Barack Obama's Team

The Cabinet

Vice President

Joe Biden

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,"

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secretary	description
Note:	This page is organized by rank. The .gov website for each department may be reached by clicking the link under the pictures. It is under construction* as members are confirmed.*
State ( home page )	Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (b. 1947) is the Secretary of State of the United States, and its chief diplomat. From 2001 to 2008 she was Senator from New York, and from 1993 to 2001 was First Lady of the United States of America during the Clinton Administration. In 2000, Clinton ran for the New York Senate seat vacated by the Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Backed by the White House, she obtained the Democratic nomination for this Senate seat, and then won easily against Republican Rick Lazio (who entered the race when Rudy Giuliani withdrew). She ran for the 2008 Democratic Presidential Candidacy, winning more primaries than any female politician in American history. On June 7th, 2008 she conceded defeat to Barack Obama after a closely challenged campaign, although she did not release her delegates until the convention itself. The compleat Hillary.
Treasury	Timothy F. Geithner, Obama's tarnished selection for Treasury Secretary, is connected to Obama through their parents. Geithner's father, Peter F. Geithner, is the director of the Asia program at the Ford Foundation in New York. During the early 1980s, Peter Geithner oversaw the Ford Foundation's microfinance programs in Indonesia being developed by Ann Dunham-Soetoro, mother of President-elect Barack Obama, and they met in person at least once. Mr. Geithner’s father was head of the philanthropy’s Asia grant making for a period in the early 1980s and oversaw the work of Mr. Obama’s mother, who developed the organization’s microfinance programs in Indonesia. During the vetting process, it was discovered that Geithner failed to pay his 1099, self-employment, taxes during the years he worked at the International Monetary Fund, making him uniquely qualified to direct Obama's election-scam that gives billions of dollars in "income tax rebates" to people who never paid any income taxes. Documents released by the Senate Finance Committee strongly suggest that Geithner knew, or should have known, what he was doing when he did not pay his 1099 taxes in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. After his failure to pay was discovered, first by the IRS and later during the vetting process, Geithner paid the federal government a total of $42,702 in taxes and interest. The Obama transition team argues that Geithner simply slipped up. He was working a big-time job, paying big-time money at the International Monetary Fund and getting 1099s for 4 years and all he ended up paying was $40 grand? And, they paid him a tax allowance to help him pay him for tax payments. This guy evaded paying taxes for years and doesn't even have to pay any penalty or interest? It's nice to have influence -- oh, and to be a dhimmicrat.
Defense	Robert M. Gates
Justice	Eric Holder, Bill Clinton's former Deputy Attorney General, has been named Attorney General. Holder was involved in the pardon of Marc Rich, the Democratic donor who had fled the country to avoid prosecution on 51 counts of tax fraud and was not eligible for a pardon under Justice Department guidelines. Rich's ex-wife, Denise, was a major contributor to Clinton campaigns and to the Clinton library fund -- and probably one of Clinton's bimbos. Mr. Holder's recommendation to pardon circumvented normal procedures and kept other Justice Department lawyers in the dark. A congressional committee described his conduct as "unconscionable." Then there was Holder’s involvement in the Elian Gonzalez case in 2000. It was Holder, for the first time in history, that took a child from his residence at the point of a gun to enforce his custody position, even though he did not have an legal order authorizing it. Holder denied that Gonzalez was taken at the point of a gun. When he was confronted with the fact that there was a photograph showing he was taken at the point of a gun... Holder defended himself, saying "They were armed agents who went in there who acted very sensitively." Holder also argued that members of a terrorist organization should get clemency. He was grilled in Congress after the Clinton Administration pardoned FALN terrorists before leaving office. This testimony on the Clinton pardons of the 16 FALN terrorists took place in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Chairman Orrin Hatch grilled Holder because the FALN terrorists never even requested clemency... And, the Clinton Administration never even contacted the victim's families. Then Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and the pardon attorney continued to invoke the president's executive privilege throughout the testimony. (video)
Interior	Kenneth L. Salazar
Agriculture	Thomas J. Vilsack
Commerce
Labor
Health and Human Services	As a Democratic governor in red-state Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius has vetoed several bills that would modestly restrict abortion. She supports late-term abortion. She's socialized and taken money from well-known abortion extremists, and she has been unofficially ostracized from the Catholic Church for her stance. But you'd have to go out of your way to learn much about that from the news reports that followed the Feb. 28 announcement that Obama planned to nominate her as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This is a position that controls a $700 billion budget and, according to the New York Times, "would have considerable influence over government policy on abortion." Sebelius' association with Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. In May 2007, Sebelius spoke at a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. The chapter's summer 2007 newsletter related: Friends of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri gathered Tuesday, May 15th for a truly star-studded affair. "I've Got Rhythm, I've Got Rights" showcased two champions of our