Biden Cabinet members actions and issues: on Welfare & Poverty


Marcia Fudge: 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

Marcia Fudge: 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

Marcia Fudge: 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

Marcia Fudge: 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

  • The above quotations are from Biden Cabinet members actions and issues.
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  • Click here for more quotes by Donald Biden on Welfare & Poverty.
  • Click here for more quotes by Mike Pence on Welfare & Poverty.
2020 Presidential contenders on Welfare & Poverty:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN) 		Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: May 20, 2021