About Marcia Fudge: U.S. Secretary of

About Marcia Fudge United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

The Biden administration has come prosecutor’s office as Director of Budget in with notable inclusivity, and the and Finance. She also worked as an auditor housing sector wasn’t excluded. for the county’s estate tax department The administration has named several and served as a visiting judge and as a women, people of color, to its cabinet, chief reference for arbitration on many some of whom have already been approved occasions. by the Senate. The Ohio Democratic Representative, Marcia Fudge, the Marcia Fudge also served as mayor of incumbent secretary of Housing and Urban Warrensville Heights, Ohio, from 2000 to Development (HUD), is among those 2008. This was also another case who the Senate has approved where Fudge broke the barriers after being confirmed with 66- to become the first female and 34 votes on March 10, 2021. This makes Fudge the first Black woman to lead the agency in more than 40 years since Patricia Roberts Harris left the position in 1979. So, who is this iconic “My first priority as secretary would be to alleviate that crisis and get people the support they need to come back from the edge,” first African-American mayor. Fudge also once served as chief of staff under U.S Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones during Stephanie’s first term in Congress. After woman, Marcia Fudge? We Stephanie’s death in 2008, a shall discuss her in detail. committee of local Democratic leaders picked Fudge as her EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION. replacement on the November 2008 Marcia Louise Fudge was born on October ballot, a move that virtually guaranteed her 29, 1952, in Cleveland, Ohio. She went to election in the heavily Democratic, blackschool and graduated from the Shaker dominated district. Since then, Fudge has Heights High School in 1971 before earning been in the position up to date. her Bachelor of Science in Business from the Ohio State University in 1975. Later on, After the 2018 midterms, Fudge was she earned a Juris Doctor from Cleveland planning to run for Speaker of the House State University Cleveland-Marshall College in the 2019 election, a bid she abandoned of Law in 1983. later and rallied behind Nancy Pelosi. EARLY POLITICAL CAREER. After she was through with her college After the 2020 U.S presidential election, the studies, Fudge briefly worked as a law then-president-elect Joe Biden nominated clerk as she studied legal research. She Fudge as Secretary of HUD on December 10, also worked in the Cuyahoga County 2020. Her nomination was then advanced

by the U.S Senate Committee of Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs by a vote of 17-7 on February 4, 2021, before she was confirmed by the U.S Senate on March 10 and virtually sworn in on the same day by Vice President Kamala Harris.

Fudge resigned from the House of Representatives after being approved by the Senate as HUD Secretary on March 10. A special election to replace her will be held on August 3, 2021, as per Ohio law. “My first priority as secretary would be to alleviate that crisis and get people the support they need to come back from the edge,” Fudge expressed during her Senate confirmation hearing in January, arguing that Americans need more than an extension of the eviction moratorium, and Congress’s provision of $25 billion in rental assistance.

WHAT WE SHOULD EXPECT FROM FUDGE AS THE HUD SECRETARY.

As Fudge reports to her new workplace at the HUD Brutalist headquarters in Southwest D.C.— a structure her predecessor Ben Carlos described as the “ugliest building” in the city— she is taking over an agency embattled with challenges of America’s housing crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated. With what is in front of her, you could be wondering, is she up to the task? “The past year has reminded us just how important it is to have a safe and stable place to call home. But, right now — for millions of Americans — that sense of security and peace of mind is out of reach,” Fudge said in a video statement released after she was sworn in.

Fudge also pledged to accomplish the Biden promise to construct 1.5 million energyefficient and affordable housing units and vowed to take on the homelessness crisis with “compassion and resolve,” as she called for an end to discriminatory practices in the housing sector.

Fudge also stressed that she looks forward to helping families struggling to pay rent and mortgages, helping more Americans achieve their dreams of homeownership, and breaking down the “barriers of injustice.”

The 68-year-old HUD secretary is also expected to reinstate a 2013 rule aimed at blocking the housing industry from enacting policies that are seemingly race-neutral but have adverse impacts on the minorities such as African-Americans and LatinoAmericans. With HUD under the tough Fudge, it can be arguably declared that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Work cited.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/ business/2021/03/10/hud-secretarymarcia-fudge-confirmation/. https://www.investopedia.com/who-ismarcia-fudge-5112822#citation-4.