LaHood May Stay on if Obama Re-Elected

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood seems to be keeping the door open to a second Cabinet term after insisting last year he would not stay on if President Obama were re-elected.

At recent events in Washington and Florida, LaHood told reporters that he will talk to Obama about their future.

“I’ll always be grateful to the president for giving me this opportunity and I owe it to him to sit down and talk after the election and see where it takes us,” LaHood said after an event last month at George Washington University.

When pressed by reporters to say whether he would stay if asked, LaHood reiterated that he plans to talk to Obama.

“I need to talk to the president about his vision and sort of what I have in mind and see where it takes us,” LaHood said.

While LaHood’s office supplied the transcript of his conversation with reporters, a DOT spokeswoman declined to respond to Transport Topics’ request for comment about whether his remarks meant the secretary had changed his mind about leaving the Cabinet.

Last October, LaHood told TT he would not stay in the Cabinet if there was a second Obama administration and that he would seek opportunities in the private sector.