Marcia Fudge, who has led the Department of Housing and Urban Development since the early days of the Biden administration, announced her resignation, citing family concerns.
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Marcia Fudge’s departure conflicts with White House desires to keep the president’s cabinet and senior team intact through the November election.
Marcia L. Fudge, the secretary of housing and urban development, announced on Monday that she would resign this month after three years of presiding over seismic shifts in the housing market brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and changes in the economy.
Ms. Fudge, 71, a longtime congresswoman from Ohio, attributed her decision to a desire to spend more time with her 92-year-old mother and suggested that major policies were unlikely between now and the election anyway. But her departure undercut a plan by the White House to keep the president’s cabinet and senior team intact through the November balloting.
“Under Marcia’s transformational leadership, we have worked hard to lower housing costs and increase supply,” President Biden said in a statement. “Thanks to Secretary Fudge,” he added, “we’ve helped first-time home buyers and we are working to cut the cost of renting. And there are more housing units under construction right now than at any time in the last 50 years.”
Ms. Fudge is only the second of the original 15 cabinet members designated by law to leave under Mr. Biden, matching the lowest turnover rate in modern times. That is a sharp contrast to former President Donald J. Trump’s administration, when the cabinet was a virtual subway turnstile with secretaries coming and going through resignations and firings. Marty Walsh, Mr. Biden’s labor secretary, stepped down a year ago.
Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House chief of staff, had asked all remaining cabinet secretaries last fall to either commit to staying for the remainder of Mr. Biden’s term or move on right away so no major positions would be vacant during an election year. A White House official, who asked not to be identified discussing personnel issues, said Ms. Fudge made that commitment at the time but felt compelled to change her mind given her mother’s age.
Adrianne Todman, the deputy housing secretary, will take over the department as acting secretary once Ms. Fudge’s resignation becomes official on March 22, the White House said in the statement. At that point, with barely seven months left until November, it seems unlikely that a new nominee could be chosen, vetted and confirmed by the Senate before the election. Mr. Walsh’s designated successor has yet to be confirmed 13 months after he announced his resignation.
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Source: nytimes.com
