FoxNews, November 29, 2016 – Donald Trump is expected to name Elaine Chao as Transportation Secretary, a high-level source within the President-elect’s transition team told Fox News Tuesday.
Chao, a Washington insider who met with Trump on Monday, is the former Secretary of Labor — the first Asian American cabinet member appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2001.
Chao, who led the Department of Labor for eight years, is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Trump’s transition team has said the President-elect is seeking to select a diverse group of people to fill key cabinet and advisory roles within his administration.
Trump is expected to formally name Chao for the post in an announcement Tuesday afternoon.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, who will take over as the leader of the Senate Democrats after the retirement of Harry Reid, congratulated Chao ahead of the announcement and noted her “long history of service to our country.”
“Senate Democrats have said that if President-elect Trump is serious about a major infrastructure bill, backed by real dollars and not just tax credits and without cutting other programs like health care and education, that we are ready to work with his administration,” Schumer said in a statement. “I hope Secretary Chao shares that ambitious goal and is willing to work with Democrats to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and create millions of good paying jobs along the way.”
Chao, 63, was the longest tenured Labor Secretary since World War II. She is the only member of Bush’s original cabinet to have served both two terms of his presidency.
Prior to serving as Labor Secretary from 2001 to 2009, Chao was the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transportation.
Chao immigrated to the United States from Taiwan in 1961 at age 8. Chao’s father worked three jobs a day before eventually becoming a shipping magnate.
After leaving the Bush administration, Chao became a Fox News contributor and fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
