Marcia Fudge in Biden Cabinet members actions and issues
On Health Care:
ACA addressed a major need in our nation
The Affordable Care Act addressed a major need in our nation. Prior to its passage, 47 million Americans had no health insurance and millions more were financially burdened by the limited coverage. In addition to expanding health coverage, the
ACA has protected Americans from losing coverage because of a pre-existing condition, among other protections, and saved seniors billions of dollars on their prescription drugs.
Source: Fudge.House.gov website on Biden Cabinet
Dec 15, 2020
On Health Care:
Strong supporter of the Medicare program
I am a strong supporter of the Medicare program, and have spoken out against attempts by my
Republican colleagues to drastically decrease services for beneficiaries and make Medicare a voucher program. Beneficiaries of the program worked hard for their earned benefits and deserve to keep them.
Source: Fudge.House.gov website on Biden Cabinet
Dec 15, 2020
On Jobs:
Collective bargaining rights a top priority
Fighting for the collective bargaining rights of union workers and the middle class is one of my top priorities.
I firmly support the right of labor unions and public and private employees to collectively bargain. Ohio is significantly impacted by union membership, as it is home to over 600,000 union members.
Source: Fudge.House.gov website on Biden Cabinet
Dec 15, 2020
On Principles & Values:
Stop limiting black cabinet members to HUD or Labor
Almost exactly one month ago, in an interview with Politico, Ohio Representative Marcia Fudge criticized how former presidents were expected to assemble their Cabinets. "As this country becomes more and more diverse,
we're going to have to stop looking at only certain agencies as those that people like me fit in. You know, it's always 'we want to put the Black person in Labor or HUD,'" said Fudge, who is Black.
Source: The New Republic on Biden Cabinet
Dec 14, 2020
On Welfare & Poverty:
Fought cuts to food stamp program
Despite Fudge's best efforts to assure the public she is both capable of and enthusiastic about the job, her interview with the Plain Dealer was painful to read. Asked what her priorities were at the agency, she replied in part, "You know,
deal with the lack of low-income and moderate income housing in this country. There are lots and lots of things to deal with, quite frankly." In a separate interview, she emphasized that leading HUD would still allow her to work on food security.
A longtime member of the House Agriculture Committee, Fudge chairs the subcommittee on nutrition, which has oversight of USDA. She gained national recognition for vociferously fighting the
Trump administration's effort to slash the food stamp program and has a progressive understanding of the agency's role in not just food production but also nutrition policy, child hunger, and land conservation.
Source: The New Republic on Biden Cabinet
Dec 14, 2020
On Welfare & Poverty:
Public housing should be a stopping point, not a lifetime
On public housing: "This is the big part of this for me, is to empower communities to understand that public housing or low income housing should not be a lifetime, it should be just a stopping point," Fudge said. "The only way we make that happen is by
empowering them to get jobs in their own communities." That's not exactly a thumping rejection of Carson's school of thought, which was that poverty is a "state of mind" that people can overcome with enough hard work.
Source: The New Republic on Biden Cabinet
Dec 14, 2020
On Civil Rights:
Ban discrimination against African American hairstyles
She cosponsored legislation that would ban discrimination against African American hairstyles in federally funded institutions and in the workplace and prodded the
Defense Department to review a decision to restrict braids, cornrows, twists, and dreadlocks which are popular among African American women.
Source: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer on Biden Cabinet
Dec 13, 2020
On Government Reform:
Filed complaint against colleagues sleeping in their offices
Along with several other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, she filed a House Ethics Committee complaint against an estimated 50 to 100 of her congressional colleagues who sleep in their offices, asking why they should sleep in
for free in a public building while they were "cutting benefits to the poor, the mentally ill, to education, to veterans housing."
Source: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer on Biden Cabinet
Dec 13, 2020
On Principles & Values:
Skipped Trump's inauguration in protest
When Donald Trump was sworn in as president in 2017, Warrensville Heights Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge skipped his inauguration in protest. Fudge can be a sharp-tongued partisan - she called for Trump's impeachment during his first
year in office and read a letter on the House of Representatives floor that called Trump supporters "racist, steeped in religious beliefs, ignorant, or, as my mother used to say, just plain dumb."
Source: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer on Biden Cabinet
Dec 13, 2020
On Principles & Values:
Co-founded a Congressional Rock and Roll Caucus
She co-founded a Congressional Rock and Roll Caucus that hosts periodic
Capitol Hill events to highlight the work of Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Source: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer on Biden Cabinet
Dec 13, 2020
On Welfare & Poverty:
Introduced a Poverty Bill of Rights
She has introduced legislation urging Congress to enact a "Poverty Bill of Rights," to reaffirm the right of all Americans to live a life free from poverty and its impacts.
