Trump Chooses Elaine Chao for Transportation Secretary

After much speculation, President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Elaine Chao, former labor secretary and current spouse of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as his Secretary of Transportation.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy spilled the beans, The New York Times reports, stating that the Trump camp named Chao for the role on Tuesday afternoon.

While Chao’s establishment ties conflict heavily with Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp” of Washington insiders, she is also a well-qualified and well-connected choice. Chao could be a critical asset toward Trump’s plan to improve U.S. infrastructure. Trump sincerely seems to want the country’s bridges, roads, and airports repaired or replaced on a massive scale and Chao’s past labor position (and husband) place her in a very helpful position.

Prior to her labor role in the Bush administration, Chao worked for various departments within the federal government. She was White House fellow under President Ronald Reagan, and served as deputy transportation secretary for President George H. W. Bush.

“That says something,” Richard F. Hohlt, Republican consultant and friend of Chao, told The New York Times. “She knows how to work a bureaucracy, and she knows how to last.”

Chao has also worked for Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, the Heritage Foundation, and is a regular commentator on Fox News. She also sits on the Fox Broadcasting Company’s board of directors. The same goes for Wells Fargo, which she is almost certain to come under scrutiny for if she decides to accept this position.

Corporate conflict and partisan issues aside, many seem to feel that Chao would at least be in a good position to lay some pavement. “I’m as optimistic as I’ve been in a long time about the potential she brings to finally get something done on infrastructure,” Ray LaHood told The Times. La Hood served as Transportation secretary under President Obama and also worked with Chao during her time as Labor secretary.

McClatchy reported that Trump and Chao had a meeting in Trump Tower last week where they “conversed about labor and transportation issues with a particular focus on America’s long-term infrastructure needs, and reducing or eliminating burdensome regulations,” according to the transition team.

Chao has yet to publicly address the meeting or respond to the forthcoming nomination.