cause, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and PPFA National President, Cecile Richards. Both Cecile and Governor Sebelius spoke passionately about the challenges Planned Parenthood faces, specifically citing the more than 240 "uninvited guests" lining the streets of the Jazz District. Governor Sebelius walked right through these unpleasant protestors and didn't miss a beat. In fact, both women mentioned in their remarks how meaningful it is for supporters to experience first hand what PPKM staff and thousands of women trying to access health care must deal with on a regular basis. It was only Bill O'Reilly on Fox News who discussed Sebelius' record on March 2. He reported: [T]he governor is a controversial choice because she has opposed most restrictions on abortions even late term. And the archbishop from Kansas Joseph Naumann suggested she refrain from receiving communion as the governor's Catholic. Well, she came to our attention after accepting campaign money from George Tiller, known as Tiller, the baby killer. He's currently charged with a variety of crimes centering on his abortion practice. He aborts babies at any time for just about any reason if you pay him $5,000. Even absent the abortion controversy, the nomination to Health and Human Services Secretary of someone who declined to address such basic issues in her own state should be news.
Housing and Urban Development	Shaun L.S. Donovan
Transportation	Raymond L. LaHood
Energy	Steven Chu
Education	Arne Duncan
Veterans Affairs	Eric K. Shinseki
Homeland Security	Janet A. Napolitano
Note:	The following positions have the status of Cabinet-rank.
Central Intelligence Agency	The inexperienced Obama has selected the inexperienced Leon Panetta, former congressman and Clinton White House chief of staff, to take over the Central Intelligence Agency, an organization that Obama criticized during the campaign for using interrogation methods he decried as "torture." Panetta, whose chief qualification is bloviating against torture, has a reputation in Washington as a competent manager with strong background in budget issues. He has absolutely no hands-on intelligence experience. If confirmed by the Senate, a kindler, gentler CIA Director will take control of the agency most directly responsible for hunting senior Al Qaeda leaders around the globe. Obama's public relations people at the Associated Press report that Obama is sending an unequivocal message that controversial policies approving harsh interrogations, waterboarding and extraordinary renditions -- the secret transfer of prisoners to other governments with a history of torture -- and "warrantless wiretapping" are over-- the policy of "hug a terrorist today" is here. Despite an internal list of former and current CIA officials who had impressive administrative credentials, Panetta was selected, in large part, because he comes from outside the intelligence world. Part of Panetta's outside world is his membership in the Institute for Policy Studies [IPS], described by Brian Crozier, director of the London-based Institute for the Study of Conflict, as "...the perfect intellectual front for Soviet activities which would be resisted if they were to originate openly from the KGB." The IPS is described as a Washinton-based "Think Factory", which helped train extremist who incite violence in the United States and whose educational research serves as a cover for intrigue and political agitation" (FBI file 175-398). Another description given is that the "IPS apparently exercises considerable influence in the New Left Movement and may have as its goal the destruction of the United States Government." Obama's choice for CIA Director is a member.
Council of Economic Advisers	Chair Christina Romer
Environmental Protection Agency	Administrator Lisa P. Jackson
Office of Management and Budget	Director Peter R. Orszag
United States Trade Representative
Ambassador to the United Nations ( home page )	The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, says the United States' goals at the United Nations are four-fold. "Strengthening the capacity of the organization to engage effectively in complex peace operations at a time when the burdens and challenges placed on the institution are greater than ever. Advancing our national and collective agenda to address climate change and the challenges of non-proliferation are two other important objectives. And putting the United States at the center of international efforts to support poverty reduction, development, fighting disease and achieving the Millennium Development Goals." On Monday, January 26, 2009, Rice said the United States looks forward to vigorous and "direct diplomacy" with Iran. "The dialogue and diplomacy must go hand in hand with a very firm message from the United States and the international community that Iran needs to meet its obligations as defined by the Security Council. And its continuing refusal to do so will only cause pressure to increase." "We look forward to engaging in vigorous diplomacy that includes direct diplomacy with Iran," she said. It would include "continued collaboration and partnership" with the other four permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France and Russia -- along with Germany. "And we will look at what is necessary and appropriate with respect to maintaining pressure toward that goal of ending Iran's nuclear program." According to multiple sources, including former Clinton official Mansoor Ijaz and Richard Miniter, author of the bestseller Losing Bin Laden, it was Rice who was a major opponent of accepting Sudan’s offer to turn over the world’s most wanted mass murderer. At the time, Rice was the Clinton Administration’s Secretary of State for African Affairs and a former assistant National Security Advisor under Sandy Berger. According the both Ijaz and Miniter, Rice’s personal beliefs on the Sudan’s credibility led to her convincing Berger to reject their offer to turn over Bin Laden, overruling the advice of Tim Carney, then ambassador to Sudan. Her partner in this colossal error in judgment? Bush hater Richard Clarke. Sadly, a little more than a year later, Bin Laden’s murderers blew up the African embassies, killing U. S. soldiers and citizens. She is one of the few people still vouching for Joe Wilson’s credibility long after everyone else realized that not even vultures could find any shred of credibility on the Wilson carcass.
