Transportation secretary nominee Elaine Chao faces Senate panel

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Transportation, Elaine Chao, will testify before a Senate panel Wednesday en route to what is expected to be an easy confirmation.

Chao has a long track record in Washington and is widely respected on both sides of the aisle. She was deputy secretary of transportation under George H.W. Bush, labor secretary under George W. Bush and she’s the wife of one of the nation’s most powerful Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Trump has repeatedly pledged to push forward with Congress on an infrastructure plan that could cost as much as $1 billion, and Chao would likely be both instrumental in helping pass such a measure and implementing it.

Chao, will sit before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for her hearing Wednesday morning, which occurs at the same time as Trump’s secretary of state nominee, Rex Tillerson, testifies and Trump holds his first press conference since the middle of 2016.

The transportation nominee plans to pitch herself as a capable steward of a massive infrastructure modernization and expansion effort, according to prepared remarks for the hearing provided by the transition team. Her remarks also cast the current state of infrastructure in the country as a burden on the engine of the US economy.

“The US Department of Transportation has a rare opportunity to shape the transformation of our critical infrastructure,” Chao’s remarks read.

She planned to pledge to work with the states and Congress to effectively shepherd transportation projects — with a renewed focus towards looking at the needs of rural communities.

“We want to work with you to address the unique transportation needs in rural America, as well as the challenges that major metropolitan areas face,” the remarks read.

She also recognized emerging technologies, specifically calling out autonomous vehicles and commercial drone technology as areas where the federal government’s regulatory approach was “still in its infancy.”

“We want to work with Congress to position the federal government as a catalyst for safe, efficient technologies, not as an impediment,” Chao plans to say.

Commerce Chairman John Thune has called Chao “very well qualified.”

Bryan Gulley, spokesman for the committee’s Democratic members said, “I expect this hearing to go smoothly. There will not be any fireworks.”

Gulley adds: “I haven’t heard any indications from Democrats on the committee that they find Chao controversial.” The panel’s top Democrat, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, is expected to vote in favor of Chao.

While she has bipartisan respect, Gulley says members will focus on Trump’s infrastructure plans and the question of how it will be paid for.

Infrastructure has been identified the one area of possible bipartisan compromise during Trump administration but it is appears it will be a challenge to achieve. While Democrats are enthusiastic about a big infrastructure plan, fiscal conservatives are expressing concern about such a hefty price tag.

Nelson will also “ask her thoughts on privatizing the nation’s air traffic control system, something that’s been very controversial,” Gulley added.

During a time when the nation has a seen a record number of auto safety recalls Chao will likely also field questions about how she will keep drivers and the cars they drive safe. “How do we prevent a situation like Takata from ever happening again, it’s the largest recall in history affecting millions of vehicles,” Gulley said.

The massive Takata airbag recall stemmed from exploding airbags. The faulty airbags send shrapnel into the face of drivers and occupants of the car. Federal regulators say there have been at least 11 deaths and 180 injuries in the United States tied to the problem. It took until 2014 before the widespread nature of the problem was known.

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