Trump taps Conway, Chao to government posts in waning days of administration

President Trump on Tuesday tapped former aide Kellyanne Conway and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to government jobs in the final days of his administration.

The White House said in a press release that Conway will be appointed to the board of visitors of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and Chao, who is also married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), will be a member of the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Lynn Friess, the spouse of major Republican donor Foster Friess, will also be a member of the board of trustees at the Kennedy Center, and Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, is being appointed to the Library of Congress trust fund board.

The appointments were announced in a press release that included 26 appointments to government postings at places such as the National Cancer Advisory Board and Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board, among others.

The Tuesday announcement marked the second time in as many weeks that the White House announced government jobs for allies. The White House also released a number of other appointments last week that included the appointment of Pamella DeVos, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s sister-in-law, to the Kennedy Center board of trustees.

Conway is the most prominent figure on either list. She was Trump’s 2016 campaign manager and later served as a counselor to the president from the start of Trump’s administration until her August resignation.