Feb. 5 (UPI) — The Senate banking committee has voted to approve President Joe Biden’s nomination of Marcia Fudge has head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The panel voted 17-7 Thursday to approve the nomination, which will now go to the full Senate.
Fudge, former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, testified during her confirmation hearing that her experiences as former mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, would help her to expand affordable housing opportunities and put policies in place that will help “the most vulnerable people in America.”
She called the half-million homeless Americans counted in 2019 a “devastating statistic — even before you consider the reality of what COVID-19 has done to exacerbate the crisis.”
She also said her first priority as HUD secretary would be to help people who have sought extended eviction protections or are behind on mortgage payments.
Fudge promised to “work across the aisle” after she was criticized by Sen Tom Toomey, R-Pa., and other Republicans for saying after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that Republicans didn’t care “even a little bit” about people of color.
The committee also voted 24-0 to approve the nomination of Cecilia Rouse, a Princeton economist, to head the Council of Economic Advisers.
Toomey on Thursday praised Rouse’s service on the same council during the Obama administration and said she’s “well qualified.” Rouse would be the first Black American to head the council.
Meet President Joe Biden’s top adviser picks
Marty Walsh
Labor Secretary. Former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is a pro-union politician who previously served as the head of the Boston Trades Council. Pool Photo by Graeme Jennings/UPI | License Photo
Michael Regan
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator. Regan, who has served as secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, he would become the first Black person to hold this position during the EPA’s existence. He said he would focus on environmental justice in the role. Pool Photo by Brandon Bell/UPI | License Photo
Miguel Cardona
Education Secretary. Cardona, Connecticut’s commissioner of education, speaks during his confirmation hearing to be secretary of education, the first Latinx person to hold the position. He began his career as an elementary school teacher. Pool Photo by Anna Moneymaker/UPI | License Photo
Isabella Casillas Guzman
Small Business Administration. Guzman previously served as director of California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate. Pool Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo
Alejandro Mayorkas
Homeland Security Secretary. President Joe Biden (L) looks toward Mayorkas, the first Latinx person to hold the position, before signing executive orders advancing his priority to modernize the U.S. immigration system. Pool Photo by Doug Mills/UPI | License Photo
Jake Sullivan
National Security Adviser. Sullivan served as deputy chief of staff to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI | License Photo
Antony Blinken
Secretary of State. Blinken speaks during his confirmation hearing. He previously served as Biden’s national security adviser during the Obama administration. Pool Photo by Graeme Jennings/UPI | License Photo
Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Thomas-Greenfield served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs, director-general of the U.S. Foreign Service and U.S. ambassador to Liberia in the Obama administration. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI | License Photo
Janet Yellen
Treasury Secretary. The former Federal Reserve chairwoman, seen here receiving the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government in 2017, is the first woman to head the treasury. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
John Kerry
Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Change. The former secretary of state has helped spearhead programming on climate change and oceans for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Photo by Stefani Reynolds/UPI | License Photo
Denis McDonough
Veterans Affairs Secretary. McDonough served as White House chief of staff during President Barack Obama’s second term. He has also worked as deputy national security adviser and chief of staff of the National Security Council. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI | License Photo
Brian Deese
National Economic Council Director. Deese served as deputy director on the council and the Office of Management and Budget for the Obama administration. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo
Susan Rice
Domestic Policy Adviser. Rice, who previously served as national security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations in the Obama administration, speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 26, 2020. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo
Gen. Lloyd James Austin III
Secretary of Defense. Austin, a former U.S. commander in Iraq, is the first Black leader of the Pentagon. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
Jennifer Granholm
Energy Secretary. The former two-term governor of Michigan, advocated for clean energy in her state and helped the Obama administration build the multibillion-dollar bailout of Detroit’s’ auto manufacturers and pushed for them to invest in electric vehicles. Photo by Jim Watson/UPI | License Photo
Peter Buttigieg
Transportation Secretary. The former mayor of South Bend, Ind., Buttigieg would be the first openly gay person in Biden’s Cabinet if confirmed by the Senate. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo
Avril Haines
Director of National Intelligence. Haines served as deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism and deputy CIA director in the Obama administration. Pool Photo by Joe Raedle/UPI | License Photo
Dr. Anthony Fauci
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci will remain in his current role that he has held in the Trump administration. Photo by Al Drago/UPI | License Photo
Jen Psaki
Press Secretary. Psaki has previously served as spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of State and held various communications roles in the Obama administration. In her new role, she has vowed to bring “truth and transparency” back to the briefing room. Photo by Al Drago/UPI | License Photo
Gina Raimondo
Commerce Secretary. Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo was also considered as a potential running mate for Biden, as well as a choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Samantha Power
USAID Chief. Samantha Power (R), who served as President Barack Obama’s U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, is nominated to head of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Pool Photo by Anthony Behar/UPI | License Photo
Willliam Burns
CIA Director. William Burns has served in the U.S. State Department through five presidential administrations, including as U.S. ambassador to Jordan under former President Bill Clinton and ambassador to Russia under former President George W. Bush. Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI | License Photo
Merrick Garland
Attorney General. Judge Merrick Garland (L) of the U.S. Court of Appeals was nominated by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court in 2016 but the Senate refused to hold a confirmation hearing for him. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo
Deb Haaland
Interior Secretary. The congresswoman from New Mexico would be the first Native American to serve as the head of the department overseeing natural resources and tribal lands. Photo courtesy of Deb Haaland for Congress/Facebook
Marcia Fudge
Housing and Urban Development Secretary. The Ohio representative would be the first Black woman to lead the department in decades, if confirmed. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo
Tom Vilsack
Agriculture Secretary. Vilsack also served in this post from 2009 to 2017. He is a former governor of Iowa. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo
Xavier Becerra
Health and Human Services Secretary. The California attorney general, shown here speaking at the Democratic National Convention in 2016, is the first Latino to be appointed to head HHS. Photo by Ray Stubblebine/UPI | License Photo
Dr. Vivek Murthy
Surgeon General. Murthy will return to his role as surgeon general, a job he held during the Obama administration. Photo courtesy of U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions/Wikimedia Commons
Ron Klain
Chief of Staff. The former White House ebola response coordinator has been an adviser to Biden for decades. Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo
Neera Tanden
Office of Management and Budget Director. Tanden, shown
here speaking at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, is president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo
Cedric Richmond
Office of Public Engagement Director. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., is former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. Pool Photo by Patrick Semansky/UPI | License Photo
