President-elect Barack Obama is likely to choose Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to be secretary of homeland security, top Obama advisers and several Democrats said Thursday as the shape of Obama's Cabinet begins to emerge.
The Obama advisers cautioned that no final decision has been made on putting Napolitano in charge of the Homeland Security department, the massive agency created by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But the advisers said she was by far the top contender.
Thus far, Obama has informally selected Washington lawyer Eric Holder as attorney general and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as health and human services secretary. The plans could be sidetracked by unexpected glitches in the final vetting process, officials note.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton seems more likely than ever to be Obama's secretary of state. Clinton is deciding whether to take that post as America's top diplomat, her associates said.
Among other Cabinet posts: senior Democrats say there is a strong possibility that Defense Secretary Robert Gates would stay temporarily and later give way to former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig. Even so, Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island also are said to be under consideration.
Democrats also say that several people remain in the running for Treasury secretary, including Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Lawrence Summers, former treasury secretary and one-time Harvard University president; and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.
Several news organizations reported Thursday that Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker, who was Obama's national campaign finance chairman, was his leading choice to become secretary of commerce. However, Pritzker issued a statement Thursday saying she is not a contender for the post.
Officials say Laura D'Andrea Tyson, the former chair of White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton, is in the running for the Commerce job.
The Obama advisers and Democrats discussed the Cabinet positions only on grounds of anonymity because of the private nature of the screening process.
Obama appears to be assembling a team that includes a mix of longtime aides, Washington insiders and a sprinkling of Democratic governors. Besides Napolitano, strong contenders for Cabinet posts include New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Sebelius and Napolitano, who once was Arizona's attorney general, were among the first governors to commit to Obama's candidacy. Richardson endorsed Obama after ending his own presidential bid, angering Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton.
As governor, Napolitano has fought to curb illegal immigration, but she has been skeptical that building a fence along the border will solve the problem. She once said, "You build a 50-foot wall, somebody will find a 51-foot ladder."
Last year, her state passed a law that requires all Arizona businesses to use the federal online database, E-Verify, to confirm that new hires have valid Social Security numbers and are eligible for employment. This has been a cornerstone of the Bush administration's immigration policy.
As governor she has overseen wildfires and severe flooding and worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, now part of the Homeland Security Department.
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Associated Press writers Eileen Sullivan, Jim Kuhnhenn and David Espo in Washington contributed to this story.
Excellent choice! A brilliant woman who will make a fine Homeland Security Secretary! Good pick! Now to find an equally good post for Bill Richardson.
Ya but at least Bill Richardson would deserve it. Napolitano represents an already dominant Italian presence in this country. Bill Richardson represents a small percentage with many more brilliant and equally qualified latin representatives in this country that will never get a change given the mafia that is now organized.
What on earth does her heritage have to do with anything. Its her qualifications that should be the only question.
Napolitano doesn't have the experience. Richardson does. The fact that he speaks Spanish would serve as an asset when dealing with central and south America.
Either one would be a good choice. I was sort of hoping that Obama would give Richardson the State Department first though. Still might if Bill Clinton doesn't pass vetting.
Oh how I wish Richardson would get SOS. He's brilliant. Clinton is a very BAD choice...I really don't want to have to see/hear from her more than we already do.
I'm not Obama (and I'm not sure I'd want to be with the mess he has to clean up after Bush), but I would have thought Hilliary would have been a better choice for Health and Human Services and then Richardson at State.
OOH, good point Donald. I was thinking Howard Dean for that position but Clinton would have been great for HHS instead of Daschel...I don't like the lobbyist wife thing one bit.
crutcharlotte,
Ya but at least Bill Richardson would deserve it. Napolitano represents an already dominant Italian presence in this country. Bill Richardson represents a small percentage with many more brilliant and equally qualified latin representatives in this country that will never get a change given the mafia that is now organized.
It never fails to amaze me the amount of bigoted people in this country. Maybe we should clone a race of blond hair, blue eyed boys to do ALL the jobs.........wait, that was tried before ........
An already dominant Italian presence in this country? Ah, yes. I look back fondly on our Italian presidents, Linchini, Reaghini, Trumanzi, Bushanitti, and, of course, Hooveratti. Great men all.
