Senate panel sets hearing on Obama HUD nominee

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, on Tuesday scheduled a hearing for January 13 to consider President-elect Barack Obama's nominee to head the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Obama nominated Shaun Donovan, 42, presently New York housing commissioner, to head the national agency that enforces fair housing laws and manages affordable housing programs.

Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said the hearing would be the first in a series by the committee to consider Obama nominees.

Senate Banking also must consider the nominations of Mary Schapiro to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Daniel Tarullo to join the Federal Reserve Board, for example.

Donovan was nominated on December 13 to head the Cabinet-level agency which the president-elect called important since the U.S. recession is rooted in a steep housing market slump.

As commissioner of housing in New York, Donovan led an effort to create the nation's largest urban housing plan.

He previously worked for HUD during the Clinton administration, where he ran a housing-subsidy program.

(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh, editing by Matthew Lewis)