Elaine Chao selected to lead US Department of Transportation

On the stormy side, the Heritage Foundation, whose thinking may be infused in Chao’s views this is not known with certainty, has railed against the Jones Act. All quoted anonymous sources. She has held several high-level positions in Washington D.C.; has a decades-long track record with the Republican party; and previously served as deputy transportation secretary for George H. Bush, making her one of Trump’s more qualified appointments. So far numerous highest stature positions, like secretary of state and defense, remain open while the president-elect and his transition team continue their highly public process of receiving and interviewing candidates at Trump Tower. The president-elect’s plan relies heavily on public-private partnerships and tax credits rather than direct investment by the federal government.

According to Trump’s transition website, he plans to invest 550 billion USA dollars to “build the roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, and railways of tomorrow”. Thus, it seems possible that Chao’s unique capacity to lobby McConnell on infrastructure spending could have been a consideration in her selection.

Elaine Chao, 63, is well-known in Washington.

Although media reports indicate a Presidential Transition Team member confirmed the nomination, it has not been publicly announced.

Chao has been married to Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell since 1993.

The Transportation Department has 60,000 employees and a yearly budget of about $98 billion. Pat McCrory, former Federal Transit Administration head James Simpson, former National Transportation Safety Board chairman Mark Rosenker and Sen.

Chao came to the United States from Taiwan with her family at 8 years old.

Chao’s family owns an worldwide shipping empire, and her father is singlehandedly responsible for making McConnell one of the richest men in the Senate, according to the Nation.

She received a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College and an MBA from Harvard University.