HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge to leave Biden administration later this month

Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden announced Monday that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge will leave the administration.

Fudge said in a statement she had “worked tirelessly to ensure that America lives up to its promise of liberty and justice for all” and announced that with “mixed emotions” she would resign effective March 22.

“It has always been my belief that government can and should work for the people,” Fudge wrote. “For the last three years, I have fully embraced HUD’s mission to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. The people HUD serves are those who are often left out and left behind. These are my people. They serve as my motivation for everything we have been able to accomplish.”

She trumpeted several accomplishments during her tenure as a Cabinet secretary, including removing barriers for people with student loan debt trying to buy homes with federal government-backed mortgages, helping more than 2 million families avoid foreclosure and ensuring that a person’s rental history is given greater weight when trying to obtain a home loan.

She thanked Biden for “his confidence and trust in me to lead HUD in alignment with the Biden-Harris Administration priorities.”

“As I transition to life as a public citizen,” she wrote, “I will continue to do the work that I have been called to do.”

Fudge expanded on her future plans in an interview with USA Today, telling the newspaper she believed she accomplished all she could at HUD and that she wished to retire and return home to Ohio.

Fudge, 71, represented Ohio’s 11th district in Congress from 2008 to 2021 – during which she spent some time chairing the Congressional Black Caucus. She told USA Today that her departure stems partly from a desire to spend more time with her 92-year-old mother and that she has no plans for a future run for office.

“Don’t look for me to ever be on another ballot or another appointee or anything like that,’’ she told the outlet. “I really do look forward to being a private citizen.”

Near the beginning of her time as Housing secretary, Fudge opined on Ohio politics from the White House podium – remarks that the US Office of Special Counsel later determined violated the Hatch Act, a law prohibiting executive branch employees from participating in some forms of partisan politics.

Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman will serve as acting secretary when Fudge departs, the White House said.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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