Turner made the disclosure during a January 21, 2026, appearance before the House Financial Services Committee, where he said HUD’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer identified widespread problems in rental assistance payments and pledged a crackdown on waste, fraud, and abuse.
Short clips of the hearing circulated widely on social media, with some individual posts receiving more than 600,000 views, according to publicly visible engagement metrics on the platforms.
🚨 HOLY SMOKES. Trump's HUD Sec. Scott Turner unveiled a JAW-DROPPING betrayal by the Democrats:
– Over $5 BILLION in "payment errors," over $50 billion in total rental assistance in 2024 ALONE
– Money went to 30,000 DEAD PEOPLE
– Government-backed mortgages went to NON-CITIZENS… pic.twitter.com/ZWEomQ0z27— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 26, 2026
In his prepared remarks, Turner said HUD paid out more than $50 billion in rental assistance during fiscal year 2024 and that internal reviews found “more than $5 billion in potential payment errors,” including payments made on behalf of nearly 30,000 deceased individuals.
“We also take stewardship very seriously, so we’re cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse,” Turner told lawmakers. “Our Office of the Chief Financial Officer uncovered more than $5 billion in potential payment errors, over $50 billion in total rental assistance for Fiscal Year 2024—and that includes money that went to nearly 30,000 dead people.”
Turner characterized the findings as a breach of trust with taxpayers and said the department is moving to tighten oversight.
“That is ludicrous, it’s ridiculous to think or talk in such a way, it’s a violation of our sacred trust to American taxpayers, and it’s going to end,” he said.
The secretary’s testimony aligns with findings from audits that examined HUD’s largest rental assistance programs during the final year of the Biden administration.
A 192-page audit reported $5.8 billion in “questionable” payments out of nearly $50 billion disbursed in fiscal year 2024, citing eligibility concerns tied to more than 200,000 tenants, including deceased individuals, non-citizens, and households exceeding income limits, according to that report.
The audit focused on Tenant-Based Rental Assistance and Project-Based Rental Assistance, HUD’s two largest housing programs, which together account for roughly two-thirds of the department’s annual spending. Investigators wrote that the rapid distribution of funds without sufficient safeguards increased the risk of improper payments, according to the audit document, first obtained by The New York Post.
Those findings echoed long-standing concerns raised by HUD’s Office of Inspector General. In a May 15, 2025, press release, the inspector general reported that HUD had failed for the eighth consecutive year to produce a compliant estimate of improper payments for its largest rental assistance programs, which totaled about $50 billion in fiscal year 2024. The release said HUD last produced a compliant estimate in 2016, when it identified $1.7 billion in improper payments.
In his testimony, Turner placed responsibility on prior policies and said the department is now taking corrective steps. He cited efforts to improve recipient and subrecipient reporting, enhance monitoring capabilities, and streamline grants management. He also referenced enforcement actions involving public housing authorities in Atlantic City and New York City as examples of HUD’s renewed focus on accountability.
Beyond the payment errors, Turner used the hearing to outline broader policy shifts under President Donald Trump’s second administration, including the repeal of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, changes to disaster recovery programs, and new approaches to homelessness and housing affordability. He said HUD supported homeownership and affordability for more than one million Americans through the Federal Housing Administration and Ginnie Mae.
Turner also told lawmakers that HUD has established a new efficiency task force to reduce bureaucratic waste and improve internal operations. “Finally, committee, as part of making HUD run more efficiently, we have established a new HUD Efficiency Task Force to promote efficiency gains, benefiting the American people,” he said.
HUD officials have said some cases could be referred for criminal investigation depending on the outcome of ongoing reviews, according to KOMO News.
