HUD Secretary Fires Up Republican Convention

• September 10, 2026

Scott Turner in a navy suit and red tie speaks passionately at a podium, gesturing with his left hand, against a blurred blue and purple background.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner speaks on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center on Sept. 9, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Scott Turner, who serves as the 19th secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, fired up conventiongoers at the Republican midterm convention in Texas Wednesday.

He began with a look back. Under President Joe Biden, “the American flag became a white flag of surrender,” Turner told the convention. That is no longer the case. Under Biden, “Americans had to compete with millions of illegal immigrants for a home,” Turner said. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies ended that competition, he said, by slashing the number of people coming to the country illegally and deporting others who were already here. As another success, Turner said, “DEI is dead.”

Turner also touted Trump’s economic and housing initiatives. Turner said his department, HUD, is now working to fight fraud. In California, it stopped “$56 billion in fraudulent payments before they walked out the door,” Turner said. “Housing assistance is supposed to be a trampoline, not a hammock. It should be a launch pad, if you will, to the American dream.

Turner holds an important post at HUD, which sets federal housing policy. Nationwide, affordable housing is a major concern. “Over the last 10 years, the median sales price of houses in the U.S. has steadily risen,” ConsumerAffairs reported, adding that “the median price for a house in the U.S. rose almost $150,000 over the last decade.” Lawmakers passed a bipartisan housing bill earlier this year, but Trump declined to sign it because Congress did not pass the SAVE America Act, which he considered a national emergency.

Interest rates also play a part in housing prices, and the Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to meet next week to discuss whether to reduce interest rates, which are currently set at 3.5% to 3.75%. Trump told the Daily Signal that he thinks “our interest rates are too high.” He vowed last week to end trade with some countries unless the Fed reduces rates.

The trip to Dallas was a homecoming for Turner, who once served as an associate pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. Turner also represented the 33rd District in the Texas State Legislature from 2013 to 2017.

“Are you with us?” he asked the crowd several times. Each time, conventiongoers roared back their approval.

Rich Tucker | Virginia Correspondent

Rich Tucker, a journalist based in Richmond, is a Virginia correspondent with the Daily Signal. He was founding editor of The Virginia Flyover and writes the Student Driver on Substack, where he promotes free market ideas.

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