Are Obama's choices for state, defense imminent?
President Obama speaks as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta listen at a cabinet meeting at the White House on November 28, 2012 in Washington, D.C. / T.J. Kirkpatrick-Pool/Getty Images
President Barack Obama could name his next defense secretary in December, far sooner than expected and perhaps in a high-powered package announcement with his choice for secretary of state, several senior administration officials tell The Associated Press.
Who will fill the outgoing cabinet members' posts?
The personnel moves, coupled with Obama's coming choice for a new leader of the Central Intelligence Agency, will be viewed by U.S. allies and enemies alike as signal of how he will pursue national security in a second term. All of his choices will be subject to Senate confirmation, which itself is a significant factor in his decisions.
The top names under consideration for defense secretary are former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, former top Pentagon official Michele Flournoy, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Among those, Kerry is seen as desiring the secretary of state's job more.
While Obama has made no final decisions on Cabinet vacancies, announcements could come as soon as next week.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has made clear he did not intend to stay for a second term but he has never publicly discussed the timing of his departure, widely thought to be down the road in 2013. Yet Obama's thinking on Panetta's replacement has quietly advanced, aided by a strong list of candidates, officials said.
One senior U.S. official said Panetta is expected to stay on the job at least through the Jan 21 inauguration ceremony for Obama, another sign that the president is close to naming a new defense chief. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss internal White House thinking.
Far more political attention has centered on the chief diplomatic job of secretary of state.
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Obama is believed almost certain to pick Kerry or U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, with Obama's considerations of his choice so closely held that even members of his innermost circle are asking each other which way he may go. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has long announced her plans to leave and hopes to do so soon.
The White House is considering packaging the state and defense choices with the flourish of a unified announcement, if the pieces come together. The president wants to choose nominees not just on their merits, the officials said, but on how well their styles and philosophy mesh with other members of the Cabinet who will hold overlapping portfolios.
That is particularly true for the leaders of state and defense. They are the top faces of his security apparatus, the leaders who bracket Obama at Cabinet meetings, the ones central to an integrated approach toward coping with international crises. Officials close to Obama said a joint announcement could present a stronger message.
For the State job, Obama has strong ties to both candidates. Rice is a close friend, and aides say the two are in lockstep on foreign policy. Kerry was an early backer of Obama during his 2008 presidential bid, a valuable envoy abroad, a help in his re-election bid and a contender to be his first secretary of state.
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Learn how to write, as well as putting out a cogent argument...
Diddy -
How is Obama socialist? How has he been socialist? His record is full of compromise, right down to using Romney's people to make "Obamacare"... and Petraeus, Geithner, Gates, Gregg, Dimon, and a bunch of others who are not Democrats also show who the marxist is not.
Still, your party (the GOP) loves to give handouts to corporations that offshore (to communist countries). If you want to talk about marxism, start by talking to your GOP buddies.
I've cited many article links in the past to these issues, including vote lists made by congress on some of these issues. Go back and read them, before demanding I cite sources.
"Robert Gates Bush"
"Dimon Obama Bush"
"Geithner Bush TARP"
"Judd Gregg Obama"
"romneycare vs obamacare chart"
"Petraeus Republican"
Before I continue, I do need to ask you one thing: Just how long a list would you like, noting the people not named "Bush" happen to be Republicans. Cool, huh?
So, are you saying Republicans are bad for America? Because that's what you're doing, since Obama has been on the same page as these guys, otherwise he would have found other people to commit "change" with.
Unless he's playing chess, and do you really believe that? If so, who are the pawns? Apart from you, arguably?
Senator Kerry or Ambassador Rice would make excellent Secretary of States. Both are tough as nails, John being a Senator and decorated war hero and Susan having gone through hell as U.S Ambassador to the U.N., especially these last few months.
Good luck to both of you!
So my money's on Hagel. He wanted Judd "I love to offshore jobs" Gregg for a position, he wanted Dimon (in 2009) to do what he gave Geithner, Gates and Petraeus are GOP acolytes...
So if these folks are puppets, what's to suggest Obama isn't a puppet as well? Tsigili, do you not find it odd that a "Democrat" has a history of eying Republicans for positions all the time?