The Early Word: How to Pick a Cabinet
By Michael Falcone
President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team offered more clues about the makeup of his Cabinet and White House staff on Tuesday as word leaked out that Eric H. Holder Jr., a former Clinton administration official and Obama confidant, would likely be picked for Attorney General.
The Times’s Eric Lichtblau and John M. Broder write that Mr. Holder’s biggest challenge, if he is selected, “will be to restore the credibility of a department that was badly battered by political scandal during the Bush administration.”
There were also indications yesterday that the president-elect plans to ask Peter R. Orszag, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, to be White House budget director.
The Washington Post’s Karen DeYoung also lists some of Mr. Obama’s potential choices for the position of national security adviser, including James B. Steinberg, the former Clinton deputy national security adviser and State Department official, retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, a former NATO commander and Susan E. Rice, who served in the State Department veteran and advised the Obama campaign.
