Politics / Julian Castro Obama Picks San Antonio Mayor for Housing Secretary Julian Castro called possible future VP nominee By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff Posted May 17, 2014 2:32 PM CDT Copied In this Jan. 23, 2014, file photo, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro speaks about President Barack Obama's signature health care law at a conference in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) President Obama has chosen San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro as the next housing secretary, Democratic insiders tell the New York Times. Castro, who has been mayor since 2009, was the 2012 Democratic National Convention's keynote speaker, and he has been named as a possible future VP candidate, the Times notes. He would take part in a chain of Cabinet replacements following Kathleen Sebelius' departure as health secretary. Obama nominated Office of Management and Budget head Sylvia Mathews Burwell to replace Sebelius; current secretary of housing and urban development Shaun Donovan would replace Burwell, with Castro taking Donovan's position. The White House hasn't confirmed the Castro report. At 39, Castro is the youngest mayor of a major US city, CNN notes, per his website. (More Julian Castro stories.) Report an error