cabinet

The confirmation hearings for Transportation Secretary-designate Ray LaHood, set to begin today, may have gotten a bit more complicated this morning. The Washington Post reports that as an Illinois GOP congressman, LaHood was a big fan of earmarks — often to the benefit of some of his largest campaign contributors. LaHood retired from the House [...]

The successors to the two remaining Senate seats that opened up when President-elect Barack Obama tapped their current occupants for cabinet positions — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s seat in New York and that of Sen. Ken Salazar in Colorado — could be named shortly, according to news reports.

In his fifth press conference in as many days this week, President-elect Obama completed his cabinet appointments, tapping Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) as secretary of labor and Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) as secretary of transportation. He also named former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk as the U.S. trade representative, a cabinet-level post, and selected Karen Mills [...]

Are we making up for our DOT pick?
President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Rep. Hilda Solis to head the Dept. of Labor, according to reports. The California Democrat has a long record supporting workers in general and unions in particular. Before she arrived in Washington, for example, she led the successful charge to raise California’s minimum [...]

So say unnamed GOP sources on Capitol Hill, according to numerous reports. Jonathan Weisman at The Wall Street Journal has a good wrap-up of why the decision, if it’s final, is unexpected:

CNN and The Huffington Post are reporting that President-elect Barack Obama is close to settling on Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu as his pick for energy secretary.

And just like that, as if to reassure those on “the Left” that he’s still tuned in to their concerns, comes this report, from First Read:

Atrios, utilizing his trademark, uh, panache, offers a very well-reasoned response to the small but vocal segment of “the Left” who are angry about President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet choices so far:

Citing two unnamed Democratic officials, The Huffington Post reports that President-elect Barack Obama has offered Sen. Hillary Clinton the post of secretary of state. Stay tuned for updates.

PHOENIX — Popular Arizona Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano is being mentioned as a potential top member of the Obama administration. Some say the former U.S. attorney would make a ‘great’ attorney general.