Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass pitches Rep. Barbara Lee to be the next U.S. Housing secretary

Source: NBC News

April 9, 2024, 2:30 PM EDT


WASHINGTON — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is urging President Joe Biden to name a fellow California Democrat and progressive stalwart, longtime Rep. Barbara Lee, to be the next secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Bass said in an interview Tuesday.

The Cabinet post has been filled on an acting basis by Deputy HUD Secretary Adrianne Todman since March 22, when Marcia Fudge stepped down from the top job.

Fudge “played a tremendous role. She moved on and I’m sure will continue making a contribution in other ways, but I think a perfect person to follow her would be Barbara Lee because Barbara Lee is the same type of person in the sense that she’s a bold leader; she has worked on this issue for many, many years,” Bass said in a phone interview with NBC News.

The mayor of America’s second-largest city, who served alongside Lee in the House from 2011 to 2022, said the pair worked together on legislation ensuring that young people can find housing after leaving the foster care system and fought to include rental assistance and funding for the homeless in Covid relief aid. “I think her history of fighting for marginalized populations would serve her well,” Bass said of Lee.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/los-angeles-mayor-karen-bass-pitches-rep-barbara-lee-housing-secretary-rcna147066