From Castro’s perspective, being seen as a veep prospect could pay dividends in his work at HUD, usually a backwater for national media coverage. He is cautious about his talk of the future. But he can’t control what reporters write about him – including a recent piece in The Daily Beast that asserted, “Julian Castro is in VP training camp.”

Castro said his top goal at HUD is to implement Obama’s call to end veterans’ homelessness, and also to expand housing vouchers for victims of domestic abuse. But inevitably, he was asked about the future.

“We’ll see what happens in the years to come,” Castro told The Daily Beast’s Eleanor Clift and a handful of other reporters. “I’m trying to do a great job as HUD secretary. If you do a great job, that opens up opportunities, sometimes opportunities you don’t even see in the future.”

Clinton reportedly has long had her eye on Castro, and though they’ve met a couple of times, they don’t know each other well, Ms. Clift reports.