(CNN) The Department of Housing and Urban Development spent $31,000 last year to replace a dining room set in the office of Secretary Ben Carson, according to federal records and a whistleblower.

The revelation follows CNN's reporting that in early 2017, a top HUD career employee was pressured to find funds beyond the legal $5,000 limit to renovate Carson's office. The official, Helen Foster, alleges she was demoted from her job after pushing back on the requests and that the acting HUD secretary, Craig Clemmensen, told her that Carson's wife, Candy, was behind the requests.

The dining set, in the secretary's dining room at HUD headquarters, was replaced because it was in a state of disrepair, according to a department official.

The official disputed that the dining room is subject to the $5,000 limit on office decoration for certain political appointees.

"The old table and chairs were from 1967 and deemed unrepairable," he told CNN.

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