WASHINGTON — Marcia Fudge, who has served as the secretary of housing and urban development since March 2021, is leaving the Biden administration, the White House said Monday.
"When I took office, we inherited a broken housing system, with fair housing and civil rights protections badly dismantled under the prior administration," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "On Day One, Marcia got to work rebuilding the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and over the past three years she has been a strong voice for expanding efforts to build generational wealth through homeownership and lowering costs and promoting fairness for America’s renters."
Biden continued: "From her time as a mayor, to her years as a fierce advocate in the U.S. House of Representatives, Marcia’s vision, passion, and focus on increasing economic opportunity have been assets to our country. I’m grateful for all of her contributions toward a housing system that works for all Americans, and I wish her well in her next chapter."
The White House said that after Fudge departs, Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman will serve as acting secretary.
In a statement, Fudge said she's resigning effective March 22, but didn't say whether she has other plans for her career.
"For the last three years, I have fully embraced HUD's mission to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all," she said, adding that as she transitions to life as a public citizen, "I will continue to do the work that I have been called to do."
Fudge is only the second Cabinet secretary to leave the administration during Biden's first term as president. The first was Marty Walsh, who left in March 2023 after serving as labor secretary for two years.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients had said in an interview published last week by Politico that all current Cabinet members and senior White House staff would remain in their roles for the remainder of Biden's first term.
A White House official said they knew about Fudge's plans in advance and "Jeff was answering a question about whether we have the team in place this year at the Cabinet and at the White House."
In Biden's 2025 budget request released Monday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development requested from Congress a nearly $500 million increase in funding to its programs. It calls for an expansion in access to affordable rent through the Housing Choice Voucher Program and increasing the supply of affordable housing to reduce housing costs.
Before working in the Biden administration, Fudge represented an Ohio congressional district in the House from 2008 to 2021, serving at one point as chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
