WASHINGTON _ Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Lou Barletta says he is weighing President-elect Donald Trump's offer to be his secretary of Labor.
Barletta was an early backer of Trump's when few members of Congress were supporting the incoming president. And he was a key surrogate for the brash businessman in his home state, helping Pennsylvania vote Republican in a presidential election for the first time since 1988.
Republican state Rep. Greg Rothman, who represents part of Barletta's House district, told Harrisburg TV station ABC27 that Barletta's appointment is payback for helping to deliver Pennsylvania for Trump.
"Historically, that happens," Rothman said. "You would expect that and I would expect that he will."
"We were the reason that Donald Trump won," Rothman said. "We put him over the top."
Barletta serves as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.
He also sits on the House Education and Workforce Committee's Subcommittees on Higher Education and Workforce Training as well as its Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions.
Pennsylvania's 11th District historically was an area with a heavy industrial lean and has recently been a hub of Pennsylvania's fracking boom.
