The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Biden nominee Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), making her the first woman to do so in more than 40 years.
Fudge, who will leave her Congressional seat to join President Joe Biden’s administration, was confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 66-34. Fudge will take over the department from acting HUD Secretary Matt Ammon, who assumed the role after Ben Carson, former President Donald Trump’s appointee.
While Fudge was able to secure multiple Republican votes in the Senate, several from the Republican Party shared their concern over Fudge’s nomination, including Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA).
During a floor speech, Toomey said he was “concerned that Rep. Fudge’s past rhetoric makes clear that she lacks the temperament to cooperate with Congress… and cast doubt on whether she even wants to.”
Toomey also insisted Fudge has a history of “attacking and disparaging the motives of Republicans with whom she has policy disagreements” and stated she once claimed Republicans “had no decency, no honor, no integrity. She went on to say… ‘that we are a disgrace to the nation.'”
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) expressed that he was confident in Fudge’s leadership.
“I’m confident soon-to-be secretary fudge will help change” the low Black home-ownership rate, Brown stated. “Congresswoman Fudge will help to protect our kids from the lead poisoning that is still all too common in [Fudge’s current district], to restore the promise of fair housing, to give communities the help and resources they need to thrive.”
“She brings to the job critical experience serving as a mayor in the industrial heartland to the kind of community that’s either overlooked or preyed upon by Wall Street big investments,” Brown added.
Fudge faced scrutiny in January after she appeared to advocate for socialist practices as Sen. Tom Cotton (R- AR) quizzed her on the difference between equality and equity, telling the senator, “sometimes, it’s not level if you just say, ‘Let’s just treat everyone the same.’”
Fudge’s swearing in and the oath of office will be administered by Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday night.
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