Elaine Chao

American businesswoman and government official (born 1953)

Elaine Lan Chao is an American businesswoman and former government official who served as United States secretary of labor in the administration of George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009 and as United States secretary of transportation in the first administration of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Chao was the first Asian-American woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. She resigned as transportation secretary after the January 6 United States Capitol attack.