Carson to HUD: The agency that oversees public housing, federal mortgage programs

(Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who made a failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination, to oversee the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Referred to as HUD, the agency had a budget of $48 billion in 2016 and is best known for the administration of public housing - historically large buildings where poor people are able to obtain low-cost homes. Large-scale public housing in the country's largest urban areas still houses millions of people. In the past few decades, the federal government, in partnership with local governments, has largely abandoned large-scale public housing buildings and instead supported mixed-income projects and the use of vouchers, commonly known as "Section 8," to help low-income people rent from commercial properties. The largest budget allocations for HUD are for public housing and other assistance programs for groups including Native Americans, the elderly and disabled people. Together, those programs are budgeted for roughly $40 billion. Other responsibilities of the agency include: * Enforcing the Fair Housing Act - laws that apply to bothpublic and private housing and that seek to end discriminationbased on several factors including race, religion, gender andhandicap. * Administering Ginnie Mae, the Government National MortgageAssociation, which provides access to capital for mortgagelenders and is an entirely government-run entity that does notdirectly lend to home buyers. * Regulating the construction of manufactured homes, whichinclude trailers used for housing, to ensure safety standards. * Awarding and distributing grants and assistance forhousing for Native Americans on tribal lands. * Maintaining research and development on current housingneeds and conditions, including public and private property, todetermine market conditions and any housing needs. * Overseeing health-related programs, including the HealthyHomes and Lead Hazard Control program. (Reporting by Ginger Gibson in Washington; Editing by Frances Kerry)