There are two strains of reaction to Fudge’s nomination in the housing world. One is a feeling that the choice by Biden of someone with little experience who clearly preferred another role reflects that he does not take housing policy as seriously as was hoped and that qualifications are taking a back seat to other considerations in the cabinet process (and those other considerations are not representation, since putting Fudge, a Black woman, at Ag would not have prevented his putting a qualified leader of color at HUD as well).
The choice is “breathtaking in its complete dismissal of urban issues and housing issues—given what we’re about to face” in terms of the mounting eviction and foreclosure dangers of the pandemic says James DeFilippis, a professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University who has worked in the nonprofit housing sector and follows housing policy closely. “And it’s unfair to her, who by all accounts is a very thoughtful member of Congress.”