CQ Politics | The Transition 2008

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Demographic changes and strong turnout for Barack Obama gave Democrats the edge in Florida's 8th Congressional District last year, when voters ousted four-term incumbent Ric Keller and elected lawyer Alan Grayson (right), 52 percent to 48 percent.

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Obama Cabinet Watch

The candidates for cabinet-level positions announced so far:

AgricultureThe secretary of Agriculture has a broad portfolio over the nation's farm and food programs, including crop subsidy, disaster relief and land conservation programs. He or she oversees the inspection and grading services for animals, meats, and grains, and other plants and directs food marketing and crop and safety research. The Forest Service, rural development and credit programs, and various nutrition aid programs including food stamps, school lunches, and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) are also in this department.
Tom VilsackVilsack, a Democrat, is closely allied with fellow Iowan Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate committee that will hold confirmation hearings for the next secretary. Vilsack is a strong supporter of ethanol as an energy source and of legislation to combat global warming, and he generally gets good grades from environmentalists. Vilsack is an attorney with the firm Dorsey & Whitney and is a resident fall fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
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Attorney GeneralThe nation's top lawyer oversees the Department of Justice, represents the United States in legal matters and gives legal advice to the executive branch. Among other things, the attorney general oversees the FBI, the department's principal investigative arm; the Drug Enforcement Administration, which investigates drug trafficking; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the federal prison system; and programs to assist local law enforcement agencies.
Eric H. Holder Jr.Holder went to work at the Justice Department straight out of Columbia Law School in 1976, prosecuting public corruption cases. Ronald Reagan made him a trial court judge in Washington in 1988. Bill Clinton made him the capital city's top federal prosecutor in 1993, and from 1997 until the end of the Clinton administration Holder was deputy attorney general, the No. 2 job at the Justice Department.
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CommerceThe Commerce secretary is the administration's chief economic development officer, promoting economic growth and technological advancement. The department runs programs and agencies that regulate sensitive exports, prevent unfair trade competition, promote economic development and assist minority businesses, among other things.
DefenseUnder the unusual system of civilian control of the U.S. military, the person with the best office in the Pentagon's "E Ring" is No. 2 in the chain of command and is the principal military policy adviser to the president. Under the orders of the commander in chief, the secretary can call all the shots he wants at the Defense Department, which includes the separately organized military departments of Army, Navy, and Air Force; the Joint Chiefs of Staff providing military advice; the combatant commands; and all defense agencies and field activities.
Robert GatesKnown for his sharp skills winning political ways, Gates also offers the benefit of continuity in wartime. For Obama, Gates would send a signal of bipartisanship at a time when the "global war on terrorism" has become increasingly charged with politics — just as former GOP Sen. William S. Cohen of Maine was picked by Democrat Bill Clinton in his second term to run the Pentagon and smooth frayed relations with Capitol Hill.
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EducationWhile schools are run at the state and local level, the Education Department establishes national policy to ensure equal access to education and promote excellence. In recent years, the department's emphasis has been on implementing the controversial "No Child Left Behind" law, which relies heavily on testing data to measure the effectiveness of schools.
Arne DuncanA friend, adviser and basketball-playing buddy of Obama's, Duncan has been a supporter of charter schools — a traditionally Republican position that could make his Senate confirmation a breeze. He has made "some steady progress, not huge progress" improving Chicago's schools since he was appointed leader of the system seven years ago, says Michael Petrilli, a vice president at the Fordham Foundation, a conservative education think tank.
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EnergyEnergy policy is at a crossroads, considering the major strategic and economic decisions ahead for the next Congress and administration. The Energy secretary drives those decisions, and is also in charge of planning and administering energy research and development programs. The department also directs efforts to safeguard the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, and it operates the civilian nuclear waste repository and the four regional power administrations.
Steven ChuCo-winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize, Chu is director of the Energy Department's prestigious Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Chu's background is in atomic particle physics, which gives him the expertise to oversee the nation's nuclear weapons and nuclear science programs. Chu's focus in recent years has been the study of climate science and renewable and alternative energy research, which also positions him to lead the department in implementing Obama's sweeping and ambitious energy and climate change proposals.
