U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge announced on March 11 her intention to retire. NLIHC thanks Secretary Fudge for her service with HUD and wishes her the best in her retirement.
“Secretary Fudge consistently – and rightfully – says housing is a human right, and her actions at HUD have utilized all administrative levers to make it so,” said NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel. “Her signature initiatives at HUD have been addressing homelessness, engaging with and supporting tenant leaders, and reducing the racial wealth gap in homeownership. On each initiative, she has left an indelible mark, moving our nation closer to achieving housing justice.”
The Biden-Harris administration has taken historic action to address America’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis. Under Secretary Fudge’s leadership and the House America national initiative, the administration exceeded its ambitious goals to rehouse more than 140,000 people experiencing homelessness and to add 40,000 deeply affordable housing units to construction pipelines. Secretary Fudge engaged with, and supported, tenants’ leadership in new and important ways, including by providing new funding for tenant organizing, holding listening sessions with subsidized tenants throughout the country, and facilitating a conversation with tenant leaders at NLIHC’s 2023 Housing Policy Forum – a first for a HUD Secretary.
In addition, under Secretary Fudge’s leadership, HUD has:
- Made important progress in disaster housing recovery, by creating a new program to address the post-disaster housing needs of people experiencing homelessness.
- Worked to address unsheltered homelessness, using an all-of-government approach, through its ALL Inside initiative.
- Protected and advanced important tenant protections provided under the “CARES Act,” including a 30-day notice requirement for evictions.
- Consistently called for – and proposed funding for – universal rental assistance vouchers for veterans and youth aging out of foster care, an historic step towards providing universal assistance for all eligible households in need.
Further, the Biden-Harris administration’s Blueprint for a Renters’ Bill of Rights included commitments from key agencies, including HUD, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Federal Trade Commission, to advance renter protections. With its Housing Supply Action Plan, the administration is helping to reduce barriers to housing, increase access to financing, and promote the conversion of commercial space to residential housing. The administration has also launched a pilot program to allow states struggling to address homelessness to use Medicaid funds to provide affordable, stable homes for people exiting homelessness.
“We look forward to continuing to work closely with Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman and others throughout the Biden-Harris administration to advance the solutions needed to address the nation’s housing crisis,” said Diane Yentel.