Biden expected to nominate Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge as secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio attends an event to dedicate the Oversight and Reform Committee hearing room to the late Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., in Rayburn Building on Thursday, February 27, 2020.
December 8, 2020
(CNN) — President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, two people familiar with the transition said, a decision that would add another African American woman to the ranks of his Cabinet.
Fudge also had been under consideration for agriculture secretary, but in the last week the Biden transition team turned their focus to HUD. The announcement could come later this week, the people said.
Biden has been reluctant to pick many Democratic members of Congress, given their narrow margin in the House and uncertainty in the Senate. But Fudge, an Ohio Democrat, represents a safe seat and was deemed an exception.
Politico was first to report on the pick.
Fudge did not confirm her selection on Tuesday evening, telling CNN, “If I were to be named, certainly it’s an honor and a privilege to be asked to be in a President’s Cabinet. It is something that probably in my wildest dreams I never would have thought about.”
“So if I can help this President in any way possible, I’m more than happy to do it,” Fudge said. “It’s a great honor and a privilege to be part of something so good.”
Fudge has represented Ohio’s 11th Congressional District since 2008. The congresswoman serves on a number of committees, including the House Administration, Agriculture, and Education and Labor committees. She previously chaired the Congressional Black Caucus.
She chairs the House Administration Committee’s Subcommittee on Elections and the Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight and Department Operations.
In 2018, Fudge publicly weighed a bid against Nancy Pelosi for speaker of the House, but ultimately threw her support behind Pelosi, who won reelection. Some Democrats at the time were calling for change at the top of the Democratic leadership hierarchy. Rep. Cedric Richmond, who was the chairman of the CBC at the time, said he would support Fudge if she decided to challenge Pelosi.
Fudge made history as the first woman and first African American to be elected mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio. She served as mayor from 2000 to 2008.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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