Former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson defended his experience and credentials to serve as the nation's new housing secretary, he understands the needs of the country's most vulnerable.
President-elect Donald Trump wants Carson to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a sprawling agency with 8,300 employees and a budget of about $48 billion.
At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking, House and Urban Affairs Committee, the famed neurosurgeon talked about growing up in inner-city Detroit with a single mother who had a third-grade education and worked numerous jobs.
"I have actually in my life understood what housing insecurity was," he said.
Carson said HUD's rental assistance program is "essential" to millions of Americans. Taking away social safety net programs without providing alternatives would be "cruel and unusual," he said.
At the same time, he added: "We don't want it to be way of life ... we want it to be a Band-Aid and a springboard to move forward."
Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren grilled Carson about whether he would be able to guarantee that "not one dollar" of HUD money would go to the Trump family.
"I will not play favourites for anyone ... I will manage things in a way that benefits the American people," Carson told her.
Carson also talked about taking a more "holistic approach" to helping people and developing "the whole person." For example, he said, HUD should work with the Education Department to develop apprenticeship and mentoring programs.
