Senate confirms Marcia Fudge as HUD secretary

• Fudge will inherit a rent-backlog crisis, with eviction moratoriums during the COVID-19 pandemic prompting millions of tenants to forgo paying their landlords while accumulating massive back-rent bills.
• Housing policy is also likely to intersect with green energy and infrastructure initiatives, which are both priorities for Biden.

The big picture: Fudge, 68, has served in the House since 2008 and is the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. She was originally gunning to be Biden's secretary of Agriculture — but that nomination ultimately went to former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

• The congresswoman supported Kamala Harris in the 2020 Democratic primaries, but ultimately endorsed Biden in the general election.
• Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator and former co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign, is among those running in the special election to fill Fudge's seat in Ohio's heavily Democratic 11th Congressional District.