The U.S. Senate confirmed Julian Castro as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday. With the 71-26 vote, the Senate made Castro one of the Obama Administration's highest-ranking Latinos.

Mexican-American Julian Castro is serving his third term as Mayor of San Antonio, Texas where he is popular with his constituents. Castro came to national attention when he gave the keynote speech during the 2012 Democratic Convention, and there is speculation his selection today might help him get noticed for a higher political nomination.

His twin brother, Congress member Joaquin Castro, sent a tweet -- "Congratulations to my brother, @juliancastro, our new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. https://1.usa.gov/1jqalCu"

'We welcome the confirmation of Julian Castro. He has been a great advocate for the Latino community thus far and we are confident he will do a great job working for the American people as Secretary of HUD,' Luis A. Torres, Director of Policy and Legislation for the League of United American Citizens, told Latin Post.

Torres added, 'We especially look forward to Secretary Castro's efforts to expand access to housing and his Administration's work to increase rates of homeownership in the Latino community. We are proud of President Obama's appointment of Mr. Castro and look forward to working with him.'

Castro will be the second Latino to lead the department, after Henry Cisneros, and joins two other Latinos in President Obama's cabinet — Thomas E. Perez, Secretary of Labor, and Maria Contreras-Sweet, head of the Small Business Administration.

A previous Latin Post story explored what Castro's confirmation as HUD secretary could mean for him politically.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is a federal agency that oversees and administers public housing, and subsidized housing programs.