How to Transform a Massive Government Agency: Lessons From a Trump Appointee

The Daily Signal Podcast

The Daily Signal

News, Government, Politics, Daily News

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2022

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Shortly after taking office as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson recruited a retired finance and strategy expert to become the agency’s chief financial officer.

Irving Dennis, appointed by President Donald Trump in late 2017, stepped into the job and quickly discovered the mess he inherited. Dennis spent 37 years at Ernst & Young, a major accounting firm. He would use that private-sector experience to fix HUD.

In a new book, “Transforming a Federal Agency: Management Lessons from HUD’s Financial Reconstruction,” Dennis recounts the roadblocks he faced at HUD and the bureaucratic barriers he overcame to set the agency on a better course. His story shows there’s an alternative to the financial mismanagement that plagues federal agencies—and how he fixed one of them.

Dennis spoke to The Daily Signal about his experience. Read a lightly edited transcript on DailySignal.com or listen to the interview on “The Daily Signal Podcast.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Daily Signal Podcast for Monday, January 3rd.
0:09.8	I'm Virginia Allen.
0:11.3	And I'm Rob Blueey.
0:12.8	Happy New Year.
0:13.8	We're so glad to be kicking off the Daily Signal Podcast for 2022 with a conversation
0:18.5	featuring Irv Dennis.
0:20.4	He's the former Chief Financial Officer at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
0:24.4	Development, an author of a new book, Transforming a Federal Agency.
0:29.4	It lessons from HUD's financial reconstruction.
0:32.6	We also read your letters to the editor and share a good news story about how one organization
0:38.0	is changing the lives of women experiencing crisis pregnancies.
0:42.0	As we begin the new year together, Virginia and I want to tell you about our favorite way
0:45.8	to get the news every morning.
0:47.9	It's called the Morning Bell.
0:49.3	And each weekday, the Daily Signal delivers the top news and commentary directly to your
0:53.4	inbox for free.
0:55.1	You'll be able to read about the policy debates shaping the agenda, analysis from Heritage
1:00.1	Foundation experts, and commentary from leading conservatives like Ben Shapiro, Dennis Prager,
1:05.8	and Kel Thomas.
1:06.8	It's easy to sign up.
1:08.3	Just visit DailySignal.com and click on the Connect button in the top right corner of
1:12.1	the page.
	...

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