Two Republicans in the cabinet, as we both predicted...
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Obama announcing labor, transportation picks Fri.
President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet is nearly complete as he prepares to leave Saturday on a holiday vacation in his native Hawaii.
By PHILIP ELLIOTT
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO —
President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet is nearly complete as he prepares to leave Saturday on a holiday vacation in his native Hawaii.
Obama was planning to officially announce California Rep. Hilda Solis as labor secretary, former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk for U.S. trade representative, and Republican Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois as transportation secretary at a news conference Friday afternoon.
He also was planning to disclose his selection of Karen Mills of Brunswick, Maine, to head the Small Business Administration. Mills' selection was confirmed by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in a statement Friday morning.
Mills is a venture capitalist and a founding partner of the New York-based equity firm Solera Capital. She has been an adviser to Maine Gov. John Baldacci on economic matters.
Obama has yet to name his picks for senior intelligence positions; those announcements aren't expected until he returns from his holiday break.
Several Democratic officials with knowledge of the deliberations said Friday that Dennis Blair, a retired admiral and the former head of U.S. Pacific Command, is likely - if not certain - to become director of national intelligence.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk openly about nominations Obama has not yet disclosed publicly.
Obama also has a host of sub-Cabinet selections to make. For instance, Oregon State University professor Jane Lubchenco, a marine biologist and a top expert on overfishing and climate change, is a leading contender to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to colleagues at the school.
Solis, the daughter of Mexican and Nicaraguan immigrants, has focused on immigration and environment issues while in the House. Kirk, a partner in the Dallas office of the Houston-based powerhouse law and lobbying firm Vinson & Elkins, was the first black elected Dallas mayor.
LaHood, who is leaving the House after 14 years, would be the second Republican in Democrat Obama's Cabinet. The other is President George W. Bush's defense secretary, Robert Gates, who has been asked to stay on at the Pentagon.
Obama has met with reporters each day this week to announce major appointments.
On Monday, Obama filled out much of his energy team, naming Nobel-prize winning physicist Steven Chu as energy secretary and former New Jersey environmental chief Lisa Jackson at the Environmental Protection Agency. He also tapped Nancy Sutley, a deputy Los Angeles mayor, as chair of the White House Council on Environment Quality and former EPA chief Carol Browner to lead a White House council on energy and climate.
Obama named Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan on Tuesday to lead the education department. And Wednesday, he tapped former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as agriculture secretary and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar to head the Interior Department.
Thursday, he named three veteran regulators to help reform the nation's financial institutions - Mary Schapiro as chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler as head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Daniel Tarullo as a member of the Federal Reserve. |
