HUD secretary Marcia Fudge resigning

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge is leaving her post — and public life.

Fudge, 71, announced Monday she would leave the cabinet job, USA Today reported. Fudge’s last day in the Biden administration will be March 22, and Deputy secretary Adrianne Todman will take over as acting secretary.

Fudge, a former member of Congress, is planning to retire from politics and return home to Ohio. In an interview, she said, “I do believe strongly that I have done just about everything I could do at HUD for this administration as we go into this crazy, silly season of an election.”

Fudge has led the housing department for three years, guiding it through one of the most chaotic periods in the agency’s history. HUD navigated through the Covid pandemic and skyrocketing housing costs, which President Joe Biden mentioned during last week’s State of the Union address.

Fudge addressed affordable housing in her announcement, referring to it as an “American issue” and not a partisan one. Her agency has led the administration’s efforts to tamp down home prices and rents.

HUD recently called out the practice of local veto in Chicago, saying it was “instrumental in creating Chicago’s patterns of segregation.”

In a statement on Fudge’s decision, National Housing Conference CEO David Dworkin called her tenure “consequential,” notably her decision to reduce FHA’s mortgage insurance premium. That saved an estimated 850,000 homebuyers and homeowners approximately $800 per year, according to the White House.

Biden tapped the former Ohio House member to be HUD secretary in December 2020, a month before he assumed the presidency. She was tasked with leading an agency responsible for the housing policies for millions of low-income Americans. Previously, she served on the House committees on agriculture, House administration, and education and labor.

It’s unclear who will be in the running to be the next HUD secretary. Housing affordability continues to be an issue nationwide with only months until the 2024 presidential election.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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