Dr. Ben S. Carson Sr. was sworn in March 2 as the 17th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Carson now leads a Cabinet agency with approximately 8,000 employees and oversees an annual budget totaling more than $40 billion.
In his very first speech to HUD employees on Monday, Carson attempted to boost morale by likening enslaved African men and women to immigrants.
The retired neurosurgeon’s 40-minute address included discussion of the brain. “Have you ever heard people say, ‘Don’t do that or you’ll overload your brain'” Carson said. “You can’t overload the human brain so, we need to concentrate a little less on what we can’t do and a little more on what we can do.”