Transition: Shinseki’s return
Posted: Monday, December 08, 2008 9:28 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Obama yesterday named retired Gen. Eric Shinseki as his choice to be Veterans Affairs secretary. The AP notes that his "tenure as Army chief of staff from 1999 to 2003 was marked by constant tensions with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, which boiled over in 2003 when Shinseki testified to Congress that it might take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to control Iraq after the invasion. Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, belittled the estimate as 'wildly off the mark' and the general was marginalized and later retired from the Army. But Shinseki's words proved prophetic after President George W. Bush in early 2007 announced a 'surge' of additional troops to Iraq after miscalculating the numbers needed to stem sectarian violence."
Video: In an exclusive interview with NBC’s Tom Brokaw on “Meet the Press,” President-elect Barack Obama says he’s asked retired Army General Eric Shinseki to head up of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.The
New York Daily News' DeFrank writes that Shinseki's “appointment as veterans affairs secretary demonstrates that Barack Obama knows big-time change can be created without spending a penny. By restoring to grace a retired four-star general whose career was vaporized by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for daring to tell the truth, Obama has delivered a powerful symbolic statement that his government will indeed be different from the last."
Politico takes a look at liberal criticism of Obama's appointments so far. "Liberals are growing increasingly nervous – and some just flat-out angry – that President-elect Barack Obama seems to be stiffing them on Cabinet jobs and policy choices. Obama has reversed pledges to immediately repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and take on Big Oil. He’s hedged his call for a quick drawdown in Iraq. And he’s stocking his White House with anything but stalwarts of the left. Now some are shedding a reluctance to puncture the liberal euphoria at being rid of President George W. Bush to say, in effect, that the new boss looks like the old boss.”
“‘He has confirmed what our suspicions were by surrounding himself with a centrist to right cabinet. But we do hope that before it's all over we can get at least one authentic progressive appointment,’ said Tim Carpenter, national director of the Progressive Democrats of America.”
“OpenLeft blogger Chris Bowers went so far as to issue this plaintive plea: ‘Isn't there ever a point when we can get an actual Democratic administration?’ Even supporters make clear they’re on the lookout for backsliding. ‘There’s a concern that he keep his basic promises and people are going to watch him,’ said Roger Hickey, a co-founder of Campaign for America’s Future.’”
OUR OBAMA CABINET SPECULATION LIST:
President’s office/staff:
-- Chief of Staff: Rahm Emanuel NAMED(Deputies: Jim Messina NAMED, Mona Sutphen NAMED)
-- Senior Advisers: Valerie Jarrett NAMED, Peter Rouse NAMED, David Axelrod NAMED
-- Political Director: Patrick Gaspard NAMED
-- Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs: Phil Schiliro NAMED
-- White House Counsel: Greg Craig NAMED
-- Press Secretary: Robert Gibbs NAMED
-- Communications Director: Ellen Moran NAMED (Deputy: Dan Pfeiffer NAMED)
-- Director of Scheduling and Advance: Alyssa Mastromonaco NAMED
-- Staff Secretary: Lisa Brown NAMED
-- Cabinet Secretary: Chris Lu NAMED
-- Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary: Desirée Rogers NAMED
-- Director, White House Military Office: Louis Caldera NAMED
Vice President’s office:
-- Biden’s Chief of staff: Ron Klain NAMED
