What Does It Mean That LaHood Isn’t On the Second-Term List? Nothing.
A White House official yesterday named three Cabinet members who are staying on for Obama's second term and set off a firestorm of speculation about those he didn't name -- among them, Ray LaHood.
The fact is no one knows yet whether the transportation secretary will stay on for the second term or not, or for a part of it, as he has indicated. More than a year ago, LaHood told an LA Times reporter he wouldn't stay past 2012, but rumor has it he hadn't meant to make any definitive statements and has since backpedaled.
And now, even as the media spin headlines out of the fact that LaHood was left off one, admittedly unofficial and not comprehensive list of returning Cabinet members, sources inside U.S. DOT say there's no news. The last we heard -- last month -- LaHood was still waiting for the end of the fiscal cliff negotiations to sit down with President Obama and figure out whether he'd be staying on.
It's a sign that transportation officials -- and the media -- are so anxious to know LaHood's fate that many jumped to conclusions when the White House official didn't include him in the list of remaining Cabinet members. But there's still no news.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog USA
Wednesday’s Headlines Ask How Much a Life Is Worth
There isn't much of a financial penalty for drivers who kill pedestrians — even if those drivers are cops.
‘I’m Not Grieving Alone’: New Play Explores a Father’s Journey After Losing Two Children to Traffic Violence
Colin Campbell and his wife Gail Lerner lost both their children in a car crash with impaired driver. A new play explores how to talk about similar tragedies.
How Transit Saved Lives — And Became a Lifeline — During and After the Maui Fires
A Maui bus agency helped transport 42,000 people off the island in the wake of one of the most devastating fires in American history — and highlighted the critical role that shared modes can play not just in preventing climate-related disasters, but saving lives when they happen.
California Has to Stop Building Freeways. Now.
"People aren't used to thinking of freeways as fossil fuel infrastructure, but they are." And once built, there's no going back, no making up for the extra driving by trying to convince people that a bus or train might be a better choice - we're stuck with it.
Streetfilms Tours Emeryville, Calif., the Little City that Can
Did somebody say "encore?" Safe streets rock star John Bauters, Mayor of Emeryville, population less-than 13,000, gave Streetfilms producer Clarence Eckerson a tour of his city.
