.
Registered Republican voters have — by the narrowest of margins — overtaken Democrats in the pivotal battleground state of Nevada for the first time in nearly 20 years. …
The shift helps cement its status as a purple state and could make it more difficult for Democrats to defend two U.S. Senate seats and win back the presidency. That hurdle comes as the party faces a growing challenge to regain power in Washington. …
Still, there’s evidence of Republican registration gains in other swing states, too.
In Pennsylvania, Democrats hold their narrowest voter registration edge in at least a half-century. What was an advantage of 1.2 million voters in 2008, the year Barack Obama won the presidency, is now a gap of fewer than 200,000, according to state statistics. And in Arizona, where Democrats had been closing a registration gap with Republicans for the past decade, that trend reversed after 2022 and the party again lost ground.
9) Combined with post-election admissions among Democratic Party insiders involved in the Kamala Harris (D) campaign that Harris never led Trump according to their own internal polling, and other admissions that Republicans may now have the upper hand politically in the U.S. national mood, what happens in the next few years of the Trump-Vance Administration could be a tidal shift towards a more conservative nation.
10) Democrats had several advantages for years, including, but not limited to, more big money donors, more favorable media coverage, and an advantage in big tech as well. But setting that aside for a few moments, what ought to be clear is this. Democrats, when they held power, failed to deliver the better society for the working and middle class that they promised during their various campaigns. As MHProNews has periodically informed/reminded readers for some months, on the housing front, it is left-leaning New York Times video opinion journalist Johnny Harris who laid out a damning case against Democratic performance in the very places where they held all of the political power. As a disclosure, readers are reminded that the management of MHProNews are political independents and have been since the move to Florida well over a decade ago. In the course of that decade, Florida has steadily shifted from being a swing state to being a more Republican state as measured by registered voters. The left-leaning Associated Press (AP) said in August of 2024:
Florida has 1 million more Republican registered voters than Democrats, elections officials revealed, further cementing its status as a conservative hotbed.
The Florida Voice said in a report dated one week ago:
Hillsborough County flips Republican by voter registration as GOP rout continuesHillsborough County, encompassing the Tampa area, has flipped Republican by voter registration, according to daily data tracked…
11) What accounts for this change? Many factors, about certainly among them is the actual lived experiences of taxpaying, citizen-voters. The Johnny Harris video below is by a liberal, working for a left leaning media outlet, slamming the results produced by Democratic housing policies in Democratic political strongholds in various parts of the U.S. “Liberal Hypocrisy is Fueling American Inequality. Here’s How. | NYT Opinion” is packed with facts and has had 11 million views, with this writer being among them.
12) In an era where big media and big tech bias is increasingly recognized as something quite real and more readily documented, it was much more commonly believed today than it was approaching 8 years ago when MHProNews began using illustrations like the one below (uploaded on June 9, 2017, and variations of it have been used since). Note that since then, there is an argument to be made that the once more influential Drudge Report and Fox News management have drifted left, even though Fox’s evening lineup still tends to be conservative.
13) George W. Bush (R) ran as a so-called “compassionate conservative” and implemented some policies that – think Medicare Part D – that looked more like a Democratic initiative than a Republican one. The deceptions of the G.W Bush and Richard “Dick” Cheney era are better understood now than they were following September 11, 2001. There was in essence a Republican light and Democratic candidates (Al Gore and his running mate, Joseph Lieberman) in 2000, both of whom represented the political establishment in the U.S. Certainly, Joe Biden (D) represented the political establishment as the behavior of the Civic Alliance and campaign contributions confirmed.
14) It would be going too far to say that ‘democracy’ in America has been an illusion for decades. But what is apparent from the evidence is that the much of the big financial, big corporate, big media, and big tech elites in the U.S. since the Bill Clinton-Al Gore (D) term in office has largely favored Democrats. So, while Democrats complain on the campaign trail that the rich are getting richer while the poor and middle class tend to lose ground, the evidence is that those very Democratic backers are often the wealthy elites that they broadly complain about. Put differently, there has been a considerable amount of paltering, posturing, projecting and head fakes going on. An ever-growing percentage of the population has come to more-or-less grasp that reality and that contributed to the Trump-Vance victory in 2024. Campaign promises are made that are never intended to be kept. Meanwhile, Democrats and their media-tech-corporate allies paint their Republican adversaries as fascists, Nazis, and authoritarians. Curiously, the definition of “fascist” used by the original fascist, Benito Mussolini and his fascist ally Adolf Hitler were both forms of national (vs. international) socialists who embraced corporate power wedded to mobilized workers.
15) From the left and right, the evidence that Democrats became the party of the so-called ‘elites’ has continued to grow. While Republicans have in several cases failed manufactured housing, and affordable housing seekers more broadly, it is fair to say that Democrats have failed manufactured housing still more. Evidence for that is as close as the Biden-Harris regime years. Joe Biden was a cosponsor of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (a.k.a.: MHIA, MHIA 2000, 2000 Reform Act, 2000 Reform Law) and its various provisions including the “enhanced preemption” provision that at least on paper the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) have both argued for years is not being properly enforced.
16) Both Senator Bernie Sanders (VT-DS), and Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-D) have been candidates for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. Each in their own words have made statements that support the contentions in this article. Meaning, the evidence is there from among the very ‘leaders’ among Democratic party ranks that the elites have captured the Democratic Party, while on the Republican side, Donald Trump’s leadership has steadily transformed the GOP from an ‘establishment’ brand under George W. Bush to an anti-establishment populist force that preaches the philosophy of America First and Americans First (MAGA, etc.)
