U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are in bed with each other, and not just as husband and wife.
New revelations of official coziness are a huge problem for Chao, whose leadership of the infrastructure-building agency was already on a shaky foundation. Unless she can explain a slew of suspect decisions, and do it quick, she must step down.
Monday, Politico reported that Chao designated a dedicated liaison to help Kentucky and only Kentucky _ the state represented by her powerful spouse _ with infrastructure grants.
Not California, with more people and needs than anyplace else. Not New York, the economic capital, with aging tunnels and bridges. Just the Bluegrass State.
So just as McConnell was gearing up for re-election, Kentucky won nearly $80 million in approved grants, including a highway-improvement project that had been previously rejected twice. Convenient.
This obscene use of political power puts in sharp focus other curious episodes during Chao's tenure.
The New York Times reported that in a 2017 proposed trip to China, Chao _ whose family runs an American shipping company with extensive business in China _ attempted to have Beijing Embassy staff coordinate travel for at least one family member and have other relatives sit in on meetings with Chinese government officials.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal revealed that Chao made $40,000 profiting from sale of stock in the country's largest construction materials supplier _ stock she had promised to divest from a year ago.
At this point, we're too exhausted to muster much surprise at the discovery of this type of behavior in the Trump Cabinet. But we're not tired enough to take it laying down.
