Several people said Kathleen McGinty, former chairwoman of the Council on Environmental Quality, is a leading candidate to run the Environmental Protection Agency. Running the EPA isn’t a Cabinet-level job, but it is nevertheless a powerful position, particularly now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that EPA has the power to regulate greenhouse gases. Obama aides said that an Obama-led EPA would do just that if Congress failed to act. Mary Nichols, the chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, is another possibility.
Besides Daschle, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) is mentioned as a possible HHS secretary. The current chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean, also gets mentioned as a possibility.
There are reportedly several possibilities for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, including: Tim Roemer, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana and a member of the 9/11 Commission; Raymond Kelly, New York City police commissioner; and James Lee Witt, former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Housing and Urban Development candidates include Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and Jarrett, who is from Chicago.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), a former Energy secretary and United Nations ambassador, is mentioned as a possibility to take over the Interior Department. Richardson has apparently expressed interest in returning to Washington, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he wanted Richardson to be on an Obama Cabinet.
“There is no one more qualified, and I hope he is under consideration,” Reid told reporters on Wednesday.
Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), who wrote a book on the threat posed by global warming, is also in the running for Interior, sources said.
At the Labor Department, Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), the former House majority leader and longtime labor advocate, seems to be a natural fit. Gephardt is now a lobbyist, however.
Richardson also wants to be the secretary of the State Department. Other possibilities are Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), an earlier backer of Obama; Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and Susan Rice, a former Clinton State Department official and Obama adviser.
For Transportation secretary, Obama may tap Steve Heminger, who is the executive director on the San Francisco Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission. Frederico Pena, who served in the same role during the Clinton administration, also gets mentioned.
With a $700 billion rescue package on the table, the top job at Treasury may be the most closely watched Cabinet position of them all. Larry Summers, the Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, seems to be a leading candidate, although he could be hurt by his controversial tenure as Harvard president. Tim Geithner, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, is another popular pick, as is former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Michael Froman, a Harvard Law School classmate of Obama’s and former chief of staff to Robert Rubin when he was Treasury secretary, also has been mentioned.
At Veterans Affairs, former Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) is apparently under consideration, along with Iraq war veteran and former House Democratic candidate Tammy Duckworth, another Illinois native.
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