-- Counselor to the Vice President: Mike Donilon NAMED
-- Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President: Terrell McSweeny NAMED
-- Assistant to the Vice President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison: Evan Ryan NAMED
First Lady’s office:
-- Michelle Obama’s Chief of Staff: Jackie Norris NAMED (Deputy: Melissa Winter NAMED)
POTENTIAL CABINET MEMBERS:
-- Agriculture: Tom Vilsack (said he has not been contacted about the position), Tom Buis (Natl Farmers Union), Charlie Stenholm, Jim Leach, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Marshall Matz, John Boyd Jr. (pres, Natl Black Farmers Assn), Rep. John Salazar (CO)
-- Commerce: Bill Richardson NAMED, Penny Pritzker (reportedly turned down the position), Kathleen Sebelius, John Thompson (Symantec), Ron Kirk (former Dallas mayor), Scott Harris (Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis fndr)
-- Defense: Robert Gates NAMED, (Deputy: Richard Danzig / Michelle Flournoy No. 3), Chuck Hagel, Sam Nunn, Jack Reed, Colin Powell, John Hamre, Tim Roemer, Thomas Pickering, Anthony Zinni, Max Cleland, Michele Flounoy, Gen. James Jones
-- Education: Joel Klein (NYC), Linda Darling-Hammond, Kathleen Sebelius, Colin Powell, Jim Hunt, Arne Duncan, Inez Tenenbaum, Michael Bennett, George Miller, Gaston Caperton (fmr WV gov), Bambi Cardenas (pres, U TX-Pan Am, Susan Castillo (OR supt), Michael Cohen (pres, Achieve), Christopher Edley (dean, UC-Berkeley), Michael Johnston (dir, Mapleton Expeditionary Schl of the Arts), VA Gov. Tim Kaine, Michelle Rhee (DC), Sharon Robinson (pres, Assn of Colls for Tchr Ed), Andrew Rotherman/Jonahtan Schnur (fmr Clinton advisers), Diane Shust (dir, NEA govt rels), Paul Vallas (supt, New Orleans Recovery Schl Dist), Bob Wise (fmr WV gov), Ray Mabus (fmr MS gov), Graham Spainer (pres, Penn St.), John Deasy (supt, Prince George's Cnty schools), Ronnie Musgrove (fmr MS gov)
-- Energy: Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris, Kathleen Sebelius, Philip Sharp, Ed Rendell, Arnold Schwarzenegger (has said no), Al Gore, Jeff Bingaman, Jennifer Granholm, Steve Westly, Frederico Pena, Dan Reicher, Jason Grumet, Ray Mabus (fmr MS gov)
-- HHS: Tom Daschle CONFIRMED BY NBC NEWS, Howard Dean (reportedly ruled out), Eric Whitaker, John Kitzhaber, Kathleen Sebelius
-- Homeland Security: Janet Napolitano NAMED, Ray Kelly (NY), William Bratton (L.A.), Tim Roemer, James Lee Witt, Tom Kean Sr, Jane Harman, Artur Davis, Richard Clarke, Manny Diaz, Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Lee Hamilton (though he said he’s too old), Jamie Gorelick
-- HUD: Manny Diaz (Miami mayor), Shirley Franklin (Atlanta mayor), Saul Ramirez, Jim Clyburn (reportedly not interested)
-- Interior: Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), John Kitzhaber, Tony Knowles, Ken Salazar, Jamie Rappoport Clark, Gov. Brian Schweitzer (MT), Bill Richardson, Richard Moe (Natl Trust for Hist. Preserv.)
-- Justice (AG): Eric Holder NAMED, Janet Napolitano, Charles Ogletree, Deval Patrick, James Comey, Patrick Fitzgerald, Artur Davis, Tim Kaine, Jamie Gorelick (but was vice chair of Fannie), Ken Feinberg, Cass Sunstein, Kathleen Sullivan (Stanford Law prof, possible Solicitor General. Also possible SGs: Beth Brinkmann-DC Atty; Preeta Bansal-Skadden, Arps; Elena Kagan-Harvard law dean; Pamela Karlan-Stanford; Teresa Wynn Roseborough-MetLife litigation counsel)
-- Labor: Kathleen Sebelius, Andy Stern (SEIU) (said not interested), Jennifer Granholm, Richard Gephardt, George Miller, David Bonior (said he’s not interested, suggested: American Rights at Work Executive Director Mary Beth Maxwell), Rep. Xavier Becerra, Linda Chavez-Thompson, Antonio Villaraigosa
