BY LIZ LEWIS ’22
PUBLISHER & NEWS EDITOR
Elaine Chao ’75, a Mount Holyoke alumna and longtime prominent figure in American conservative politics, recently came under fire for having used her political position as transportation secretary to assist her family’s business during the Trump administration.
Chao graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. After earning her MBA at Harvard Business School, she went on to be named secretary of labor under President George W. Bush in 2001. Chao was the first Asian American woman to be appointed to a presidential Cabinet position. Since then, she has held various public offices, most recently as transportation secretary from 2017 until 2021.
On March 3, 2021, The New York Times reported that Chao “repeatedly used her office staff to help family members who run a shipping business with extensive ties to China” during the Trump administration. This conclusion is based on a report released by the Department of Transportation’s general inspector on Wednesday, March 3.
The investigation began in 2019 with a New York Times report on Chao’s interactions with her family during her time as transportation secretary. In December 2020, the Trump administration nearing its end, the inspector general passed along the investigation results to the Department of Justice, which refused to open a criminal investigation into the allegations.
Most of these concerns were related to the shipping business started by her father, James Chao, in New York after immigrating from Taiwan in the 1950s. According to The New York Times, the business “centered around transporting commodities like coal and iron ore to the Chinese market.” The company is now run by her sister. As transportation secretary, Chao’s work concerned all matters related to domestic and international transportation, including the world of international shipping her family members’ businesses occupied.
The investigation exonerated Chao, but concerns are still circulating about her use of public resources to aid her family. Though investigators did not find evidence that Chao explicitly violated any ethical codes, she was found to have used her office to handle affairs related to the shipping business on numerous occasions. One notable series of violations took place in November 2017 during her official trip to China, during which Chao planned several events at establishments that her family’s business had supported in the past. Chao also repeatedly asked staff members to perform errands for the shipping business as well as her father’s wider professional life, including advertising his biography and editing his Wikipedia page.
Chao resigned from her position as transportation secretary on Jan. 7, 2021, the day after the insurrection at the Capitol and a matter of weeks before her term was set to expire at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. According to The New York Times, an aide to Chao commented at the time that her departure had nothing to do with the investigation.
In response to the inspector general’s findings, Chao released a memo explaining the importance of familial relationships in Chinese culture. The memo cited “filial piety” as a defense, stating that her actions came from a place of love and respect for her parents rather than “self-promotion and self-aggrandizement.”