Senators quickly confirmed Dr. Ben Carson 58-41 Thursday as President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Housing and Urban Development Department, as Senate Democrats tire of delaying the president’s nominees and move on to other skirmishes. Brown defended his vote for Carson, saying, “He made the commitment under oath to our committee that he would fight discrimination against people because of their sexual orientation.”

As leader of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Carson will oversee a budget of $47 billion, a department of around 8,000 employees and programs that provide low-income housing and government assistance. Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, chair of the energy committee, said Perry would be “a strong partner as we focus on everything from reducing rural energy costs to advancing the Alaska gasline project.”

Carson, who ran for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and later endorsed Trump, becomes the only African-American in the Trump Cabinet.
The U.S. Senate confirms Donald Trump's appointment of his former opponents in the presidential primaries, neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Governor of Texas Rick Perry, as Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development and Energy respectively, with the support of all Republicans and some Democrats.