WASHINGTON — The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday to confirm Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) as the new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Senator Sherrod Brown has been leading the process as chair of the Senate’s Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.
"The first vote will take place at 5:30 tonight, that so-called cloture,” Brown said Tuesday afternoon of the procedural vote to end debate on the nomination. “Passage confirmation for Congresswoman Fudge, my congresswoman, will take place tomorrow. I expect a strong bi-partisan vote as we had in the committee to confirm her to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development."
At her January confirmation hearing, Fudge's past partisan statements in political arguments with Republicans were called into question by Republican Senator Pat Toomey. In particular, her comments related to former President Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick of Amy Coney Barrett last fall.
"I'm troubled by this and several other statements because in my mind they raise questions about your willingness and ability to work with Republicans if this is your opinion of Republicans,” Toomey said.
Fudge told the senator there was more to the quotes he mentioned, that being said.
"Sometimes I am a little passionate about things,” Fudge said. “Is my tone pitch-perfect all the time? It is not but I do know this, that I have the ability and the capacity to work with Republicans and I intend to do just that and that is my commitment to you."
There will be a handful of Republican no votes for sure but Ohio Senator Rob Portman will not be one of them.
"I support Marcia Fudge, I don't agree with her on all of the policy issues as you know but she's qualified,” Portman told News 5 last month. “I think that she'll be someone I can work with for Ohio and that's good. It's good to have an Ohioan as part of the cabinet."
Once she is confirmed she will resign her seat in Congress at which time Governor Mike DeWine will pick the dates for a primary and general election to find someone to fill out the remaining 22 months of her term.
