Romney says he'd eliminate HUD, consolidate Education

At a closed-door fundraiser that was overheard by some reporters on Sunday, presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney went into greater detail than his previous public statements in discussing tax policy and what federal agencies and departments he would eliminate, NBC News reported.

Romney said he would "probably eliminate" the second home mortgage deduction for "high-income people," and that he would likely eliminate deductions for state income and property taxes.

And, Romney's wife, Ann, called the flap over Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen's comments about stay-at-home mothers "an early birthday present."

Speaking to donors in the backyard of a private home in Palm Beach, Fla., Romney said he would possibly eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development, an agency once helmed by his father, George.

"I'm going to take a lot of departments in Washington, and agencies, and combine them. Some eliminate, but I'm probably not going to lay out just exactly which ones are going to go," Romney said, according to NBC. "Things like Housing and Urban Development, which my dad was head of, that might not be around later. But I'm not going to actually go through these one by one. What I can tell you is, we've got far too many bureaucrats. I will send a lot of what happens in Washington back to the states."

Romney said he would not get rid of the Department of Education "entirely," but claimed he would try to consolidate it with another agency or make it "a heck of a lot smaller."