Senate confirms Jovita Carranza, from Skokie, to be new SBA chief

Carranza is now the highest ranking Hispanic in the Trump administration.

SHARE Senate confirms Jovita Carranza, from Skokie, to be new SBA chief
Jovita Carranza

Jovita Carranza in 2016

AP Photos

WASHINGTON — The Senate Tuesday confirmed Jovita Carranza, from Skokie, to be the next chief of the Small Business Administration on an 88-5 vote.

With her confirmation to be the administrator of the Small Business Administration, Carranza becomes the highest-ranking Hispanic female in the Trump administration.

Both Illinois Senators, Democrats Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth voted to confirm her.

Before President Donald Trump tapped Carranza to run the SBA, she was the U.S. Treasurer.

Trump said in a tweet last year when he announced her nomination, “I am pleased to announce that Jovita Carranza will be nominated as the new @SBAgov Administrator. She will be replacing Linda McMahon, who has done an outstanding job. Jovita was a great Treasurer of the United States - and I look forward to her joining my Cabinet!”

During Trump’s presidential campaign, Carranza was a member of Trump’s National Hispanic Advisory Council.

As U. S. Treasurer, her signature was on all U.S. paper currency. She became Treasurer on April, 28, 2017.

Carranza was named by former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner to be on the Illinois Enterprise Zone Board in March 2015. In the George W. Bush administration, Carranza was the deputy administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration, serving from the end of 2006 through January 2009.

Before her first stint at the SBA, Carranza was an executive at the United Parcel Service. 

The Latest
A man was driving ‘at a high rate of speed’ in the 8900 block of South Ashland Avenue about 9:52 p.m. Saturday when he hit the side of an apartment building, police said.
A man was shot in an altercation in the 0-100 block of West 87th Street about 7:54 p.m. Sunday. He was in fair condition at Stroger Hospital, police said.
A two-vehicle crash occurred about 2:15 a.m. Sunday in the westbound lanes of Palatine Road near Wheeling Road, according to police. One person suffered serious injuries.
Chicago firefighters responding to reports of an apartment building fire Sunday at 6430 South Stony Island Ave. put the fire down by 8:51 p.m., officials said.