President Barack Obama announced Monday that Ron Sims will be nominated as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

I am deeply grateful and overwhelmed by his trust and confidence in me, Sims said. We all need to own the reality of inequity, he added, I do not believe that these inequities are either natural or inevitable. I have devoted my life to reversing these courses.

In a news release, the White House says that Sims would be in charge of HUD's day-to-day operations, a nearly $39 billion annual operating budget and 8,500 employees.

Sims said there's no leader more committed to our communities than President Obama....I am truly humbled to be asked to join this team.

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