As HUD secretary, Fudge is expected to reinstate a 2013 rule aimed at barring the housing industry from enacting policies that, although seemingly race-neutral, have an adverse effect on Black and Latino Americans. The agency also is expected to reinstate another Obama-era regulation requiring communities to identify and address barriers to racial integration and disparities in access to transportation, jobs and good schools — or risk losing federal funding.
One year into the coronavirus pandemic, which has left a disproportionate number of Black and Latino Americans jobless, Fudge said her immediate focus will be on providing rental assistance to households at risk of eviction.
More than 11 million households are behind on rent, census data show. Almost 3 million homeowners are in forbearance, Fudge said; an additional 800,000 borrowers are delinquent. Families struggling to pay rent continue to be served with eviction notices despite the government’s extension of the eviction moratorium.
Several Republicans had criticized Fudge during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs for previous comments she had made about race and the GOP that they characterized as “intemperate.”
Other Republicans voiced concern about Fudge’s intent to undo HUD regulations put in place by the Trump administration to address what conservatives view as costly and time-consuming Obama-era fair housing requirements that they said discouraged the construction of much-needed affordable housing. Seven of the committee’s 24 members had voted against advancing her nomination.
On Wednesday, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said before voting against Fudge’s confirmation that her “past rhetoric makes clear that she lacks the temperament to collaborate with Congress, particularly across the aisle, and casts doubt as to whether she wants to.”
But Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who had previously worked with Fudge to address the affordable housing crisis in their home state, has vouched for her ability to work across the aisle. “I don’t always agree with Marcia on policy, she doesn’t always agree with me. But I can speak to her integrity, her commitment to justice and [the] strength of her character,” Portman said during Fudge’s confirmation hearing.
Portman was among 16 Republicans who voted in favor of Fudge, along with Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the minority leader, and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the lone Black Republican in the Senate. Democrats unanimously approved her confirmation.
Housing advocates, eager for the new administration’s focus on racial justice after four years of battling Carson over fair housing enforcement, including filing lawsuits, applauded Fudge’s confirmation.
“This is a refreshing turn and, quite frankly, a relief,” said Lisa Rice, president and chief executive of the National Fair Housing Alliance. “Instead of trying to convince the HUD secretary to uphold our nation’s fair housing laws, we now have someone who believes in the full breadth of the law and is committed to completely enforcing it.”
Before her time on Capitol Hill, Fudge, a former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, had served as the first African American and first female mayor of Warrensville Heights.
Fudge on Wednesday voted to pass Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, which includes more than $20 billion in emergency rental assistance.
She was then expected to resign her congressional seat and is scheduled to be sworn in as HUD secretary at 5 p.m. in a virtual ceremony from her Warrensville Heights home, with her 89-year old mother by her side.
Patricia Harris was the first Black woman to serve in a presidential Cabinet after President Jimmy Carter appointed her HUD secretary in 1977.
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