Is Anybody Home at HUD?

A long-harbored conservative dream — the “dismantling of the administrative state” — is taking place under Secretary Ben Carson.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson testifies during a hearing before the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee June 7, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. — Alex Wong/Getty Images

By Alec MacGillis

In mid-May, Steve Preston, who served as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the final two years of the George W. Bush administration, organized a dinner…