17) Despite four years of backstabbing from some members of both major parties, Trump managed during his first term in office to roll back certain regulations, create tax reforms that benefited the working and middle class, and generally improved the lives of most Americans. Who said? The data, including as reported by left-leaning CNN. Under Obama-Biden (D), the standard of living as measured by household income largely dropped. but under Trump, the standard of living as measured by inflation adjusted income rose sharply to the highest point it had been in decades. Housing was more affordable under Trump than under Biden.
18) That is the broad background for what HUD Secretary E. Scott Turner is stepping into. Here is the HUD press release dated 2.5.2025.
Scott Turner Confirmed as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
WASHINGTON – Today, Scott Turner was confirmed by the United States Senate to be the 19th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Secretary Turner was confirmed by a bipartisan vote of 55-44 and sworn in by Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, the Honorable Clarence Thomas.
“I am honored and humbled to serve the American people and the Trump Administration as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,” Secretary Turner said. “On President Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order to lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply. As Secretary, I will lead the department in furthering these priorities.
“The path ahead of us presents an opportunity to restore HUD to its core mission of supporting strong and sustainable communities and quality, affordable homes — serving our nation’s most vulnerable. We must reduce burdensome regulations to make homeownership easier while unleashing prosperity that has been stifled in communities across the country for far too long. Housing goes beyond the four walls of a home; it helps build thriving communities and is the foundation of the American Dream.
“God blessed us with this great nation, and together, we can increase self-sufficiency and empower Americans to climb the economic ladder toward a brighter future.”
On January 16, 2025, Secretary Turner testified before the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. His full testimony can be found here.
Secretary Turner was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 5, 2025, to be the 19th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Secretary Turner previously led the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC), driving the Opportunity Zones Initiative. He also served as an Associate Pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church, Founder and CEO of the Community Engagement & Opportunity Council, and a housing development executive at JPI. A lifelong Texan, Turner represented the 33rd District in the Texas State Legislature and played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL).
Make sure to follow @SecretaryTurner on X, FB, and Instagram.
###
19) On this date (2.7.2025) at about 4.18 AM ET, there is no articles posted on the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) website about Turner’s confirmation.
20) In stark contrast to MHI, the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) has provided a steady diet of information on their outreach efforts to then-nominee, and now HUD Secretary Turner.
21) Bush-Cheney (R), Obama-Biden (D), and Biden-Harris (D) all obviously failed to enforce the enhanced preemption provisions of the 2000 Reform Law. Objectively speaking, the first term of Trump in the White House also failed to enforce enhanced preemption, but there was word from a White House staffer that it was ‘on the table’ late in the first term.
22) In fairness, it is increasingly evident that Trump 1.0 was ‘under siege’ from before the time that Trump took his oath of office the first time. Let’s be candid in noting that federal preemption has been long discussed but only rarely enforced, which was the subject of not one but two in depth Congressional hearings during the Obama-Biden (D).
23) Democrats acknowledged that federal preemption was an authority that the HUD Secretary could wield, because they chastised Bush-Cheney era HUD Secretary Mel Martinez for not enforcing it.
24) There is always more to know. But for the sake of Turner’s closest supporters, the key things to know about his appointment from the MHVille perspective is the broad history of MHI in the 21st century and the history of MHARR since its inception. MHARR has been true to its mandate, as fact checks with left-leaning Bing’s AI powered Copilot have documented several times. By contrast, MHI – certainly since the Berkshire Hathaway era in the 21st century – has been seen as a consolidation focused trade group that says they represent all segments of the industry but in reality, demonstrably reflects in its behavior mainly the interests of consolidators. Note that depending on your device or browser the image below can be opened to a larger size, so the remarks by publicly traded firms that are higher profile MHI members can more easily be read.
MHI member Frank Rolfe is one of several critics of MHI from within the organization’s own ranks.
Despite the fact that MHI touts their CEO Lesli Gooch, Ph.D., as being ‘named’ as one of the most influential women in Washington, D.C., there is no substance to that claim, as numerous fact checks have revealed. Indeed, it is odd that MHI would have hired Gooch, much less retained her for so long, given the poor results that she has produced and the apparent history of conflicts of interest that have been documented by others and reported by MHProNews.
Certainly, MHI will meet with Secretary Turner, as will MHARR. MHI has the deeper pockets, not unlike the ties to Democratic insiders that several higher profile MHI members appear to reflect.
If Turner wants to unleash affordable housing, it would be prudent to listen to whatever spin MHI and its leaders wish to share and then listen carefully to what MHARR has to say. MHI squandered the first Trump term, as MHARR has aptly observed. Let’s hope that Turner doesn’t fall for the next MHI charm offensive, because as Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA-D) made clear, Democrats will be looking to slam any problematic results despite the terrible outcome of the Biden-Harris-Marcia Fudge era.
MHProNews plans to bring more insights from MHARR, MHI, and from mainstream sources including HUD and the Trump Administration in the days ahead. Stay tuned.
Again, our thanks to free email subscribers and all readers like you, as well as our tipsters/sources, sponsors and God for making and keeping us the runaway number one source for authentic “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.
For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach