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U.S. President-Elect Picks Cabinet
Having celebrated his overwhelming victory in the elections, the next head of the White House has begun the selection of his cabinet. In the two and a half months until his inauguration, he has to assemble an experienced team that will carry out the numerous difficult tasks Barack Obama promised in his campaign. Kommersant’s Washington correspondent Dmitry Sidorov has the details.
The campaign materials have not been taken down, and America’s first African American president has begun forming his future administration. Although Obama and his vice president Joe Biden formally make all of the appointments personally, in practice, the 12-member Obama-Biden Transition Team is handling that task, overseen by Obama’s closest advisors, the people who helped him win election. They are former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta, Obama chief of staff in the Senate Pete Rouse and Obama’s personal advisor Valerie Jarrett.
The transition team that is already working on keeping Obama’s campaign promises is headquartered in an office in central Washington with an area of 40,000 sq. m. About 100 of the people close to the president-elect are being cleared for access to secret documents. Experts everywhere are discussing the candidates for the highest posts in the Obama administration.
Obama has offered the position of chief of staff to his close friend Illinois congressman Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel worked in the Clinton administration and is well acquainted with the inner workings of the White House. Democratic insiders say that Emanuel is not eager to take the position, however, since he is a serious contender for the post of speaker of the House of Representatives.
The secretary of the treasury will bear a heavy burden due to the world financial crisis. Larry Summers, who already held it during the Clinton presidency, is favored for that post, but there are other contenders. President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Timothy Geithner is another possibility. Obama plans to implement the bipartisanship he spoke of in national defense. They are saying in Washington that he may suggest that Defense Secretary Robert Gates stay on in the Democratic administration. Gates is not in favor of withdrawing from Iraq or of direct negotiations with Iran, as Obama is. If the Republican Pentagon chief is unwilling to adopt Democratic principles, the job may go to former defense secretary John Hamre or former secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig.
The choice of secretary of state depends on Gate’s choice. American media are reporting that, if Gates turns down Obama’s offer, the Republicans may get control over U.S. foreign policy. If that is the case, the transition team is ready to offer the post of secretary of state to Republican Senators Richard Lugar or Chuck Hagel. Otherwise, the job may go to former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who lost the battle for the White House to George W. Bush in 2004.
Obama himself is preparing to take office as well. In the two and a half months left before his inauguration, he will acquaint himself with the procedure for launching the strategic nuclear missiles. He began a course on foreign relations with the CIA yesterday, full of secret information necessary to run the country. Obama intends to observe ethics and stay out of the way of the current president. In particular, he will not participate in any official functions in the G20 summit on the world financial crisis in Washington on November 15. “There is only one president,” Obama advisor Gregory Craig stated, promising that Bush will be left unhindered to fulfill his duties. Obama will holds a number of informal meetings with foreign leaders “over lunch,” however.
Dmitry Sidorov
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 07, 2008
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Photo: AP
