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Trump Moves Diversify Cabinet; Picks Betsy DeVos for Education
(about 4 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump moved swiftly to diversify his cabinet on Wednesday, announcing the nomination of Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, a rising star in Republican politics, to be United States ambassador to the United Nations and offering the post of secretary of housing and urban development to Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who ran an outsider’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump moved swiftly to diversify his cabinet on Wednesday, recruiting Betsy DeVos, a prominent Republican philanthropist and educational activist, as education secretary, and nearing an announcement of Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who ran an outsider’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, as secretary of housing and urban development.
Ms. Haley, who is Indian-American, is the first female governor of South Carolina and at, 44, the youngest governor in the country. She clashed with Mr. Trump during the campaign, but he spoke effusively of her in his announcement. She would be the first woman in his cabinet.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump nominated Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, an Indian-American who is a rising star in Republican politics, to be United States ambassador to the United Nations.
“Governor Haley has a proven track record of bringing people together regardless of background or party affiliation to move critical policies forward for the betterment of her state and our country,” Mr. Trump said. “She is also a proven deal maker, and we look to be making plenty of deals. She will be a great leader representing us on the world stage.”
Ms. DeVos and Ms. Haley would be the first women in Mr. Trump’s cabinet, while Mr. Carson would be the first African-American. But none of these choices suggest a president-elect who is reaching beyond reliably conservative circles for his key policy makers.
Mr. Trump’s selection of Ms. Haley and Mr. Carson could blunt criticism that his early picks have come from a homogeneous bloc of older, white men. If confirmed, Ms. Haley will step down as governor and be replaced by the state’s lieutenant governor, Henry McMaster, who was an early and vocal Trump supporter.
A major Republican fund-raiser from Michigan, Ms. DeVos, 58, is a passionate believer in school choice, a subject that she and Mr. Trump discussed last week when she met him at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. She is a member by marriage of the DeVos family, the founders of Amway and one of the largest contributors to the Michigan Republican Party.
Mr. Carson would be the first African-American member of Mr. Trump’s cabinet – and a familiar face to millions of Americans after a Republican primary campaign in which he briefly soared to the top of the polls. It was not clear whether he had accepted the offer.
“The status quo in education is not acceptable,” Ms. DeVos said in a statement. “Together, we can work to make transformational change that ensures every student in America has the opportunity to fulfill his or her highest potential.”
Neither nominee is particularly experienced for the posts they have been offered. Mr. Carson had even seemed to take himself out of the running for a cabinet position last week, with his friends putting out word that he concluded he was not qualified to run a vast federal bureaucracy.
Mr. Trump declared, “Betsy DeVos is a brilliant and passionate education advocate. Under her leadership, we will reform the U.S. education system and break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver world-class education and school choice to all families.”
Ms. Haley, whose selection was first reported by the The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., supported Senator Marco Rubio of Florida during the Republican primaries, and was a prominent and frequent critic of Mr. Trump early in his run.
That criticism was thought to have kept her off Mr. Trump’s list of vice-presidential candidates, although her name was mentioned before he chose Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana.
In recent days, Mr. Trump has begun meeting with a wider array of prospects, either for advice or as potential cabinet picks. There are rumors that he has also been considering Harold Ford Jr., an African-American former Democratic representative from Tennessee, as transportation secretary, or for another post, though those talks have not become serious, according to an official close to the Trump transition.
Mr. Trump has also met with Michelle Rhee, the former superintendent of schools in Washington and Representative Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii Democrat who is the first Hindu member of Congress.
Until now, however, his appointments have consisted of five white men: Stephen K. Bannon as chief strategist in the White House, Reince Priebus as chief of staff, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama as attorney general, Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas as director of the C.I.A., and Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn as national security adviser. He is rumored to be close to naming Gen. James N. Mattis as secretary of defense.
