Elaine Chao takes Chavez's place

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

NEW YORK, JAN. 12. Two days after his original nominee for the post of Labour Secretary, Ms. Linda Chavez, withdrew her name, the President-elect, Mr. George W. Bush has picked in her place Ms. Elaine Chao, former Peace Corps Director and Fellow of the Heritage Foundation, a Conservative thinktank. Ms. Chao was a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Transportation in the earlier Bush administration and is the wife of the Republican Senator, Mr.Mitch McConnel of Kentucky.

The Republican President-elect also picked Mr. Robert Zoellick, a veteran of Republican administrations to be his Trade Representative. And amid speculation that Mr. Bush will downgrade the post and have the Commerce Department take the lead on trade policies, the President-elect has decided that Mr. Zoellick will have Cabinet rank. A former State Department official, Mr. Zoellick was an Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs.

Wrapping up his visit to Washington and heading back to Texas for one last time before returning for his inauguration on January 20, 2001, Mr. Bush told reporters that he expected his nominees to face tough questioning. ``I never expected our nominees to sail through without harsh questioning,'' Mr. Bush told the media prior to leaving Washington.

The Bush transition team had its first setback with revelations that Ms. Chavez had housed an illegal immigrant in the early 1990s. Democrats and Liberal groups are zeroing in on Mr. John Ashcroft who has been nominated as the next Attorney- General. Others likely to face some hurdles are Ms. Gale Norton who has been picked as the Interior Secretary and Ms. Christine Todd Whitman who will be running the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Section  : International
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