San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro to Lead H.U.D.
By JONATHAN MARTIN and PETER BAKERMAY 17, 2014
WASHINGTON — President Obama intends to choose Mayor Julián Castro of San Antonio as the secretary of housing and urban development in a cabinet reshuffling, according to Democrats informed about the plans.
Mr. Castro, who has often been mentioned as a potential vice-presidential candidate for the Democrats, would take the place of Shaun Donovan, who would move to head the Office of Management and Budget. That job is being vacated by Sylvia Mathews Burwell, whom Mr. Obama has nominated as secretary of health and human services.
The White House refused to comment. But the president’s move to elevate a high-profile Hispanic official to his cabinet comes as his attempt to push an immigration overhaul through Congress appears to be stymied and as he considers easing the number of deportations of illegal immigrants.
Mr. Castro, 39, won national attention as the keynote speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, and he and his twin brother, Representative Joaquin Castro, have become popular speakers on the party’s fund-raising circuit.
Mr. Obama approached Mr. Castro after the 2012 election about serving as transportation secretary, but Mr. Castro indicated that he preferred to stay in San Antonio.
Mr. Castro’s decision to join the administration comes amid speculation that he would like to be considered for vice president in 2016. The thinking among many Democrats is that by taking an executive position in Washington, he would bolster his résumé after serving as mayor of the nation’s seventh-largest city since 2009.
The San Antonio Express-News first reported that the Mr. Castro had been offered a cabinet post, but did not say which position it was.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/us/politics/san-antonio-mayor-to-lead-hud.html?_r=0
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