With just 74 days to go until the inauguration, everyone wants to know who President-elect Barack Obama will name for key roles in his administration.
Before his first press conference as president-elect, he said he would not be making any personnel announcements today. That didn’t stop one tenacious reporter from asking Obama if whether he thought it was best to name the secretary of state and the secretary of treasury sooner rather than later. His response: “When we have announcements about cabinet appointments, we will make them. I want to move with deliberate haste.”
Rumors are swirling, and for your here are some names that have been mentioned as possible contenders for key roles, as compiled by the Associated Press.
DEFENSE SECRETARY
Defense Secretary Robert Gates
Former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., critic of Iraq war, retiring from Senate
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., member of Senate Armed Services Committee.
TREASURY SECRETARY
Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker
Lawrence Summers, former treasury secretary and one-time Harvard University president.
SECRETARY OF STATE
Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., former U.N. ambassador and energy secretary
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., 2004 presidential nominee
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., former chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., critic of Iraq war, retiring from Senate.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano
Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., member of House Judiciary Committee
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, former assistant U.S. attorney for civil rights
ENERGY SECRETARY
Former Rep. Philip Sharp, D-Ind., president of Resources for the Future think tank
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
EPA ADMINISTRATOR
Lisa P. Jackson, chief of state for New Jersey’s Gov. Jon Corzine, former commissioner of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Mary Nichols, head of California Air Resources Board
Kathleeen McGinty, former secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
Howard Dean, chairman of Democratic National Committee, physician, former Vermont governor
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY
Jane Garvey, former head of Federal Aviation Administration
Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of House transportation committee
Mortimer Downey, former deputy transportation secretary.
INTERIOR SECRETARY
Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber
Former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., former executive director of Colorado Natural Resources Department
HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY
James Lee Witt, former FEMA director
Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton
Former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, chairman of 9/11 commission
Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., chairwoman of Homeland Security intelligence subcommittee
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER
James B. Steinberg, former deputy national security adviser
Susan Rice, former assistant secretary of state for African affairs
EDUCATION SECRETARY
Gen. Colin Powell, former secretary of state, former chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
Former North Carolina Gov. Jim HuntArne Duncan, chief executive officer of Chicago public schools
Inez Tenenbaum, former South Carolina schools superintendent
AGRICULTURE SECRETARY
Tom Buis, president of National Farmers Union
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack
Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., chairman of House Agriculture Committee.
OFFICE OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR
Rep. John Spratt Jr., D-S.C., chairman of House Budget Committee
Gene Sperling, economic aide to President Clinton
Jason Furman, Obama’s campaign economic policy director
Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.
HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY
Valerie Jarrett, Obama friend, chairman and CEO of Habitat Co.
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.
LABOR SECRETARY
Rep. George