Eliza Collins

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Ben Carson made his pitch to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday but would not promise to keep the department from using programs that might benefit President-elect Donald Trump and his family.

Carson appeared before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who has been extremely critical of Trump and the potential for conflicts of interest involving his businesses, asked the retired neurosurgeon to “assure me that not a single taxpayer dollar that you get out will financially benefit the president-elect or his family.”

Carson wouldn’t give her a “yes" or "no" answer.

"I can assure you that the things that I do are driven by a sense of morals and values and therefore I will absolutely not play favorites for anyone,” Carson said.

But Warren, looking for specifics, continued to press the point.

“If there happens to be an extraordinarily good program that’s working for millions of people and it turns out that someone that you’re targeting is going to gain $10 from it. Am I going to say ‘no,' the rest of Americans can’t have it?” Carson said.

That comment set Warren off on a monologue about Trump’s conflicts but earned praise from North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.

Tillis lauded Carson for not getting "pinned down to a yes or no answer.”

“That, my friend, tells me you’re a very honest person,” Tillis continued.

Carson did assure the committee, later in the hearing, that he would work to set up a system to report any issues that arise regarding property owned by Trump or his family.

Another tense moment occurred when ranking member Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, asked Carson whether he supported raising the minimum wage and a rule expanding those covered by overtime that is currently on hold.

Carson, again, was vague: “My philosophy is that we can increase people’s minimum wages by increasing opportunities for them and creating an environment where those opportunities exist rather than artificially trying to change it.”

But beside a few pointed questions like these, the hearing was relatively tame. Senators of both parties seemed to accept that he would be confirmed. Some, like Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., were pleased by the prospect.

“You might just be the right guy,” Heitkamp said.

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For his part, Carson seemed to reverse, or at least clarify, some of the previous controversial statements he had made.

The retired neurosurgeon — who had said poverty was a choice and criticized desegregation efforts — told the committee his statements had been taken out of context.

He was questioned about a 2015 column in which he railed against HUD’s program to desegregate housing, comparing it to other “failed” government programs such as busing African American students to white schools.

“I don’t have any problem whatsoever with affirmative action, or at least, integration," Carson said.

“But I do have a problem with people on high dictating it when they don’t know anything about what’s going on in the area,” he added. “We have local HUD officials and we have people who can assess what the problems are in their area and working with local officials can come up with much better solutions.”