When a freshman congresswoman asked Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson at a congressional hearing Tuesday whether he knew what the housing term “REO” was, Carson thought she was referencing the similar-sounding cookie.
“An Oreo?” the secretary asked.
No, said Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), her tone firm. She spelled it back to him, twice.
Carson came up with: “real estate e-organization.”
It’s actually “real estate owned.”
The term refers to property owned by a bank or a lender after it’s been foreclosed. Porter wanted to know why the rate of REOs issued by the Federal Housing Administration is higher than that for other government-owned real estate.
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) asked him if he was familiar with “OMWI.”
“With who?” Carson asked.
“OMWI,” the congresswoman repeated.
“Amway?” the secretary replied.
[Carson defends plan to evict undocumented immigrants: ‘It’s not that we’re cruel, mean-hearted. It’s that we are logical.’]
The acronym stands for Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. Beatty wanted to know whether HUD had such an office and whether he worked with its director.
“Of course we have an office of . . .” Carson trailed off.
“OMWI,” the congresswoman repeated.
Except HUD doesn’t have an OMWI. Instead, it has an Office of Diversity and Inclusion, which performs a similar function. Either way, Carson couldn’t name the director of that office.
Then, near the end of the hearing, freshman Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) chided Carson and the Trump administration for failing to improve conditions in low-income housing. During a lightning round in which Pressley wanted yes-or-no answers to her questions, Carson failed to provide them.
During one particularly contentious moment, Carson said, “Reclaiming my time.”
“You don’t get to do that,” Pressley retorted.
Pressley then asked Carson if he would allow his grandmother to live in public housing under his watch.
“It would be very nice if you could stop . . .” Carson trailed off, and Pressley’s time expired.