Photo credit: Gage Skidmore (CC-By-SA 2.0).
Since Tuesday afternoon President-elect Donald Trump has announced his nomination intentions for three additional cabinet posts: Elaine Chao as Secretary of Transportation, Steven Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary and Wilbur Ross as Secretary of Commerce.
Chao is a Distinguished Fellow at Hudson Institute. She is the 24th U.S. Secretary of Labor who served from 2001-2009. She is the first American woman of Asian descent to be appointed to a President’s Cabinet in our nation’s history. Chao also served as Deputy Secretary of Transportation.
An immigrant who arrived in America at the age of eight speaking not a word of English, Chao received her U.S. Citizenship when she was 19 years old.
Prior to the Department of Labor, Chao was President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of America where she restored public trust and confidence in one of our nation’s premier institutions of private charitable giving after it had been tarnished by financial mismanagement and abuse. As director of the Peace Corps, she established the first programs in the Baltic nations and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Her government service also includes serving as Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission. She has also worked in the private sector as Vice President of Syndications at Bank of America Capital Markets Group and Citicorp.
Chao earned her MBA from the Harvard Business School and an economics degree from Mount Holyoke College. Recognized for her extensive record of accomplishments and public service, she is the recipient of 35 honorary doctorate degrees.
Chao is also married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky).
“Secretary Chao’s extensive record of strong leadership and her expertise are invaluable assets in our mission to rebuild our infrastructure in a fiscally responsible manner,” Trump said in a released statement. “She has an amazing life story and has helped countless Americans in her public service career. I am pleased to nominate Elaine as Secretary of the Department of Transportation.”
“The President-elect has outlined a clear vision to transform our country’s infrastructure, accelerate economic growth and productivity, and create good paying jobs across the country,” Chao stated. “I am honored to be nominated by the President-elect to serve my beloved country as Transportation Secretary.”
Steven Mnuchin has decades of financial management experience including serving as Chief Information Officer at Goldman Sachs as well as finance director for President-elect Trump’s presidential campaign.
Mnuchin has been the Founder, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Dune Capital Management, one of the country’s premier investment firms, specializing in public equity markets, real estate and the entertainment industry. He also founded OneWest Bank Group LLC in 2009 and served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Prior to that, Mnuchin worked for 17 years at Goldman Sachs, where he oversaw trading in government securities, mortgages, money markets, and municipal bonds and rose to become the company’s Chief Information Officer.
Mnuchin has extensive experience in investing and financing the entertainment business. He founded RatPac-Dune Entertainment, which has produced wildly successful films, including Avatar, the highest grossing film in history ($2.8B worldwide), American Sniper, the X-Men series and many more.
He is a Member of the Board of The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (MOCA), UCLA Health System Board, New York Presbyterian Hospital, the Los Angeles Police Foundation, and Life Trustee of New York Presbyterian Hospital. Mnuchin earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University.
Mnuchin has ties to George Soros through his work at SFM Capital Management in 2003 and 2004, a group that the Wall Street Journal reports Soros funds. He also worked for Soros Fund Management, LLC according to Bloomberg. Also more than half of his federal-level contributions have gone to Democrats, including President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“Steve Mnuchin is a world-class financier, banker and businessman, and has played a key role in developing our plan to build a dynamic, booming economy that will create millions of jobs,” Trump stated. “His expertise and pro-growth ideas make him the ideal candidate to serve as Secretary of the Treasury. He purchased IndyMac Bank for $1.6 billion and ran it very professionally, selling it for $3.4 billion plus a return of capital. That’s the kind of people I want in my administration representing our country.”
“I am honored to have the opportunity to serve our great country in this important role. I understand what needs to be done to fix the economy. I look forward to helping President-elect Trump implement a bold economic agenda that creates good-paying jobs and defends the American worker,” Mnuchin added.
For 25 years Wilbur Ross headed Rothschild Inc. where he built a legacy of saving jobs and restructuring failing companies back to profitability. He has successfully grown businesses in the telecommunications, textiles, steel, and coal industries. In 2000, Mr. Ross started the investment firm WL Ross & Co.
Ross served as the President-elect’s top economic advisor on trade policy. He agrees with President-elect Trump’s plan to bring back jobs, eliminate the trade deficit and make good deals for America’s workers. He is a world-class negotiator and can be counted on to be a forceful advocate for America’s interests in the global economy. He received a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and his MBA from Harvard University.
Also Ross has been a registered Democrat who worked with former President Bill Clinton and has served on the New York Democratic Party State Central Committee.
“Wilbur Ross is a champion of American manufacturing and knows how to help companies succeed. Most importantly, he is one of the greatest negotiators I have ever met, and that comes from me, the author of The Art of the Deal. Together, we will take on the special interests and stand up for American jobs,” Trump said. “Wilbur knows that cutting taxes for working families, reducing burdensome government regulations and unleashing America’s energy resources will strengthen our economy at a time when our country needs to see significant growth. I am proud to nominate him as Secretary of Commerce.”
“I am delighted to have been selected to join President-elect Trump’s Cabinet and look forward to working especially closely with Steve Mnuchin to implement the economic programs which we have developed jointly to implement the President-elect’s strategy for accelerating our economic growth,” Ross remarked.