Marcia Fudge

Marcia Fudge, born on October twenty-ninth, nineteen fifty-two, is a distinguished American attorney and retired politician. She made history by serving as the eighteenth United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from twenty twenty-one to twenty twenty-four. A dedicated member of the Democratic Party, Fudge represented Ohio's eleventh congressional district from two thousand eight until two thousand twenty-one, a region that encompassed the majority of the black-majority precincts between Cleveland and Akron.

Fudge's political journey began in earnest following the untimely death of Stephanie Tubbs Jones in two thousand eight, when she ran unopposed in the special election to fill the vacancy. Her leadership skills were evident as she took on the role of chair of the Congressional Black Caucus during the one hundred thirteenth Congress. Although she contemplated a run for Speaker of the United States House of Representatives at the start of the one hundred sixteenth Congress, she ultimately chose to support Nancy Pelosi.

In a significant move for her career, President-elect Joe Biden nominated Fudge as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development on December tenth, twenty twenty. Her nomination was advanced by the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs with a vote of seventeen to seven on February fourth, twenty twenty-one. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on March tenth, twenty twenty-one, with a vote of sixty-six to thirty-four, and was virtually sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on the same day. This milestone made her the second African American woman to hold the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.