The United States Senate has confirmed Rep. Marcia Fudge as the next Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration. Members of the U.S. confirmed Fudge for this position with a bipartisan vote of 66-34 on Wednesday afternoon.
With this vote, Fudge becomes the first woman to hold this position since Patricia R. Harris in 1979. She is also the third woman to hold this position and the second Black woman to serve in this role.
“I can think of no one better to lead us out of this pandemic and create strong communities for the future than Marcia Fudge,” Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio said.
“When she came before the [committee], Congresswoman Fudge’s knowledge and passion for service, her commitment to the people who make this country work were obvious to all of us, Republicans and Democrats alike."
Fudge has represented the cities of Cleveland and Akron in the United States House of Representatives since 2008. While in Congress, she has worked tirelessly to improve racial inequities across the nation. Her last act as a member of Congress was to vote in favor of President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.
While her track record is strong, many Republicans in Congress have continued to raise questions about her "lack of expertise." This is a strong turn from the last two presidential elections when the GOP nominated a man who previously had no experience serving in public office.
“Not all Cabinet nominees are experts in the policy areas that their agency covers. That's not unusual. But when they don't have that expertise their temperament and their policy views and their willingness to listen to members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, especially the other side of the aisle, is all the more important,” Sen. Pat Toomey said after Fudge's confirmation.
Despite GOP pushback, Fudge will take office later this month. There is no word as to who may run for her seat in the coming months.
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