Obama plans to pick San Antonio mayor for housing secretary

5/17/2014
REUTERS

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama intends to nominate San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro as secretary of housing and urban development in a Cabinet reshuffling, the New York Times reported today, citing Democrats informed of the plan.

Castro, who has often been mentioned as a potential Democratic vice presidential candidate, would take the place of Shaun Donovan, who would move to head the Office of Management and Budget, the newspaper said. That job is being vacated by Sylvia Mathews Burwell, whom Obama has nominated as secretary of health and human services.

Castro, 39, mayor of the seventh-largest U.S. city, made his national debut in 2012 at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was the first Latino to deliver a keynote address.

His twin brother, Joaquin Castro, was elected to Congress the following year.

Julian Castro turned down an offer from Obama after the 2012 election to be nominated as transportation secretary.

Joining the Obama administration in a Cabinet-level position could help his chances of being picked as the vice presidential candidate in 2016.