WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is nominating Gayle Manchin, the wife of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, to be the co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission.
The commission is an economic development partnership involving the federal government and 13 states.
Gayle Manchin has held multiple government positions linked to education in a state where her husband is a political force.
A former teacher, she was on the West Virginia Board of Education from 2007 to 2015 and served a two-year term as its president.
Manchin was also the state’s secretary of education and the arts in 2017 and 2018, but was removed from the post by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice after releasing a statement critical of a bill to dismantle the department.
