Senate panel advances Biden’s picks for Housing secretary, chief economist

The Senate Banking Committee on Thursday advanced President Biden’s nominees to serve as the chief White House economist and secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The panel unanimously approved Cecilia Rouse’s nomination to be chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) and advanced the nomination of Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) to lead HUD by a vote of 17-7. All 12 of the panel’s Democrats and five Republicans voted to approve Fudge.

If confirmed by the Senate, Rouse and Fudge will play integral roles in Biden’s efforts to repair the damage of the coronavirus recession while pushing for a strong and equitable recovery.

“Rep. Fudge and Dr. Rouse will bring expertise and empathy to these jobs. And these two Black women, with deep ties to Ohio and the industrial heartland, will bring important perspective and life experience to the management of our economy – perspective that has been sorely lacking,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), chairman of the Banking Committee.

Fudge would lead HUD’s efforts to prevent millions of families currently protected under federal foreclosure and eviction bans from homelessness once those protections expire. She would also run point on the Biden administration’s efforts to expand affordable housing, fight housing discrimination and improve the nation’s public housing supply.

Rouse would serve as Biden’s chief economist, advising the president on how best to achieve his goals of bringing the U.S. back to its pre-pandemic economic strength and narrowing racial and ethnic economic disparities. She would also be the first Black woman to lead the CEA.

Rouse most recently served as dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and extensively studied the economics of education during her academic career. She was a member of former President Obama’s CEA and received wide bipartisan praise throughout her confirmation process.

“I have no doubt that I’m going to disagree with Dean Rouse on policy matters far more often than I will agree with her. But I recognize and appreciate that she has a history of listening to and respectfully working with people of differing viewpoints,” said Sen. Pat Toomey (Pa.), the top Republican on the Banking panel.

“I believe her record is consistent with President Biden’s calls for unity and pledges to keep personal attacks out of political discourse,” he added.

Toomey, however, did not share the same praise for Fudge. He and several Republicans pressed Fudge during her hearing on past comments condemning the GOP for quickly filling the Supreme Court seat of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and questioned whether Republicans “care[d] about people of color.”

Fudge touted her bipartisanship and insisted during her confirmation hearing that she would be able to work with Republicans as HUD secretary. But Toomey said Thursday that Fudge’s previous comments and lack of experience with housing policy were too much for him to overlook.

Fudge remains on track for confirmation despite the handful of GOP objections she received Thursday. 

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who voted for her nomination, said that while he found Fudge’s comments “objectionable,” he believes she’s “quite intelligent, motivated, and tenacious.”

“One of the things I continue to encourage her to do is to have an open door towards the Republicans on this committee and through Congress, because it’s going to be very important for this nation to see Congress working together, especially when we disagree on the underlying issues,” Scott said.