illusioNtEk
05-17-2014, 01:49 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/05/17/julian-castro-being-considered-for-hud-secretary/
San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro is being considered for service in President Obama's Cabinet -- most likely leading the Department of Housing and Urban Development -- and the mayor is "strongly considering" the position, according to two government officials familiar with the process.
Castro, 39, is serving his third two-year term as mayor of the nation's seventh-largest city and earned national attention in 2012 when he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. Ever since, Castro has been considered one of a handful of Democrats who could serve as the party's vice presidential nominee in 2016, especially if Hillary Rodham Clinton wins the Democratic nomination for president.
The mayor is currently being vetted by the FBI for a possible Cabinet post, according to the two officials, who were not authorized to discuss the process publicly. Castro has previously rejected offers from Obama join his Cabinet, but was approached again a few weeks ago about possibly taking the HUD job.
White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Saturday that the there was no personnel announcement to make "at this time."
Castro's rise would mean that the current HUD secretary, Shaun Donovan, is preparing to leave. He has served as head of the nation's top housing agency since the start of the Obama administration. Word of Donovan's status was not immediately clear Saturday, but he had been rumored for years to be up for consideration for other government posts. Currently, the position of director of the Office of Management and Budget is expected to become vacant soon as Sylvia Mathews Burwell prepares to depart to become the new secretary of health and human services.
If Donovan departs and Castro is nominated, the mayor would help Obama add a Hispanic appointee to a Cabinet that only lightly represents the nation's fastest-growing voter bloc. The White House has faced criticism in recent years for not appointing more minorities, especially Hispanics, to senior government jobs, especially since Latinos provided strong support for Obama in 2008 and 2012.
Castro's twin brother, Joaquin Castro, is a first-term Democratic congressman representing a San Antonio-area district.
San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro is being considered for service in President Obama's Cabinet -- most likely leading the Department of Housing and Urban Development -- and the mayor is "strongly considering" the position, according to two government officials familiar with the process.
Castro, 39, is serving his third two-year term as mayor of the nation's seventh-largest city and earned national attention in 2012 when he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. Ever since, Castro has been considered one of a handful of Democrats who could serve as the party's vice presidential nominee in 2016, especially if Hillary Rodham Clinton wins the Democratic nomination for president.
The mayor is currently being vetted by the FBI for a possible Cabinet post, according to the two officials, who were not authorized to discuss the process publicly. Castro has previously rejected offers from Obama join his Cabinet, but was approached again a few weeks ago about possibly taking the HUD job.
White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Saturday that the there was no personnel announcement to make "at this time."
Castro's rise would mean that the current HUD secretary, Shaun Donovan, is preparing to leave. He has served as head of the nation's top housing agency since the start of the Obama administration. Word of Donovan's status was not immediately clear Saturday, but he had been rumored for years to be up for consideration for other government posts. Currently, the position of director of the Office of Management and Budget is expected to become vacant soon as Sylvia Mathews Burwell prepares to depart to become the new secretary of health and human services.
If Donovan departs and Castro is nominated, the mayor would help Obama add a Hispanic appointee to a Cabinet that only lightly represents the nation's fastest-growing voter bloc. The White House has faced criticism in recent years for not appointing more minorities, especially Hispanics, to senior government jobs, especially since Latinos provided strong support for Obama in 2008 and 2012.
Castro's twin brother, Joaquin Castro, is a first-term Democratic congressman representing a San Antonio-area district.