Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson may have moved to cancel the order for a $31,000 custom hardwood dining set that was to be installed in his office, but two of the top Democrats in the Senate want an investigation into the entire affair.
Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, sent a letter to the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development this week, asking the watchdog to open an investigation into how the dining set was ordered in the first place and whether any violations of ethics rules or law occurred in the process.
Brown and Menendez both serve on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, where Brown is the ranking member.
The dining set issue blew up over the last several weeks after reports surfaced that HUD planned to spend $31,000 on a dining table set that would be placed in Carson’s office.
One of the main issues was that HUD officials supposedly did not seek approval from the House or Senate Appropriations Committees for the purchase, despite federal law requiring congressional approval to furnish or redecorate the office of a department head if the cost of the improvements are more than $5,000.
Additionally, Helen Foster, a former HUD staffer, said that she was demoted from her position of chief administrative officer for refusing to aid in using HUD money to buy the table in question.
In the letter, Brown and Menendez say that they have “serious concerns” about the reports of the dining set and the treatment of Foster.