Biden Is Expected To Nominate Marcia Fudge As HUD Secretary

President-elect Joe Biden will reportedly select Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Politico first reported the news on Tuesday.

If confirmed, the Ohio lawmaker would lead the agency that is expected to play a key role in the Biden administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic by assisting Americans who’ve struggled with rent and mortgage payments.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), who serves as the chair of Biden’s inaugural committee, advocated for the former Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman to be appointed to the President-elect’s Cabinet.

Fudge also has the support of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, which will handle her nomination.

Hours before Fudge’s expected nomination was reported by multiple outlets, Biden met with civil rights leaders from the NAACP and the National Urban League, who have pushed the incoming administration to fulfill its vows of a diverse cabinet.

Fudge wouldn’t confirm her nomination while speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill earlier Tuesday. However, she said that it would be 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’ve thought about,” Fudge said.

Fudge would be the second Black woman to lead the HUD if confirmed. Patricia Roberts Harris held the job under Jimmy Carter’s administration and became the first Black woman to be a member of the United States Cabinet.

Fudge currently serves on the Committee on House Administration, House Committee on Agriculture and House Committee on Education and Labor. She has represented Ohio’s 11th district since 2008. Her expected nomination to Biden’s Cabinet would prompt a special election in Ohio’s 11th district.

The formal announcement of Fudge’s nomination is expected later this week.