Obama Cabinet

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>

Obama Campaign Advisers Left Out in the Cold

Members of foreign policy team passed over for more center-right candidates

(Newser) - Prominent advisers to presidential candidates can usually count on having their pick of administration jobs after the campaign. Not so with candidate Obama's foreign policy team, most of whom shaded to the left, the LA Times reports. It stems from the president's decision to give the three top national security...

Obama Mulling Kansas Gov for Health Post

Sebelius rises among names to replace Daschle: official

(Newser) - Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was very near the top of President Barack Obama's list of candidates to head the Health and Human Services Department, a senior administration official said today. No decision has been made, but the former Kansas insurance commissioner was rising as a candidate to replace Tom Daschle,...

Husband's Tax Trouble Snags Labor Nominee

(Newser) - Is another Obama nominee in trouble? A Senate panel today postponed a vote on his nominee to be labor secretary, Hilda Solis, after USA Today laid out her husband’s tax problems. The newspaper reported today that Sam Solis paid $6,400 to settle liens dating back 16 years against...

$700K in Fees Could Bring Panetta Scrutiny

CIA nom got speaking, consulting money from troubled banks

(Newser) - President Obama’s nominee to head the CIA could be the next to come under scrutiny after the Wall Street Journal reported today that Leon Panetta has made more than $700,000 in the past year in speaking and consulting fees—with some coming from troubled banks and an investment...

What's the Fallout from Daschle's Withdrawal?
What's the Fallout from Daschle's Withdrawal?
ANALYSIS

What's the Fallout from Daschle's Withdrawal?

Major issues in the wake of Daschle's withdrawal

(Newser) - Tom Daschle gave up his nomination for Health and Human Services Secretary, raising a host of questions, Matthew Cooper writes at Talking Points Memo. Did an issue besides tax problems arise? Was the decision really Daschle’s, or the administration’s? Some other big issues:
  1. How many Obama nominees will
...

Daschle Withdraws Cabinet Bid

Tax flub claims another Obama nominee

(Newser) - Tom Daschle withdrew today from consideration for secretary of health and human services over controversial unpaid taxes, the Boston Globe reports. Daschle had retained the support of the Obama administration despite the flub, but quit seeking the post so as not to be a distraction, he said. President Obama regretfully...

Times to Daschle: Go Home
 Times to 
 Daschle: 
 Go Home 
OPINION

Times to Daschle: Go Home

Tax, conflict-of-interest issues should disqualify ex-Senate leader

(Newser) - In the wake of revelations about his tax oversights and industry ties, the New York Times is calling on Tom Daschle to step aside and let Barack Obama pick a “less-blemished” Health and Human Services secretary. Daschle’s $128,000 tax lapse dwarfs even Tim Geithner’s. “The...

Senate OKs Holder as First Black AG

Partisan debate hinges on prosecuting agents who used torture

(Newser) - Eric Holder won Senate confirmation today as the nation's first African-American attorney general, after supporters from both parties touted his dream resume and easily overcame Republican concerns over his commitment to fight terrorism and his willingness to back the right to keep and bear arms, the AP reports. The vote...

'Tax Issues' Delay Daschle Nomination

(Newser) - The White House acknowledged today that "some tax issues" had emerged in connection with Barack Obama's nomination of Tom Daschle as health secretary. But a spokesman says the president is confident the former Senate Democratic leader will be confirmed. White House officials confirmed a broadcast report that Daschle failed...

Obama Mulls Republican for Commerce
Obama Mulls Republican for Commerce

Obama Mulls Republican for Commerce

Tapping NH's Gregg could give Democrats 60 seats in Senate

(Newser) - Democrats may get their 60-seat Senate majority after all. President Obama is considering New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg for the Commerce Secretary post Bill Richardson declined, sources tell Politico. New Hampshire’s Democratic governor would then get to appoint Gregg’s successor. Asked if he’d been offered the job,...

Senate OKs Geithner as Treasury Secretary

(Newser) - The Senate confirmed New York Fed chief Timothy Geithner to be President Barack Obama's secretary of the treasury today, the AP reports. The 60-34 vote puts Geithner at the helm of Obama's plan to rescue the economy from the worst financial crisis in three generations. It also dislodges one of...

Hillary Is Sworn In After Senate Vote

(Newser) - It took a little longer than expected, but Hillary Clinton is the new secretary of state, the New York Times reports. Clinton was sworn in this evening in a private ceremony about an hour after the Senate voted 94-2 to confirm her nomination. The vote came after Sen. John Cornyn...

GOP Questions Put Brakes on Holder Vote

Committee will wait week on AG nominee, infuriating chair Leahy

(Newser) - The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed today’s scheduled vote on Eric Holder’s confirmation by another week, CNN reports. Republican members engineered the move, saying they have questions about the attorney-general nominee’s stance on interrogation techniques. Chairman Patrick Leahy, who said he was “extremely disappointed,” banged down...

Geithner Sorry, Blames TurboTax
 Geithner 
 Sorry, 
 Blames 
 TurboTax 

UPDATED

Geithner Sorry, Blames TurboTax

Treasury nominee, at confirmation hearings, apologizes for tax missteps

(Newser) - Timothy Geithner apologized for failing to pay $34,000 in taxes today in his Senate confirmation hearing. “I should have been more careful,” the would-be Treasury secretary said, calling them careless, avoidable mistakes. When asked how he prepared the taxes he replied, “I will answer that, but...

Republican Becomes Ariz. Governor
Republican Becomes Ariz. Governor

Republican Becomes Ariz. Governor

Party control shifts as Napolitano joins Obama Cabinet

(Newser) - Moments after the Senate confirmed her as homeland security secretary yesterday afternoon, Janet Napolitano resigned as governor of Arizona. But because Arizona is one of the few states without a lieutenant governor, the office passes to the secretary of state—Jan Brewer, a Republican. In a twist, reports the Daily ...

Obama Turning to McCain for Advice

Former rival is honored guest at inauguration party

(Newser) - Not only is John McCain in town for Barack Obama's inauguration, he's the guest of honor at an event celebrating it, reports the New York Times. In fact, the president-elect has been discreetly consulting his former rival—the one Obama said America can't trust on the Iraq war—on Iraq,...

'Would Have Been Great' to Be in Obama Cabinet: Dean

Departing DNC chair will instead head back to private life

(Newser) - Outgoing Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said today he would have liked to work in the Obama administration, but instead is embarking on a life in the private sector after nearly 30 years in politics. Some of his supporters have been upset that after all the former Vermont governor...

Holder: Waterboarding Is Torture

But supports FISA, Patriot Act

(Newser) - Eric Holder minced no words when asked about waterboarding in his confirmation hearing today. “Waterboarding is torture,” the AG-designate said, a declaration neither Michael Mukasey nor Alberto Gonzales was willing to make. He said that, even in emergencies, the president couldn’t override the constitution. Republicans also leapt...

Senate Committee Approves Clinton

GOP's Vitter is lone dissenter in 16-1 vote

(Newser) - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton as the next US secretary of State. The 16-1 vote paves way for a full Senate vote after Barack Obama takes office Tuesday. The junior senator from New York earned the near-unanimous support of her colleagues—Louisiana Republican David Vitter...

Senate Likes Shinseki for Veterans Affairs

War, economy burden system former Army general would inherit

(Newser) - Retired Gen. Eric Shinseki garnered bipartisan support for his Veterans Affairs Secretary nomination today in outlining his priorities before Congress, the Military Times reports. The former Army chief of staff admitted to little experience with veterans issues, but his vows to streamline the agency won support from the likes of...

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser