The nominees and leading contenders for top administration jobs.


Cabinet

Health And Human Services (Withdrawn)

Faced with problems over back taxes and possible conflicts of interest, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, withdrew his nomination on February 3. Related story

Secretary Of State (Confirmed)

The choice of N.Y. Senator Hillary Clinton removes a potential political challenge in 2012 and present a familiar and popular face overseas. Clinton will give up her seat as a senator from New York to join the Obama Cabinet. Her appointment was preceded by lengthy negotiations involving her husband, the former president, whose international business connections posed potential conflicts of interests. Related story

Secretary Of Treasury (Confirmed)

Timothy Geithner, 47, president of New York Federal Reserve Bank, has experience in dealing with economic turmoil. He has worked closely with Henry Paulson on the credit crisis and played a key role in shaping U.S. response to the Asian currency crunch in the late 1990s. Related story

Secretary Of Defense

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, 65, will stay at the Pentagon. Retaining Gates provides stability for a stretched military fighting two wars during the changeover in administrations. Related story

Attorney General (Confirmed)

Eric Holder, a former Justice Department official, was involved in President Clinton's pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich. He is the first African American attorney general. Related story

Secretary Of Homeland Security (Confirmed)

Arizona governor and the former attorney general of the state, Janet Napolitano has fought to stem illegal immigration but is skeptical the border fence will solve the problem. Related story

Secretary Of Energy (Confirmed)

Nobel-laureate physicist Steven Chu, 60, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a renowned expert on alternative fuels and climate change, is the likely pick. Related story **

Secretary Of Interior (Confirmed)

Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar, the former executive director of Colorado Natural Resources Department, comes from a rural ranching background but opposes the exploitation of natural resources and supports renewable energy. He has fought drilling but is not against it in all instances. Related story

HUD Secretary (Nominated)

NY housing commissioner Shaun Donovan, 42, a Harvard educated architect, has a reputation for finding new ways to create and preserve affordable housing. Related story

Secretary Of Labor (Confirmed)

California Rep. Hilda Solis, 51, is the daughter of immigrants who were blue-collar, union workers. She has built a track record that includes fighting pollution and pesticide exposure, expanding access to health care and workforce training, and prevention of domestic violence. Related story **

Secretary Of Commerce (Nominated)

After his two former nominees dropped out, Obama announced Washington Gov. Gov. Gary Locke, the nation's first Chinese-American governor, as his choice for commerce secretary. Related story

Secretary Of Education (Confirmed)

Arne Duncan, is chief of the Chicago school system. He has run the country's third-biggest school district since 2001, pushing to boost teacher quality and to improve struggling schools and closing those that fail. Related story

Secretary Of Transportation (Nominated)

Illinois Rep. Ray LaHood, 63, who would be the second Republican in Democrat Obama's Cabinet, serves on the House Appropriations Committee and ranks among his state's leaders in bringing home largesse. Related story

Secretary Of Agriculture (Confirmed)

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is something of a centrist - seemingly a prerequisite in an administration that puts a high value on building broad coalitions. Related story

Secretary Of Veterans Affairs (Confirmed)

Retired Gen. Eric Shinseki is the first Army four-star general of Japanese American ancestry. If confirmed, he will be the first Asian American to hold this post. Related story

Cabinet Rank And Other Key Appointments

Chief Of Staff

Rahm Emmanuel is a Chicago pit-bull politician who served as political director and campaign aide under former President Bill Clinton. Related story

White House Press Secretary

Robert Gibbs went to work for Obama's Senate campaign in 2004 and was his communications director. Related story

Central Intelligence Agency Director

Former U.S. Rep. Leon Panetta of Monterey might face a mission impossible - or at least a mission very difficult - should he win Senate confirmation as the new head of an agency battered by years of controversy and facing demands for reform. Related story

National Intelligence Director

Denny Blair is a retired admiral and former commander of the U.S. Pacific Command. He spent about a year at a post inside the CIA and crafted a widely praised counterterrorism military strategy shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Related story

National Security Advisor:

Retired Marine general James Jones wrote a searing report this year about what he called the Bush administration's failed strategy in Afghanistan. Related story

National Economic Council Director

Former Clinton Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers is a brilliant and widely admired economist whose resume is complicated by impolitic remarks he made as president of Harvard University questioning whether discrimination was the reason there were not more female mathematicians.

EPA Administrator (Nominated)

Lisa P. Jackson is the former head of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Related story

U.S. Trade Representative: (Nominated)

Ron Kirk, a partner in the Dallas office of the Houston-based law and lobbying firm Vinson & Elkins, was the first black elected Dallas mayor.

Small Business Administration: (Nominated)

Venture capitalist Karen Mills , is a founding partner of the New York-based equity firm Solera Capital. She has been an adviser to Maine Gov. John Baldacci on economic matters.

Office Of Management And Budget Director (Confirmed)

Peter Orszag is the director of Congressional Budget Office. Related story

Chief Performance Officer

The head of consulting giant McKinsey & Co, Nancy Killefer withdrew her candidacy for the post created by Obama following issues over her household payroll taxes. Related story

White House Counsel

Washington lawyer Greg Craig was former President Bill Clinton's lead attorney during his impeachment fight. His also defended John Hinckley Jr. and Kennedy nephew William Kennedy Smith, who was accused of rape.

White House Council on Energy and Climate

Carol Browner was EPA chief under the Clinton administration. Related story

White House Council on Environment Quality

Nancy Sutley is a deputy Los Angeles mayor. Related story

Transition Team

Education: Linda Darling-Hammond **

Stanford University professor tapped to head transition team on education policy. Related story

Immigration: Tino Cuéllar **

Stanford law Professor tapped to lead group working on immigration. Related story

Technology: Sonal Shah **

A Google executive will help run a team looking at technology, innovation and government reform. Related story



** Denotes people with Bay Area ties
Sources include AP, the Chronicle, Washington Post, Politico, CNN

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