Kenya The New York Times world3 Jun 2019For the Chao family, deep ties to the world's 2 largest economiesThe family of Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary and wife of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. and the Senate majority leader, has high-level political connections not only in the United States but also in China. That gives the family unusual status in the world’s two largest economies.