President Barack Obama Friday will announce his plans to nominate San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
He will also announce his plan to nominate current HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan as director of the Office of Management and Budget, replacing Sylvia Mathews Burwell, whom he nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and oversee the rollout of the president's signature health care law.
A White House official said Obama will make the announcement Friday afternoon at a White House event where he'll be joined by Donovan and Castro.
Castro is currently in his third term as San Antonio mayor -- and the subject of much speculation that he's a possible candidate for the vice presidential slot in 2016.
Asked Friday whether Castro's nomination could be seen as a stepping stone to national office, Carney said Obama "believes that Mayor Castro is highly qualified to bring to scale his success while he was mayor of San Antonio to the federal level."
The White House says Castro worked to revitalize the city’s urban core through the East Side Promise Zone, by initiating the “Decade of Downtown,” and approving a series of incentives to encourage inner city investment.
Castro, an attorney, also served two terms on the San Antonio City Council. He was a key Hispanic surrogate for Obama's reelection campaign and delivered the keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., sharing the story of his grandmother coming from Mexico to build a life in the United States.
White House officials said Obama believes Castro is the right person to build on Donovan's work at HUD "based on his work in San Antonio."
Donovan has been at HUD since the beginning of the administration and a White House official said he, like Burwell "has a track record of using data to make good decisions and drive results."
White House officials said Donovan has become a trusted advisor to Obama and partner to other members of the Cabinet.