-- State: Hillary Clinton NAMED, Jim Steinberg (deputy) CONFIRMED BY NBC NEWS, John Kerry, Bill Richardson, Richard Lugar, Chuck Hagel, Richard Holbrooke, Chris Dodd, Thomas Pickering, Al Gore, Colin Kahl (CNAS fellow), Tom Daschle
-- Transportation: Ed Rendell, Jane Garvey, Mortimer Downey, Earl Blumenauer, Steve Heminger, James Oberstar, Peter DeFazio, Federico Pena, Jeanette Sadik-Khan, Tim Kaine, John Hickenlooper (Denver mayor), Ron Sims (King County (WA) Executive), Doug Foy (Fmr pres, Convservation Law Fndtn), Parris Glendening (Fmr Gov MD)
-- Treasury: Tim Geithner NAMED, Paul Volcker, Robert Rubin, Jon Corzine, Warren Buffett, Michael Bloomberg, Laura Tyson, Jamie Dimon (JP MorganChase), Jacob "Jack" Lew, Sheila Bair, Indira Nooyi, John Thain (Merrill Lynch)
-- Veterans Affairs: Eric Shinseki NAMED, Max Cleland, Tammy Duckworth, Chet Edwards, Arnold Fisher (fmr Fisher House Fndtn chair), James Peake, William Bratton, Anthony G. Brown (MD Lt Gov)
OTHER POSITIONS:
-- National Economic Council Director: Larry Summers NAMED
-- Council of Economic Advisers: Christina Romer (chair), NAMED, Dan Tarullo, Jacob "Jack" Lew, Jason Furman, Austan Goolsbee, Laura Tyson
-- Economic Recovery Advisory Board: Paul Volcker NAMED, Austan Goolsbee (staff director, chief economist) NAMED, Eric E. Schmidt (Google chairman, CEO)
-- Natl Sec Adviser: Gen. James L. Jones NAMED, (Deputy: Tom Donilon) , Jim Steinberg, Rand Beers, Susan Rice, Greg Craig
-- NSC: Dennis Ross, Greg Craig, Susan Rice, Tony Lake
-- OMB: Peter Orszag NAMED (Deputy: Rob Nabors NAMED), John Spratt Jr, Gene Sperling, Jason Furman
-- White House Domestic Policy Council Director: Melody Barnes NAMED(Domestic Policy Council Deputy Director: Heather A. Higginbottom NAMED)
-- CIA: Tony Lake, John Brennan (wrote a letter to Obama asking that his name be withdrawn), Chuck Hagel, Michael Hayden, Jami Miscik (fmr CIA dep dir for Intel)
-- DNI: Ret. Adm. Dennis Blair, Tony Lake, John Brennan, Tim Roemer, Rand Beers, Jane Harman, John Abizaid, Evan Bayh
-- FEMA: James Lee Witt
-- EPA: Howard Learner (Pres, Exec. Dir, Environmental Law and Policy Center), Ian Bowles (MA), RFK Jr, Kathleen Sebelius, Kathleen McGinty (former secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Env Protection), Mary Nichols (chair of California's Air Resources Board), Robert Sussman, Dan Esty, Lisa Jackson (NJ environ commission)
-- FBI: Robert Mueller (term expires 2011)
-- Fed Chair: Ben Bernanke (at least for first year)
-- FDA: Steven Nissen (Cleveland Clinic), Joshua Sharfstein (Baltimore health commissioner), Janet Woodcock (Big Pharma's choice), Susan Wood (GWU occupational and environmental health professor), Diana Zuckerman (president, National Research Center for Women & Families) Joint Chiefs: Michael Mullen (term ends in late 2009, can expect to be appointed for second term, per tradition)
-- Peace Corps: Chris Shays
-- UN Ambassador: Susan Rice NAMED, Caroline Kennedy, Ray Mabus (fmr MS gov)
-- USTR: Xavier Becerra, Cal Dooley (American Chemistry Council president), Daniel K. Tarullo (Georgetown University law professor), Lael Brainard (Brookings Institution vice president), Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty (fmr Clinton White House chief of staff)
-- Climate: Terry Tamminen (climate change, adviser to Schwarzenegger), Al Gore, Carol Browner (Audobon Society), Jonathan Lash (World Resources Inst), Kathleen McGinty, Janet Napolitano, Mary Nichols, Kathleen Sebelius
-- Auto Czar: Jennifer Granholm
-- Secretary of the Army: Mortimer Downey
-- Chief Technology Officer: Julius Genachowski, Shane Robison (HP), Edward Felten (Princeton)
-- FCC: Jonathan Adelstein (FCC commissioner), Antoinette Bush (Skadden), Karen Kornbluh (Obama’s former Senate policy director), Blair Levin (fmr chief of staff to then-FCC Commissioner Reid Hunt)
