Excessive spending, retaliation...

Gowdy seeks answers on allegations of excessive spending, retaliation at HUD

By CRISTIANO LIMA

Rep. Trey Gowdy, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on Wednesday requested that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson turn over all documents and communications pertaining to allegations by a high-ranking civil servant that she was the target of reprisals after sounding the alarm on agency spending.

“To help the Committee determine whether HUD adhered to the applicable spending limitations while redecorating your office, please provide ... [a]ll documents and communications referring or relating to redecorating, furnishing, or equipping your office since January 1, 2017,” Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican, wrote to Carson, according to excerpts of the letter released Wednesday.

HUD official Helen Foster, in a sworn complaint to the Office of Special Counsel, raised concerns over spending at the department, including Carson’s plans for redecorating.

According to Foster’s lawyers, she was demoted without warning or explanation in July 2017, less than a year after being promoted to the role of chief administrative officer. In her position, Foster oversaw spending and office space at HUD.

In January 2017, Foster’s legal team says, she was instructed to “find money” for redecorating after Carson’s wife sought funds to purchase furniture. The amount was said to have exceeded the $5,000 legal limit, prompting Foster to voice her objection.

Craig Clemmensen, the designated acting secretary at the time, replied that the $5,000 “will not even buy a decent chair,” according to the complaint.