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EPAThe head of the EPA is responsible for enforcing the nation's environmental laws through research, oversight and regulatory actions. The agency and its 17,000 employees in 10 regions across the country direct the promulgation of air quality and emission standards and develop water pollution control and water supply rules. It issues standards and regulations for hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal and regulates the use of pesticides and industrial chemicals
Lisa JacksonLisa P. Jackson would be the first African-American to lead the agency. Jackson has worked in environmental policy for two decades, most recently as the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection in New Jersey, a state known for its plethora of toxic waste sites. She would bring to the job 16 years of experience at EPA itself, in programs such as those handling enforcement cases and Superfund hazardous waste sites. She has a master's degree in chemical engineering from Princeton.
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HHSAs the administration's top social services official, the HHS Secretary oversees Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly and disabled; Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor; and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Also in the secretary's purview are the Food and Drug Administration; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; the Indian Health Service; and the National Institutes of Health.
Tom DaschleDaschle, the Senate's Democratic floor leader from 1997 until his 2004 defeat for re-election in South Dakota, has had a long-held interest in health care. He recently wrote "Critical: What We Can Do about the Health Care Crisis," which laid out his rationale for overhauling the national health system and his ideas for doing so. If confirmed, Daschle is not expected to be immersed in every detail of running the agency but instead is expected to draw on his well-honed expertise in setting policy direction to help build consensus on how to improve the nation's health care system.
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HomelandThis sprawling, $40 billion department includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which responds to natural and man-made disasters; the Transportation Security Administration, which ensures safety at airports, ports and railroads; the Secret Service, which protects top officials and investigates counterfeiting; the Coast Guard; and several agencies that oversee all border and immigration policies and programs.
Janet NapolitanoNapolitano offers bipartisan appeal, executive experience and an expertise in border security. (Arizona is the state with the second-longest border with Mexico, after Texas.) Centrist policies earned her popularity at home, and she gained national prominence with a leading role in the immigration debate. Under her watch, Arizona was the first state to develop its own homeland security strategy, in 2003. She was the state's chief federal prosecutor and attorney general before becoming governor.
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HUDThe department makes housing and community development policies and administers programs that insure mortgages; provides federal housing subsidies for poor families; delivers community development grants to cities and states; and enforces fair housing and equal housing opportunity laws.
Shaun DonovanDonovan has built a career on promoting federally assisted affordable housing programs. Since 2004, he has been running New York City's ambitious affordable housing development effort. He also has a strong background in the federal housing finance programs that are gaining importance at a time when the broader U.S. economy hinges on the health of the housing market. Donovan, 42, earned Master's degrees in architecture and public administration from Harvard University.
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InteriorBeyond overseeing the National Park Service, the Interior secretary directs the Fish and Wildlife Service; the U.S. Geological Survey and Minerals Management Service; the Bureau of Land Management; the Bureau of Reclamation, the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second-largest hydroelectric power producer; and the tribal social services of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Ken SalazarSalazar has spent his career working on public lands issues that are of high importance in his home state. He has worked as a lawyer specializing in water and resources issues, and he has led Colorado's Department of Natural Resources. He opposed Bush's efforts to begin a leasing program for oil shale in the Rocky Mountains, saying the technology for this type of oil production isn't ready yet.
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LaborThe Labor secretary's job, in short, is to bridge the gap between managers and workers. The secretary enforces wage, hour, workplace safety and anti-discrimination statutes; administers unemployment insurance and job training programs; regulates workplace pension, health and other benefits; and oversees the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Hilda L. SolisSolis, a California congresswoman first elected in 2000, is the daughter of a factory worker who organized immigrant colleagues for the Teamsters Union and pressed for better health benefits. She served on the House Education and Labor Committee early in her congressional career. Before she was elected to Congress, Solis served in the California legislature, first as a member of the state Assembly in 1992 then two years later as the first Hispanic woman elected to the California Senate.
