In an uncomfortable episode during a meeting of the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) asked Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson a series of specific mortgage-related policy questions that he was utterly unable to answer.
One exchange is emblematic of the entire back and forth:
Porter: Do you know what an REO is?
Carson: [Pause] An Oreo…
Porter: No, not an Oreo. An REO.
Carson: Real estate…
Porer: What’s the “O” stand for?
I asked @SecretaryCarson about REOs – a basic term related to foreclosure – at a hearing today. He thought I was referring to a chocolate sandwich cookie. No, really. pic.twitter.com/cYekJAkRag
— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) May 21, 2019
Toward the end of the conversation, Carson said that he’d be happy for her to work with people at HUD on her questions. She brushed him off, saying she’d already done that in her past job, and that her job now is to ask him questions.
Porter previously oversaw California’s $25 billion national mortgage servicing settlement under then-Attorney General Kamala Harris.
Carson responded with a cheeky tweet after the hearing:
OH, REO! Thanks, @RepKatiePorter. Enjoying a few post-hearing snacks. Sending some your way! pic.twitter.com/q4MMTBWVUI
— Ben Carson (@SecretaryCarson) May 21, 2019
This isn’t the first time Porter used her expertise to leave witnesses at her committee’s hearings tongue-tied. She completely flustered JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon when she grilled him about how his employees are supposed to make ends meet at their current salaries.
The sandwich cookie itself couldn’t resist joining the fray:
??? stands for "?eally ?xcellent ?REO (cookie)." Everyone knows that.
— OREO Cookie (@Oreo) May 21, 2019
N thas why the House was important in '18.
An Oreo is what Ben Carson is.
https://twitter.com/RobbieGramer/status/1130849371195502593
Sometimes the corruption and cruelty makes you forget about the abject stupidity and simplicity. Yes, Doctor Carson. She’s asking you in Congressional testimony about an Oreo cookie.
Fuck’s sake.
She is a force of nature. I wish her a long and productive life.