Elaine Chao in Trump Cabinet members actions and issues
On Principles & Values:
Resigned following riot at the U.S. Capitol
Elaine Chao was the first Cabinet-level official to step down and promised to help her successor, Pete Buttigieg, transition into the role. "Yesterday our country experienced a traumatic and entirely avoidable event as supporters of the
President stormed the Capitol building following a rally he addressed," said Chao. "As I'm sure is the case with many of you, it has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside."
Source: 19th News e-zine on Trump Cabinet
Jan 11, 2021
On Immigration:
Immigrated to America at age 8; gained citizenship at age 19
An immigrant who arrived in America at the age of eight speaking no English, Secretary Chao received her citizenship at the age of 19. Her experience transitioning to a new country has motivated her to devote most of her professional life to
ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to build better lives for themselves and their families. As U.S. Secretary of Labor, she focused on increasing the competitiveness of America's workforce in a global economy, and promoted job creation.
Source: DOT official website for Trump Cabinet biographies
Oct 5, 2018
On Technology:
Specialized in transportation financing in private sector
Secretary Chao comes to the U.S. Department of Transportation with extensive experience in the transportation sector. Early in her career, she specialized in transportation financing in the private sector. She began her executive career in
public service working on transportation and trade issues at the White House. She then served as Deputy Maritime Administrator, U. S. Department of Transportation; Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission; and, Deputy Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Transportation.Secretary Chao understands the critical role of the Department in ensuring the safety of our country's transportation systems.
She is also keenly aware of the key role infrastructure plays in our nation's economic competitiveness, and in strengthening economic growth in both the urban and rural areas of our country.
Source: DOT official website for Trump Cabinet biographies
Oct 5, 2018
On Welfare & Poverty:
Restored trust as CEO of United Way of America
Prior to the Department of Labor, Secretary Chao was President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of America, where she restored public trust and confidence in one of America's premier institutions of private charitable giving,
after it had been tarnished by financial mismanagement and abuse. Secretary Chao also served as Director of the Peace Corps, where she established the first programs in the Baltic nations and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union.
Source: DOT official website for Trump Cabinet biographies
Oct 5, 2018
On Corporations:
Public-private partnerships for innovating on infrastructure
Chao said that her department is partnering with private industry to implement innovations like Hyperloop (which would enable airplane-speed travel for ground transportation) and high-speed rail.The key to these futuristic leaps in transportation and
infrastructure, said Chao, is to allow the private sector to invest and innovate. "The government doesn't have all the solutions, and we welcome responsible partners," she said. "Unfortunately, many of our states don't allow the private sector to invest
in infrastructure. But they can be very helpful in terms of partnerships. The reality is that we cannot fund $1.5 trillion in direct federal funding; it will increase the deficit dramatically and will squeeze out the private sector."
Chao dismissed
concerns that private partnerships could lead to a rise in cronyism. "Some people in Congress have a distrustful view of the private sector," she said. "The private sector should help to educate these lawmakers on public-private partnerships."
Source: Newsweek's Nicole Goodkind on 2018 Trump Cabinet
Sep 24, 2018
On Technology:
Slow permitting process blocking private sector investments
The Trump administration's proposal aims to spend $200 billion in federal funding to spur a total of $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment, with states, localities and private industry covering the difference. "While there is a great deal of
enthusiasm from the private sector to participate, one of the hurdles they face is the lack of ready projects," Chao said. "If the permitting process can be sped up, it will allow more projects to be available for the private sector to invest."
Source: Washington Examiner on 2018 Trump Cabinet
Mar 1, 2018
On Corporations:
Reform corporate tax code to reward offshore tax havens
Chao, notably, has been a key voice in promoting the Trump administration economic policies, including the historic rewrite of the tax code--a legislative accomplishment that is likely the pinnacle of McConnell's congressional career.
The reform shifted the corporate tax code to a territorial system, a move highly expected to reward firms that funnel earnings through offshore tax havens, such as the Cayman Islands or the Marshall Islands.
Source: The Intercept on 2018 Trump Cabinet
Feb 5, 2018
On Tax Reform:
Chao family foundation funds funneled into offshore firms
Over a period of five years, millions of dollars were quietly funneled to a Chao family foundation via two offshore firms that list a New York address but are not incorporated anywhere in the United States. Two entities with the same names, however,
are incorporated in the Marshall Islands, known as one of the world's most secretive offshore havens for firms seeking to avoid taxes and a preferred foreign locale for the Foremost Group, the Chao family's New York-based shipping business.
Source: The Intercept on 2018 Trump Cabinet
Feb 5, 2018
On Environment:
Environmental regulations create roadblocks and delays
While Chao's speech was short on specifics, the secretary again touted the potential benefits of turning certain public assets over to the private sector, arguing it "better protects the taxpayers by identifying and mitigating risk."
Chao also praised the directive coming from the administration toward streamlining environmental regulations, which at times, she said, create "roadblocks and delays that hold up infrastructure for years, even decades."
Source: Transport Topics (TTnews.com) on 2017 Trump Cabinet
Oct 23, 2017
On Immigration:
Legality at the heart of immigration policy debate
Q: Your opinion of Obama's DACA plan?A: The immigration debate - and I think some people have tried to make it into a racial issue, it is not. The issue at stake is the issue of legality. And so how do we square with people who have come in, you
know, not using the legal process? And what do we do about people who do follow the legal process and they're waiting on line? And so that's why I think we have to have a complete reform of our immigration policy and not just do it on a piecemeal basis.
Source: Transport Topics on 2017 Trump Cabinet
Oct 23, 2017
On Budget & Economy:
Reckless tax and spend strategy is hazardous for economy
President George W. Bush's labor secretary, Elaine Chao had tough words for the incoming Obama administration's massive stimulus package, which included tens of billions of dollars for transportation. "Beneath the warm and fuzzy bipartisan
rhetoric is the same old tax-and-spend crowd that has now taken control of our government and is implementing policies that will turn our country into Europe," Chao told activists at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in 2009.
Source: Washington Post on 2017 Trump Cabinet
Jan 11, 2017
Page last updated: Dec 03, 2021