Vinay Singh was sworn in as chief financial officer of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) this week.
President Joe Biden nominated Singh to serve as the CFO in early April and by June 22, the Senate confirmed his nomination by voice vote.
The position has sat vacant since Irving Dennis, who served as the CFO under President Donald Trump, stepped down in 2020.
In his new role as CFO, Singh will oversee financial management at HUD.
Singh’s priorities will range from financial and grants management, to improving the department’s budget process, HUD’s Secretary Marcia Fudge said in a statement.
Singh’s career spans more than 25 years, with finance-related stints in both the private and public sector.
Most recently, Singh, who is a certified public accountant, served as a senior advisor at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) from September 2021 to July.
HUD’s new CFO also worked at KPMG India from June 2019 to September 2021. During that time, Singh was lead account partner for the World Bank.
Singh was appointed by President Barack Obama’s administration to serve as a senior advisor on global markets for the International Trade Administration, an agency that is a part of the Department of Commerce. Singh worked for the agency from 2014 to 2016.
Filling roles at HUD has been a slow going process and some positioned have remained vacant for months.
According to a tracker maintained by the Washington Post and the Partnership for Public Service, five politically appointed positions remain vacant at HUD. Candidates have been nominated for most of the positions, but many remain stalled in the Senate.
The Office of Housing, which includes the Federal Housing Administration, alone has 25 vacancies, including an opening for a general deputy assistant secretary for housing, chief of staff and five senior advisor positions.
