Biden selects Marcia Fudge as Housing and Urban Development secretary, reports say

Dec. 8 (UPI) -- President-elect Joe Biden has selected U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to reports Tuesday night.

Fudge, D-Ohio, will join Biden's Cabinet as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, while Biden is leaning toward having Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack serve as agriculture secretary, a position Fudge had lobbied for, according to reports by Politico and The Washington Post.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday evening, Fudge said she was "in a holding pattern" but confirmed she had spoken with Biden and other members of the transition team.

"Let me just say that -- if I were to be named -- certainly it's an honor and a privilege to be asked to be in a president's cabinet," she said. "It is something that probably in my wildest dreams I never would have thought about. If I can help this president in any way possible, I am more than happy to do it. It's a great honor and privilege to be part of something so good."

Fudge had received support from Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, to receive a role in Biden's Cabinet.

She is a member of the House Agriculture Committee and sought to serve as the head of the Department of Agriculture, noting in an interview with Politico last month that Black policymakers are often slotted into specific Cabinet positions.

"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," she said. "You know, it's always 'we want to put the Black person in Labor or HUD."