President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Anthony Foxx, the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, as his next transportation secretary, underscoring Obama's desire both to increase diversity in his Cabinet and increase public investment in roads, bridges and other projects.
In remarks at the White House, Obama credited Foxx with helping turn around Charlotte's battered economy after the economic crisis in 2008, which had a dramatic impact on the city's financial services industry.
Foxx responded with a spending plan to refurbish the city's infrastructure — a microcosm of the type of investment Obama has pushed for the entire country.
Foxx will also increase the racial diversity of Obama's Cabinet, which has been criticized for being dominated by white men. Foxx will become the second black Cabinet secretary on Obama's team, alongside Attorney General Eric Holder.