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OMBThe budget director oversees the preparation of the president's annual budget and the formulation of fiscal policies, then supervises the administration of the budget. The department coordinates input from the other departments in order to issue presidential statements about proposed legislation. OMB also oversees the promulgation of new federal rules and evaluates their costs and benefits.
Peter R. OrszagA month after his 38th birthday, Orszag took over CBO in January 2007 after stints at the Brookings Institution and at the Clinton administration's National Economic Council and as senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers. Almost two years later he remains well respected by both parties as a serious economist who has ramped up the CBO's understanding of rising health care costs.
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StateThe nation's chief diplomat supervises the formulation and execution of foreign policy and the activities of the government abroad. The secretary negotiates treaties and agreements with foreign nations, and he or she speaks for the United States in the United Nations and other international organizations. The secretary of state also oversees the Foreign Service, the global diplomatic corps that provides much of the raw material from which foreign policy is made.
Hillary ClintonClinton is arguably the most widely recognized American woman in the world. Traveling with President Bill Clinton and as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee the past five years, she has visited more than 80 countries and built personal relations with dozens of foreign leaders. She also holds progressive views on energy and global warming issues. But Clinton's strong pro-Israeli credentials could complicate any U.S. efforts to resolve the Middle East conflict and tensions with Iran. Moreover, her ability to negotiate international agreements is untested and will depend on the perception of her closeness with Obama.
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TransportationThe Transportation Department oversees the Federal Aviation Administration; the Federal Highway Administration, which regulates road safety and delivers construction aid to states and cities; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates car safety; the Federal Transit Administration, which regulates and delivers aid for mass transit; the Maritime Administration; the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration; and the Federal Railroad Administration.
Ray LaHoodLaHood, a centrist Republican congressman from Illinois, has not been deeply involved in transportation issues, but was chosen for his ability to work across the aisle. In Congress, he has often played the role of conciliator, working to narrow the differences between the parties and between factions in his own party. For years, he organized bipartisan 'civility' retreats to try to create personal bonds between members of the often warring parties. He did, however, serve on the House Transportation committee in the 1990s.
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TreasuryThe importance of the Treasury secretary's role was on display in full force this year, as Henry M. Paulson Jr. dealt with the financial meltdown precipitated by the mortgage crisis and worked with Congress on a bailout. The Treasury secretary is also the nation's chief financial officer, formulating domestic and international financial, economic and tax policy. Treasury also borrows money to pay the government's bills, oversees the regulation of national banks and savings institutions, directs the design and manufacture of currency and runs the Internal Revenue Service.
Timothy F. GeithnerAfter Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson, no government official has been as deeply involved in the government's response to the credit crunch as Geithner, who has run the Fed's operations in New York for the past five years and serves as vice chairman of the committee that sets interest rates. Geithner also has deep background at the Treasury: He was undersecretary for international affairs during the final two years of the Clinton administration, then worked at the International Monetary Fund.
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USTRThe only person of Cabinet rank who also gets to use the title of ambassador is the official who represents the president in trade negotiations and represents the government before the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, and other multilateral trade institutions. He or she also oversees enforcement of U.S. rights under international trade agreements.
Ron KirkFormer Dallas mayor Ron Kirk is a pro-business Democrat with deep Texas roots. Beyond support for the 2000 law normalizing trade relations with China, Kirk's broader views on trade policy are relatively unknown, even to trade observers. But it appears that Kirk would be another economic pragmatist in an emerging Cabinet full of them.
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VAThe VA oversees the nation's network of health care hospitals, benefits programs, and national cemeteries for America's veterans and their dependents. Much of its $90 billion budget goes toward health care through the Veterans Health Administration. The VA operates pension, education, rehabilitation, and home loan guaranty programs.
Gen. Eric K. ShinsekiIf confirmed, Shinseki promises to overhaul the bureaucracy to preserve veterans' benefits during the transition from military to civilian life. The first Asian-American four-star general, Shinseki won two Purple Hearts and three Bronze Stars during a pair of combat tours in Vietnam, when he lost half of one foot in a landmine explosion. But Shinseki is far more famous for telling the Senate, just before the Iraq War started in 2003, that the United States would need far more troops than planned for the invasion.
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