Transition: Putting the 's' in Republicans

Posted: Thursday, December 18, 2008 9:39 AM by Carrie Dann

Obama has made good on his pledge to add an "S" to the phrase "Republicans in his cabinet," as he'll name retiring GOP Rep. Ray LaHood Transportation secretary This is a post that Bush used to make his Cabinet bipartisan as well. LaHood joins Robert Gates as the second known Republican in Obama's cabinet.

Left to fill: Labor, "senior intelligence positions, or the Office of US Trade Representative. Representative Xavier Becerra (D-CA) ... had been penciled in as trade representative, but he announced on Tuesday he intends to remain in the House."

In subcabinet posts, "Knowledgeable officials said Dr. Gail Rosseau, a Chicago neurosurgeon, is among the final contenders to become surgeon general. These officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss the appointment."

The Hill points out: "LaHood does not sit on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Department and did not introduce any transportation bills in the 110th Congress. He did not run for reelection in November. LaHood, a centrist, is friends with incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel." 

The Obama transition team knows timing. With the Bernie Madoff scandal grabbing headlines and the S.E.C. taking hits for missing the warning signs, Obama is expected to name a new head of the S.E.C. "Word came late Wednesday that President-elect Barack Obama is expected today to name Mary L. Schapiro to succeed Christopher Cox as SEC chief. Schapiro is chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, an industry group that regulates brokerages. Cox, expressing concern that the agency missed numerous red flags about Madoff over the last decade, has asked the SEC's inspector general to conduct an investigation."

Indiana GOP Rep. Dan Burton has passed along the info he gathered when his committee investigated Eric Holder's role in the Marc Rich pardon. "The Republican lawmaker who investigated the controversial Rich pardon told The Washington Times that evidence documenting the 1999 contacts conflicts with Mr. Holder's testimony and that he has forwarded information he has on the subject to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will examine President-elect Barack Obama's choice for attorney general.”

“Mr. Holder ‘certainly had more than a passing familiarity with this case,’ said Rep. Dan Burton, Indiana Republican, who oversaw the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee when it investigated the Rich pardon in 2001. ‘I know human beings are fallible and they make mistakes, but making statements that are not accurate while under oath before a congressional  committee goes beyond the pale,’ he said. ‘Sure as the dickens, he was not straight with our committee.’”

Could Obama appoint an openly gay man as the Secretary of Navy? The Washington Times says so.

Pay-to-play or water under the bridge? The Hill looks at cabinet appointees and their campaign contributions.

CQ offers a history lesson on lame ducks and incoming leaders. "Obama’s refusal to assume responsibility for any action before becoming president is reminiscent of Roosevelt, who refused to join Hoover during his final days in office in calling for a bank holiday to halt withdrawals of gold and currency. But one day after taking the oath of office, Roosevelt put his intentions into action by issuing an unprecedented edict that halted withdrawals for four days."

By the way, does the New York Post get ALL of its news from Drudge? It puts TIME’s photo of Obama smoking a cigarette -- that also was leading Drudge most of the day yesterday -- under the headline, "Secret Obama photos."

OUR OBAMA CABINET SPECULATION LIST:
NAMED President’s office/staff:
-- Chief of Staff: Rahm Emanuel (Deputies: Jim Messina, Mona Sutphen)
-- Senior Advisers: Valerie Jarrett, Peter Rouse, David Axelrod
-- Political Director: Patrick Gaspard
-- Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs: Phil Schiliro
-- White House Counsel: Greg Craig
-- Press Secretary: Robert Gibbs
-- Communications Director: Ellen Moran (Deputy: Dan Pfeiffer)
-- Director of Scheduling and Advance: Alyssa Mastromonaco
-- Staff Secretary: Lisa Brown
-- Cabinet Secretary: Chris Lu
-- Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary: Desirée Rogers
-- Director, White House Military Office: Louis Caldera

NAMED Vice President’s office/staff:
-- Biden’s Chief of staff: Ron Klain
-- Counselor to the Vice President: Mike Donilon
-- Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President: Terrell McSweeny
-- Assistant to the Vice President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison: Evan Ryan
-- Communications Director: Jay Carney
 
NAMED First Lady’s office/staff:
-- Michelle Obama’s Chief of Staff: Jackie Norris (Deputy: Melissa Winter)
 
NAMED CABINET MEMBERS:
-- Agriculture: Tom Vilsack
-- Commerce: Bill Richardson
-- Defense: Robert Gates
-- Education: Arne Duncan (Chicago public schools superintendent)
-- Energy: Steven Chu
-- HHS: Tom Daschle
-- HUD: Shaun Donovan (NYC housing commissioner)
-- Interior: Sen. Ken Salazar
-- Homeland Security: Janet Napolitano
-- Justice (AG): Eric Holder
-- State: Hillary Clinton (Jim Steinberg-deputy CONFIRMED BY NBC NEWS)
-- Treasury: Tim Geithner
-- Veterans Affairs: Eric Shinse

POTENTIAL CABINET MEMBERS:
-- Labor: Kathleen Sebelius (asked that her name be removed from consideration from any post), 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
-- Transportation: Fmr Republican Rep. Ray LaHood (known by some as Obama’s favorite Republican), CONFIRMED BY NEWS

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)
-- NSC: Dennis Ross, Tony Lake
-- OMB: Peter Orszag NAMED (Deputy: Rob Nabors NAMED)
-- White House Domestic Policy Council Director: Melody Barnes NAMED (Domestic Policy Council Deputy Director: Heather A. Higginbottom NAMED)
-- UN Ambassador: Susan Rice NAMED
-- EPA: Lisa Jackson (NJ environ commission) CONFIRMED BY NBC NEWS
-- Energy "Czar" reporting to the president: Carol Browner CONFIRMED BY NBC NEWS
-- 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
-- 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
-- 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)
-- 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)

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