House and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson embarked on a cross-country listening tour of mostly urban areas to help him decide how to lead his agency.
Carson on Thursday appeared in Baltimore, home during his time working at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he promoted a program to sell public housing to private developers.
"In order to put a dent in the tremendous need for affordable housing, we're going to have to switch to a different kind of model," Carson told The Baltimore Sun. "We need to improve upon that program, maybe lift the cap that exists ... those are the kinds of models that are going to help us not to continue to create blight."
Carson told The Hill in an interview Friday that hearing from those who depend on HUD programs "solidified" his ideas on government.
"My view of the role of government is to promote life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for our citizens. The role of government is not to be involved with every aspect of everyone’s lives from cradle to grave. ... We need to enhance the ability of people to advance in our society."
The White House's proposed budget includes $6 billion in cuts to HUD's budget, half of which would come from the Community Development Block Grant. The block-grant program funds Meals on Wheels, after-school education programs for impoverished children, and rental assistance.
Carson told The Hill that although he intends to prioritize programs that affect the most vulnerable, but did not answer if he supports the block-grant.
"I would support looking at our primary goals and prioritizing what needs to be done,” he said. “We have vulnerable portions of our population — the elderly, the disabled, children — we need to make sure that we take care of their housing needs and development needs."
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