Lack of Latinos in Trump Cabinet draws ire for 'setback'

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- President-elect Donald Trump's decision not to appoint any Latinos to his Cabinet is drawing fierce criticism from Hispanics, who call it a major setback for the nation's largest minority group.

Trump announced former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue on Thursday as his choice to lead the Agriculture Department, ending hopes the last spot would go to a Latino nominee.

The lack of Latino appointments means no Hispanic will serve in a president's Cabinet for the first time in nearly three decades.

"I never thought I would see this day again," said Henry Cisneros, Housing secretary under President Bill Clinton. "There are multiple, multiple talented people, from heads of corporations to superintendents, he could have selected. There really is no excuse."

The nonpartisan National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials had started a public campaign to convince Trump to nominate former California lieutenant governor Abel Maldonado, a Republican, to the Agriculture post.

"This is a disaster and setback for the country," NALEO executive director Arturo Vargas said. "The next time a president convenes his Cabinet, there will be no Latino perspective."

The move also drew condemnation from the League of United Latin American Citizens, the nation's oldest Hispanic civil-rights organization.

"Trump has broken with the bipartisan precedent of past presidential administrations and has missed a major opportunity to shed the racial and ethnic divisiveness that were hallmarks of his presidential campaign," LULAC national executive director Brent Wilkes said.

Hilda Solis, who served as Labor secretary under President Barack Obama, said Trump's failure to select any Latino nominees is "more than an oversight."

"I don't think he forgot to appoint a Hispanic. That's unfortunate," Solis said.

Solis said having Hispanics in the Cabinet is important because they often step out of their department roles to offer different perspectives.

"I did that often," she said. "Especially on immigration and health care."

Newly elected Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., the nation's first Latina senator, called Trump's lack of Latino appointments, "beyond disappointing," especially after he ran "a divisive campaign that often demonized the Latino community."

But New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican and the nation's only Latina governor, brushed off the appointment complaints.

"The president-elect gets to choose whomever he wants to choose for his Cabinet," said Martinez, who openly clashed with Trump during the presidential campaign. "Even though I'm a female Hispanic, I have always said that the person who has the greatest merit and who is the best and brightest should hold those positions."