President-elect Barack Obama has picked New York City housing commissioner Shaun Donovan to be secretary of housing and urban development, a post that Obama said would play a lead role in his administration's efforts to stem the rising tide of foreclosures and rebuild the nation's efforts to expand homeownership.

Speaking yesterday during his weekly address, Obama also said that he had asked his economic team to develop a "bold plan" to dramatically increase the number of people who can stay in their homes despite being threatened with foreclosure.

Washington Post