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The Senate on Wednesday voted 66-34 to confirm Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Why it matters: President Biden pledged while running in 2020 to improve fair housing practices, end redlining and increase the supply of high-quality affordable homes. Fudge will now spearhead those efforts by the administration.
- 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.