(BrightPress.org) – Seventy-one-year-old Marcia Fudge announced on Monday, March 11th, that she will be stepping down from her position as U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary. Fudge told USA Today “It’s time to go home” as she intends to spend time with her 92-year-old mother and relatives in Ohio. March 22nd will be her last day. Fudge is only the second Cabinet member to leave the Biden administration. Marty Walsh, the Labor Secretary, resigned from his post in 2023.
President Joe Biden praised Fudge for her “transformational leadership.” He boasted of lowered housing costs, increased housing supply, decreased racial discrimination, and benefits for first-time homebuyers as achievements met during Fudge’s time as HUD Secretary. In a written statement on her departure, President Biden wrote he is “grateful for all of her contributions” to developing a housing system for “all Americans.” He continued, saying he wished her well in “her next chapter.”
Prior to being appointed as HUD Secretary, Fudge represented the 11th Congressional District of Ohio as a Democrat in the House of Representatives. According to Fudge’s biography on the HUD website, in 1999 she was elected as the first female and first African American mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio. She was also a member of several Congressional Caucuses and held the position of Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
When Fudge was appointed as HUD Secretary in 2021, it was during the height of the housing instability caused by the pandemic. Under Fudge’s leadership, more than two million families avoided foreclosure. Fudge stated on Monday the people most served by HUD are the ones often “left out and left behind” and they have been her motivation for her work.
Fudge is retiring from public office and said she will not be found again “on another ballot” and looks forward to being a “private citizen.” She also proclaimed that housing is not a one-sided issue, but an “American issue.”
Copyright 2024, BrightPress.org