Really! I surely hope that there's an an important place in the Obama Administration for such talented men as Gov. Richardson. But I don't believe that his ethnicity either qualifies or disqualifies him at all. That said, I wholeheartedly agree with Obama's call for diversity in government, not because of any belief in quotas, per se, but because I believe that every American child needs to have role models and needs to believe that he or she could one day rise to a positional of political leadership in the United States.
I for one, would like to see this department eliminated. We already have the FBI and the CIA; one to police the country and one to watch our backs in the world, so what do we need another policing agency? I thought it was ridiculous when the Bush administration brought it into being and I feel that it is a waste of tax payers money to continue this agency.
DHS has been pointless and erronous since the day it was created. I concur.
I agree. Some way to shrink the government, Bush! While i think Janet will make an excellent Secretary, I would hope it'd be to oversee the eventual dissolvement of this department.
Isn't that McCain with a wig on? Good choice, she can't even keep their borders safe from illegal aliens!
And that became a state responsibility when?
Your ignorance of AZ politics is showing. Governor N is NOT McCain or anything like McCain.
Looks like the third term of the Clintons . Obama is gathering up all the old staffers and appointees . Is this the "change" ? Should have voted for Hillary and avoid the middleman.
Who would you prefer he defer to? The Carter administration? All five who are still alive? The fact remains new administrations usually take on people from old administrations. Just look at past Republican presidental appointments...(Cheney, Rumsfeld, Baker, GHWB) all holdovers from previous administrations.
"Old staffers and Appointees?" How does this fit with a Democratic Arizona Governor?
Damn Rush-neck dittoheads.
MRZK I'm not a Rush Ditto ! I never listen to him . But you are apparently blind or closed minded or both . Assumptions like that make you the the dittohead. Change was to be fresh faces and new policy haven't seen any yet. Check the LA Times articles his left anti war supporters are getting worried he's gone too far also, and they are probably not Repubs. We shall have to wait and see .
But but... Who is going to beat John McCain in the 2010 Arizona Senate race if she leaves!?
lol i guess you missed the final polls.. you do knwo at the end, every polling place put arizona in the "lean red" catagory and atleast one put it as a toss up.
Bill Clinton won Arizona at least once. Napolitano is one of the most popular governors in the country.
Janet Napolitano is an amazing woman and a great choice. And Barack Obama just did the nicest thing he ever could for Jon McCain. Which in my opinion, even as a rabid dem and obama supporter, is probably a good thing. I predict mccain will be useful to obama in the senate.
who is the heck is bill again ,,and were is NM ....oh yea,,the guy in OB'S back pocket
we shold get rid of all the law makers...thats the problem,,,just because they are lawers..no on eles can be the head of the country,,besides there doinbg a piss poor job...maybe bill gates would do better ....and all the states ppl..shold be fired too...they all are crooks and more
A little off topic, but listen to the comments of the people who put Obama in office:
http://www.howobamagotelected.com
LOLOLOLOLOL way off topic.. plus you can do the same poll with mccain supproters and it would come out the same I mean jesus.. no one denys that most of the sheeple are uninformed.
that was a partsian poll that was made simply to make the dems look bad
and here is what zogby had to say about his own poll
"I believe there was value in the poll we did," Zogby added. "I also believe it was not our finest hour. This slipped through the cracks. It came out critical only of Obama voters."
youc an keep quoting a one sided baised poll but it just makes you look foolish
It is what it is. Show me the McCain poll. As I have said many times; I was not a McCain supporter and didn't think Obama has enough experience. People voted AGAINST a candidate instead of FOR a candidate this election. The video is obviously one sided; just thought is was funny and close to accurate for many. I'm sure both ways. You can honestly say his condideration of Hillary has you excited? No way.
Ummm, I know this is off the mark......but if you put pictures of her and Janet reno at the borders.....no more terrorists...trust me!
LOL !! So wrong...but so funny...Actually, being originally from AZ I feel I can share this little known fact.....Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Janet Napolitano share the same nose. Yep- that is why they are never together in public.
Heck, throw Hillary in there and they will run for their lives. Yikes.
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