OnPolitics Today: A $31,000 table with taxpayer dollars? Ben Carson blames his wife
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Housing Secretary Ben Carson, under fire after his office ordered a $31,000 dining set, told a House panel Tuesday that he left furniture purchasing decisions to his wife. Carson said he canceled the table as soon as he learned about it. (March 20)
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Ben Carson had explaining to do: After news that Carson’s Housing and Urban Development Department spent $31,000 on an office dining table, a House hearing on proposed budget cuts left the secretary defending the costly use of taxpayer funds.Â
When asked about the table’s purchase, Carson said he ultimately left the decision to his wife, Candy Carson, after narrowing down a few options. “The next thing that I, quite frankly, heard about it was that this $31,000 table had been bought,†he told lawmakers.Â
“Not that we don’t need the furniture,” Carson added. “But I thought that that was excessive.”
The purchase order was eventually canceled, Carson said. But not, notably, until reports of the pricey purchase surfaced.
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Another shutdown? Maybe not: Congress nears $1.3 trillion spending deal
Congress inched toward a giant spending bill Wednesday as yet another partial government shutdown loomed on Friday at midnight. The current deal would would put up funds to fight America’s opioid crisis, bolster infrastructure spending and pave the way for a New York-New Jersey tunnel that President Trump opposes. Also not to Trump’s liking, perhaps: The bill would add no funding to interior immigration and offer limited funds for border security. Still, the White House backed the legislation.
Fed up: A key interest rate rises
The Federal Reserve bumped its much-watched federal funds rate on Wednesday. If you have a credit card, home equity line of credit or adjustable-rate mortgage, plan for higher borrowing costs. Car buyers could see rising borrowing costs, too. “The average American is going to see a little bit of a pinch,” Steve Rick, chief economist of CUNA Mutual Group, told USA TODAY. The silver lining? The Fed made its decision in light of a sunnier economic outlook.
Elsewhere in politics
- Meet 19 women who trace affairs or harassment to Trump
- Biden compares Trump to ‘fattest, ugliest S.O.B. in the room’
- Trump properties rack up $271,000 from GOP donors in one month
- Kentucky Republican suggests using Democrat for ‘target practice’
- Pence’s legislative push with little boy gets pushbackÂ
- Most state elections don’t have clearance to learn about cyberattacks
