The AP has guesses on who's in the running.

There's also been flak about there being a lot of people from the Clinton administration, where else is he going to find experienced Democrats? Some people don't think this is mandate for change either, but really, isn't that up to Obama as opposed to individual heads? and changing the economy back to that of the Clinton era sounds quite good right now.

Thank you, brandonb, for voicing my eyeroll at the complaint about "Clintonites." Yes all the experienced people worked for the Clintons. That's where they got their experience. It's either that are all-Chicago all the time for about the longest running Democratic administration around, and um, he's tapping that source pretty well too. (Penny Pritzker --shudders--)

The flak is more more deserved when you factor in that the groundwork for some of the problems we have now was laid back in the Clinton administration. Obama wasn't elected on a platform of bringing back the good ol' days. Many Democrats and moderates flocked to him who feel a bit burned by Clinton's approach to certain issues and disillusioned with the Democrats as a party. I'm one of those people. I realize many of the experienced Democrats available would've been serving under Clinton, but I hope to see Obama draw from outside that pool as well.

Also:
Penny Pritzker has withdrawn herself from consideration for Commerce Secretary.
The offer to Daschle for Health and Human Services seems to have been confirmed.

Slight change, Pritzker has declined the Commerce post. No real reason given, but on a total hunch, I'm guessing she would be more comfortable playing outside the lines as opposed having deal with government rules.

Antiwar groups fear Barack Obama may create hawkish Cabinet: Activists note that most of the candidates for top security posts voted for the 2002 resolution authorizing President Bush to invade Iraq or otherwise supported launching the war.

Clinton has given info to Obama team, now just waiting.

More background info on Janet Napolitano, the supposed pick for Secretary of Homeland Security. Trivia note: Napolitano represented Anita Hill when she testified in the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and helped investigate Michael Fortier in connection with the '95 Oklahoma bombings.

John Brennan is said to be on the short list of CIA Director and some liberals are not pleased at all, due to his ties to former CIA directo George Tennet.

It does seem like a very odd choice considering his past history (mentioned in the link), but he's been advising Obama for a while now.

Word is that Obama will formally offer Clinton the Secretary of State job after Thanksgiving. And that she'll accept it.

Richardson at Commerce, Geithner at Treasury, according to NPR today

Clinton's in, eh?

Plus ça change...

The market likes Geithner.

Some days, when reading the news, I think the market is not a group activity of people buying and selling stocks, but a mystical metabeing in its own right. It gets nervous, it gets happy, it likes some people and dislikes others. It reacts not just to world events, but also the anticipation of world events. I wonder if it likes chocolate.

Oh yeah, just a reminder that none of this is official yet, 'cept for Biden & Emanuel.

Yeah, even assuming the people whose names are leaked and confirmed to be top picks are actually offered the jobs, they could still turn them down or not make it through confirmation. Although apparently it's rare for a nominee to not make it through confirmation since they're vetted beforehand.

Interesting to read this TIME article from the early news of Bush's appointments right before his first inauguration.

Rep. Raul Grijalva is on the list for Interior Secretary.

Progressive complaints about Obama's appointments

Yadda, yadda, yadda. Like the article said, Obama has never been a progressive and he's clearly going to run things how he sees fit.

In other news, he's picked his communication team:

Robert Gibbs for Press Secretary, Ellen Moran for Communications Director and Dan Pfeiffer will be Deputy Communications Director

Rumour is that Robert Gates is going to stay on at Defense, at least for the first little while.

The theory is that international relations need less bipartisanship, and with Clinton at State, that leaves few other options.

Makes sense, Gates seems fine and considering the state of America's international affairs and oh, TWO wars, there's no realy incentive to give up on stability.

It's not a cabinet position per se, but FBI Directors serve 10 year terms and since current Director Robert Mueller was appointed in 2001 by President Bush, he'll be there until then at least.

It's common for people to submit their resume when a new administration takes over, but Mueller has signaled he has no intention of stepping down voluntarily and Obama doesn't seem interested in pushing the issue. I don't know if that means Mueller submitted a resume or not, but it doesn't matter if Obama isn't pushing for a change.

In other news about Defense/Intelligence, John Brennan has withdrawn from being considered for National Intelligence Director. Supposedly this is due to pressure from left leaning groups who object to perceived close ties with the previous administration.

I saw a story earlier, I thought on HuffPost, that suggested the offer to Clinton for Secretary of State was a rumor made up by the Clinton camp to pressure Obama to make a real offer. It didn't seem at all credible but it was pretty intriguing to think about. Now I can't find it.

It sounds like drama.

and if true, reflects horribly on Hillary and should Obama to keep her far, far away from anything that doesn't involve New York.

I would be very surprised if Obama allowed anyone to pressure him to make an offer for a Cabinet position.

President-elect Barack Obama named former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to head a new White House economic board that will propose ways to revive growth as the U.S. grapples with an “economic crisis of historic proportions.”

Jim Jones has been mentioned for National Security Advisor. He's an interesting character, seemed to have no love for Rumsfeld and thought Afghanistan was more important than Iraq.

Hillary for SoS is a done deal according to TPM, to be formally announced Monday. Evidently Bill had to jump through many hoops, a clear signal that Obama wants him on short leash and no surprises.

Susan Rice to be UN Ambassador and the position will be elevated to Cabinet-level rank.

Not a cabinet position, but Xavier Becerra is to be U.S. Trade Representative

Veterans Affairs: Retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki.

Or as the AP pointedly states: "Rumsfeld nemesis Shinseki to be named VA secretary"

Lots more about Shenseki here with a few thoughts on how Obama is courting the military establishment. Check out the comments for some well thought out counter opinions of him.

Yeah, I saw that. A real misapplication of one of my favorite words.

Energy: Steven Chu
Environment: Lisa Jackson
Health and Human Services: Tom Daschle

Also Daschle will head a new White House Office of Health Reform.

Also AP has a nice summary of nominations so far and the people thought to be under consideration for the remaining positions.

Chu as energy secretary would head a department with a $25 billion budget and 14,000 employees and more than 193,000 contract workers. Two-thirds of its budget involves activities related to nuclear weapons research and maintenance.

Hmm, that's not a lot left for green technology, unless they plan to push nuclear power more.

I think that's the DOE budget for FY2009 that they're referencing, which means it reflects the starting status of the organization Chu will lead. I assume an Obama DOE would propose a very different budget.

In other words, yeah it's not very green. Because I'm pretty sure that's the DOE under Bush, which isn't.

Interior: Ken Salazar, a Senator from Colorado
HUD: Shaun Donovan
Education: Arne Duncan

Tom Vilsack, former governor of Iowa gets the Agriculture spot.

Bill Richardson has decided to pull out of the Commerce Secretary spot due to a federal probe. Obama's vetters didn't find anything when they questioned Richardson.