Several of the bills she introduced to make food more available to low-income people during the COVID-19 pandemic became part of relief packages that were signed into law.
Source: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer on Biden Cabinet
Dec 13, 2020
On Welfare & Poverty:
We have to deal with lack of low, moderate income housing
Her immediate priority will be how to keep people in their homes during the coronavirus crisis, and assist small landlords who are struggling. Her second task will be to "figure out how devastated this agency has become and what kinds of things we need
to do to make it work the way it should by empowering communities and neighborhoods to make sure that people can live in a decent house or apartment. You know, deal with the lack of low-income and moderate income housing in this country."
Source: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer on Biden Cabinet
Dec 13, 2020
On Budget & Economy:
COVID: protect homeowners, renters, small landlords
Q: What are your plans for what you want to do at HUD?A: I think the pressing thing is to deal with the adverse impacts of the COVID crisis. We've got to make sure that people can stay in their homes, or if they're renters, to stay in their
apartments. The first thing is keep people in their homes, as well as to assist some of these landlords, who are not these mega apartment owners but just a small landlords who are who are struggling as well.
Source: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer on Biden Cabinet
Dec 10, 2020
On Principles & Values:
A Cabinet position is not a consolation prize
Q: Do you feel this HUD appointment is a consolation prize, as opposed to getting the Agriculture Secretary job that you wanted?A: No, I don't think so. You can't even say that a Cabinet position can be a consolation prize. No Cabinet position can
be a consolation prize. I am more than honored and pleased and humbled to be asked to be in the Cabinet of a president that I think is going to make such significant change. And mind you, I can help poor people as much at HUD as I could at Ag.
Source: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer on Biden Cabinet
Dec 10, 2020
On Drugs:
End Federal cannabis prohibition, allow states to legalize
Rep. Marcia Fudge Supports:- Allow Cannabis Businesses To Use Banks
- Allow VA Doctors To Recommend Medical Cannabis
- Allow States To Legalize Medical Cannabis
- Allow States To Legalize Recreational Cannabis
- End Cannabis Prohibition At Federal Level
Source: CannabisVoter.info on Biden Cabinet
Jan 23, 2020
On Crime:
Violent Ferguson police like response to foreign uprisings
The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus said the actions of the police in Ferguson reminded her of wars abroad. "An elected official was arrested, journalists are being assaulted and innocent, unarmed individuals are having weapons pointed in
their faces for merely being outside of their homes," said Rep. Marcia Fudge. "What I saw last night reminded me of violent responses to uprisings in countries around the world, not here in my own backyard. We are supposed to be better than that."
Source: Buzzfeed blog on Biden Cabinet
Aug 14, 2014
On War & Peace:
Require Congressional consent for military action in Syria
Fudge has signed onto a letter that urges President Obama to consult with and obtain the consent of Congress before authorizing U.S. military action in Syria. While recognizing that any verified use of chemical weapons is a
crime against humanity that must be condemned, Fudge supports the view that the American people must have more transparency and a full debate and consideration of the facts must take place in Congress before any use of military force.
Source: Legistorm.com blog on Biden Cabinet
Aug 30, 2013
On Immigration:
Increasing high tech visas could hurt blacks seeking jobs
Fudge conveyed the Congressional Black Caucus' concern with allowing higher numbers of highly skilled immigrants into the U.S. "We know that [historically black colleges and universities] graduate more people in science, technology, engineering and
math. But if you say you're going to have as many as 100,000 high-skilled visas come into this country every year, then that is saying to my children, 'You know what? Don't even go into that field, because there's not going to be a place for you.' "
Source: National Public Radio on Biden Cabinet
May 23, 2013
On Corporations:
Co-sponsored Dodd-Frank exemption for some corporate trades
Reps. Gwen Moore and Marcia Fudge cosponsored the Inter-Affiliate Swap Clarification Act along with two Republicans. Moore and Fudge's bill would allow certain derivatives that are traded among a corporation's various affiliates to be
exempt from almost all new Dodd-Frank regulations. Fudge advocated for the bill "because it came at request of corporations and businesses in our district," says Belinda Prinz, a spokeswoman for the congresswoman.
Source: Mother Jones magazine on USDA Biden Cabinet
Apr 3, 2013
Page last updated: May 20, 2021