Reuters AlertNet Lite - FACTBOX-Obama's Cabinet takes shape

Reuters AlertNet Full site

NEWSDESK

FACTBOX-Obama's Cabinet takes shape

19 Dec 2008 20:44:20 GMT
Source: Reuters

Dec 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has picked his labor secretary and U.S. trade representative, filling two of the remaining top jobs in his administration before he takes office on Jan. 20.

Here are people Obama has chosen for key posts. Many remain subject to vetting and Senate confirmation.

SECRETARY OF STATE

* New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama's former Democratic Party rival for the White House, was named to the top diplomatic post. The move is seen as part of Obama's effort to rebuild the United States' reputation abroad. Aides have said Obama admires Clinton's work ethic and also believes the former first lady's star power would boost his vision of improving America's global standing.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

* Current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, named by President George W. Bush in late 2006, is considered a moderate voice on the Republican's national security team and embodies an important signal of continuity. Obama had said early on he would include Republicans in his Cabinet and the 65-year-old Gates has been lauded by members of both parties since taking over the Pentagon from Donald Rumsfeld.

TREASURY SECRETARY

* Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, is Obama's choice for the Treasury Department, making him Obama's point person in dealing with the economic crisis. Geithner has helped lead efforts to stabilize financial markets and argued that banks crucial to the global financial system should operate under a unified regulatory framework.

HOMELAND SECURITY

* Janet Napolitano, the Democratic governor of Arizona, was named to head the U.S. Homeland Security Department, a sprawling agency formed to bolster civil defense following the Sept. 11 attacks.

NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL

* Lawrence Summers, 53, has been chosen to head the council. He was treasury secretary for the final 1-1/2 years of the Clinton administration and has been a senior adviser to Obama for several months, helping to guide his response to the financial meltdown.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

* Retired Marine Gen. James Jones, the former top operational commander of NATO, was named by Obama to be his national security adviser. Jones is widely respected by both Democrats and Republicans and has avoided aligning himself with either party but is known to have been a strong critic of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

* Eric Holder, a former Justice Department official in the Clinton administration, will run the Justice Department. Holder has been a senior legal adviser to Obama's campaign and helped vet his vice presidential candidates.

SECRETARY OF ENERGY

* Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics, is Obama's choice for secretary of energy. Chu was an early advocate for finding scientific solutions to climate change and guided the Lawrence Berkeley laboratory to become the world leader in alternative and renewable energy research.

SECRETARY OF INTERIOR

* Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado, who once practiced as an environmental lawyer, was named to head the Interior Department. The son of Americans of Mexican descent, he is one of two Hispanic people named to Obama's Cabinet. He will be a key member of Obama's energy team who would oversee the leasing of federal lands for oil and gas drilling.

COMMERCE SECRETARY

* New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, 61, a former U.N. ambassador and energy secretary during the Clinton administration, had been an early supporter of Obama after dropping his own presidential ambitions. Richardson is of Hispanic origin.

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT COORDINATOR

* Carol Browner, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration, was named to a new position coordinating White House policy on energy, climate and environmental issues. The new position was expected to spearhead climate change policy.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

* Tom Daschle, a key early supporter and savvy former U.S. Senate leader, was selected by Obama as secretary of health and human services. The high-profile selection signals that the push to extend health coverage to the 46 million uninsured Americans will be a high priority for Obama.

SECRETARY OF EDUCATION

* Arne Duncan, head of the Chicago public school system, is Obama's pick for secretary of education. Duncan, a fellow Harvard graduate and longtime friend of Obama's, has earned a strong reputation at the helm of the country's third-largest public school district, tackling problems including teacher quality and failing schools.

SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE

* Tom Vilsack, a former governor from the major U.S. farm state Iowa, is Obama's choice to be agriculture secretary. Vilsack backs tighter farm subsidy rules and new-generation biofuels. One of his major issues as governor was bringing more high-tech agribusiness to Iowa.

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION

* Rep. Ray LaHood, a Republican, has been offered the job of transportation secretary, a senior Democrat told Reuters. LaHood hails from Obama's home state of Illinois and is said to have a rapport with the president-elect.

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

* Mary Schapiro, a veteran financial market regulator, is Obama's pick to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Schapiro currently leads the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the largest nongovernmental regulator for all securities firms doing business with the U.S. public. She is a former SEC commissioner and former chairwoman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

SECRETARY OF LABOR

* California Democratic Rep. Hilda Solis, 51, has been chosen to lead the Labor Department. Solis, who represents a Southern California district made up largely of Hispanic and Asian voters, is among the most liberal members of the U.S. House of Representatives and has taken a lead on both environmental and labor issues.

U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

* Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk has been selected to be U.S. trade representative. Kirk, a partner at the Houston-based law firm of Vinson and Elkins, is little known in Washington trade circles and became Obama's pick after his first choice, Rep. Xavier Becerra, a California Democrat and member of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, turned down the job.

DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

* Retired Navy Adm. Dennis Blair is Obama's choice to be the top U.S. intelligence official. As director of national intelligence, Blair would oversee the entire U.S. intelligence apparatus and be responsible for delivering Obama's daily intelligence briefing. His nomination would keep an experienced military leader in the post. Blair is a four-star admiral and former top U.S. military commander in the Pacific region.

(Reporting by Deborah Charles, Caren Bohan, Andrew Quinn, Jeff Mason and JoAnne Allen; Editing by Bill Trott)

AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article Send comments

NGO latest

• Year ahead: Increased forced migrations, continued lack of quality food, and water shortages, warns NGO
CWS

• UMCOR Hotline for December 16, 2008
UMCOR - USA

• 2008 Year in Pictures
Children Intl - USA

• ADRA Achieves Charity Navigator's Top Honor for Fourth Consecutive Year
ADRA - International

• NEW LAW TO KEEP U.S. TAX DOLLARS FROM FUNDING USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS ABROAD
WV - USA

MORE >>

Latest news

• FACTBOX-Obama's Cabinet takes shape

• Iraq minister dismisses coup plot, blames politics

• US orders combat aviation troops to Afghanistan

• US intends to open diplomatic post in Crimea

• Czech deputies reject extension of Afghan force

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by