LaHood claimed that DOT, “helped jumpstart the economy and put our fellow Americans back to work with $48 billion in transportation funding from the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, and awarded over $2.7 billion in TIGER grants to 130 transportation projects across the Nation.”
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced to the employees of the DOT that after serving for four years in President Obama’s Cabinet, he is leaving.
LaHood’s successor is thus far unknown. People who have been rumored as replacements for LaHood include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, chair of last year’s Democratic National Convention; Debbie Hersman, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board; ex congressman Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, once head of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
The Illinois Republican in a an e-mail to DOT employees said in part, “I have let President Obama know that I will not serve a second term as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It has been an honor and a privilege to lead the Department, and I am grateful to President Obama for giving me such an extraordinary opportunity. I plan to stay on until my successor is confirmed to ensure a smooth transition for the Department and all the important work we still have to do.”
LaHood claimed that DOT, “helped jumpstart the economy and put our fellow Americans back to work with $48 billion in transportation funding from the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, and awarded over $2.7 billion in TIGER grants to 130 transportation projects across the Nation. We have made unprecedented investments in our nation’s ports. And we have put aviation on a sounder footing with the FAA re-authorization, and secured funding in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act to help States build and repair their roads, bridges and transit systems.”
