HUD Secretary Ben Carson furnishes criticism in D.C.

Most of the thousands of Long Island families who receive federal housing vouchers earn 30 percent or less of the region’s median household income.

For a family of four, that’s $33,250 a year.

But for Ben Carson, the man in charge of those vouchers, that’s just slightly more than the cost of a dining set.

Taxpayers spent $31,651 on a custom mahogany table, sideboard, breakfront, and 10 chairs for Carson’s office in Washington, where he is secretary of Housing and Urban Development. That’s in addition to the $165,000 HUD will spend on “lounge furniture” for its headquarters.

HUD’s absurd spending spree comes as the White House unveiled troubling plans to decimate the department’s budget, cutting it by $8.8 billion, or 18.3 percent, while slashing rental assistance and more.

After coming under fire for the purchases, Carson said Thursday he wants to cancel the furniture order, but an adviser noted it may be too late. Either way, Carson’s priorities are disturbingly clear. His sudden effort to do the right thing came only after a whistleblower and former HUD official, Helen Foster, said that Carson’s wife, Candy, requested the items. Foster said she was demoted and transferred when she refused to circumvent federal law, which requires congressional approval if redecorating costs exceed $5,000.

President Donald Trump is supposedly furious and Rep. Trey Gowdy, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, best known for his Benghazi inquisitions, is now investigating. Perhaps he will take a look at some of the other questionable self-dealing going on in Washington. The furniture flap comes amid an ethics probe regarding the involvement of Carson’s son in a business venture that HUD lawyers warned might be exploiting his father’s position for personal gain.

It’s time Carson focused on the affordable housing crisis.