Bush Picks Heads of Energy, Labor, Transportation

Bush Picks Heads of Energy, Labor, Transportation

CNSNews.com
Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001

President-elect Bush completed his Cabinet selections Tuesday by announcing his choices for secretaries of energy, labor and transportation.

Bush chose Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Mich., as secretary of energy. Elected in 1994, Abraham was defeated by Debbie Stabenow in his 2000 Senate re-election bid.

The grandson of Lebanese immigrants, Abraham was deputy chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle, Fox News reported.

Linda Chavez, a syndicated columnist carried by NewsMax.com, president of Center for Equal Opportunity and a former Reagan administration civil rights commissioner, was tapped as labor secretary.

Chavez said she would "keep faith with the men and the women who still work" in jobs like those her working-class parents held. She said she would vigorously enforce department regulations against discrimination.

Bush announced a Democrat, Norman Mineta, commerce secretary for the Clinton administration, as his choice for transportation secretary.

"The challenge before all of us as Americans regardless of party affiliation is to find those areas where we can build bipartisan consensus," Mineta said.

Bush's Cabinet

A review of Bush's Cabinet choices, according to Fox News:

SECRETARY OF STATE: Colin Powell, former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman.

TREASURY SECRETARY: Paul O'Neill, chairman of Alcoa.

COMMERCE SECRETARY: Bush campaign chairman Don Evans.

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: Ann Veneman, former California agriculture director.

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY: Mel Martinez, the elected chief executive of Orange County, Fla.

ATTORNEY GENERAL: Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., defeated for re-election.

DEFENSE SECRETARY: Donald Rumsfeld, former defense secretary under Gerald Ford.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson.

INTERIOR SECRETARY: Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton.

EDUCATION SECRETARY: Houston schools Superintendent Roderick Paige.

VETERANS AFFAIRS SECRETARY: Former Deputy VA Secretary Anthony Prinicipi.

LABOR SECRETARY: Linda Chavez, former executive director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Norman Y. Mineta, President Clinton's secretary of commerce.

ENERGY SECRETARY: Sen. Spence Abraham, R-Mich., defeated for re-election.

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Andrew Card, former liaison to President Reagan and deputy chief of staff and transportation secretary under President George Bush.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY DIRECTOR: New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Stanford University scholar Condoleezza Rice.

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET: Mitch Daniels, senior vice president of Eli Lilly and Co.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION CHAIRMAN: Michael Powell, one of five FCC commissioners and the son of retired Gen. Colin Powell, the secretary of state-designate.

WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: Alberto R. Gonzales, Texas Supreme Court justice.

WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: Bush campaign communications director Karen Hughes.

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION: Former Sen. Harrison Schmitt, R-N.M., an Apollo 17 astronaut.

NAVY SECRETARY: Potential nominees are retiring Rep. Tillie Fowler, R-Fla.; Navy veteran and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach; outgoing Rep. Steven Kuykendall, R-Calif., a Marine Corps veteran.

U.N. REPRESENTATIVE: Potential nominees are former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., also mentioned as a potential CIA director; Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge; John Whitehead, former diplomat who was head of the United Nations Association of the USA.

U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: Potential nominees are Robert Zoellick, former State Department official in the elder Bush's administration; Richard Parsons, president of Time Warner Inc.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Bush Administration Error processing SSI file