White House Chief of Staff	From LiveJournal -- Rahm Emanuel (nickname "Rahmbo") is the middle son of a well-off Jewish family from Chicago, and an absolute dick to everyone. He studied ballet and then went to Sarah Lawrence and became a political fundraiser. He was one of the original fabled "War Room" members of the '92 Clinton Campaign and served in the White House til '98, when he left to become an investment banker (millionaire) and teach at Northwestern. He returned to Washington after running (kicking ass) for Congress. He was already pretty much a legend in Washington for his temper and hard-line politics (Hillary tried to have him fired but apparently they later kissed and made nice), but he really made his name upon his return. He was appointed chair of the Democratic Caucus pre the 2006 election, and he is pretty much singlehandedly responsible (in the eyes of most of Congress) for winning back the House with the decisive majority. He served as the 4th-ranking member of the House, and was on a very clear path to become Speaker of the House before giving it up to accept the job as Obama's Chief of Staff (which many consider to be the second most powerful position in the country). Rahm's politics appear to be a weird, hilarious mixture of clear ideology and shameless opportunism. In practice, he is still very much a die-hard Clintonite, which puts him at odds with half the party, but which Obama has very astutely recognized as a key to much-needed reform in the House: his politics are staunchly liberal at heart, but in practice he's a centrist and a strategist first.
Note:	Other key appointments
Chief Economic Adviser	Obama's chief economic adviser, Larry Summers, received hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees last year from firms that have direct financial interests before the government or are intimately involved in the White House's bank relief programs. The White House released late Friday the personal financial disclosure forms of many high-ranking administration officials. The document provided for Summers, who serves as one of the president's closest confidants, underscores just how close some of these officials are to the industry over which they now have oversight. Among the firms that paid Summers large amounts in speaking fees include J.P. Morgan Chase. That bank offered the former Harvard president and Treasury Secretary $67,500 for a February 1, 2008 engagement. It has received $25 billion in government bailout funds. Citigroup, which has received $50 billion in taxpayer help, paid Summers $45,000 for a speech in March 2008 and another $54,000 for a speech that May. Goldman Sachs, which has received $10 million in bailout funds, paid Summers $135,000 for a speech on April 16, 2008 and another $67,500 for a speech on June 18, 2008. Summers also received about $5.2 million over the past year in salary from the major hedge fund D.E. Shaw. The speech payments will undoubtedly raise questions as to the impartiality of the economic advice Summers is providing to the president. Already viewed as too favorably disposed to Wall Street interests, the lavish payments for speeches will provide further fodder for those who think the administration has been forgiving in their approach to the banking industry.
State Department Legal Advisor	Obama's selection of jurist and self-described "activist" Harold Koh to become the State Department’s top legal advisor must be judged a disappointment. Until recently, Koh served as the head of Yale Law School. In that prominent and influential position, he offered opinions reflecting his staunch "transnationalist" views -- that is, Koh believes that distinctions between U.S. law and international law should be eliminated -- inevitably in favor of the latter’s latest anti-American whims. According to his writings, Harold Koh thinks it is "appropriate for the Supreme Court to construe our Constitution in light of foreign and international law" when "American legal rules seem to parallel those of other nations;" when "foreign courts have applied standards roughly comparable to our own constitutional standards in roughly comparable circumstances;" and "when a U.S. constitutional concept, by its own terms, implicitly refers to a community standard." Koh’s legal premises are highly controversial. The Center for Security Policy’s Frank Gaffney Jr. observes that, in effect, Koh "favors U.S. submission to the International Criminal Court." According to Gaffney, Koh "has been an unalloyed enthusiast" for the "lawfare" being practiced abroad by provocateurs like Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, who wants to prosecute former Bush advisors for allegedly permitting "torture" at Guantanamo Bay prison. Indeed, Koh himself has promised to dismantle many of the national security policies put in place by the Bush administration as part of the ongoing War on Terror. Lamenting America’s "obsessive focus on the War on Terror," Koh proposes to replace it with what he calls a "global human rights policy." According to Koh, this means that "[W]e need to stop pushing for double standards in human rights. If we believe that human rights are universal, we must respect them, even for suspected terrorists.... And as a matter of universal principle, we must give all detainees basic humane treatment, however heinous they may be." As these views suggest, Koh views terrorism not as a form of warfare that warrants a military response, but rather as a legal matter to be addressed in a courtroom. He maintains that even if the actual perpetrators of 9/11 were to have been somehow captured alive, insisting that "the United States must try, not lynch, them to promote four legal values higher than vengeance: holding them accountable for their crimes against humanity; telling the world the truth about those crimes; reaffirming that such acts violate all norms of civilized society; and demonstrating that law-abiding societies, unlike terrorists, respect human rights by channeling retribution into criminal punishment for even the most heinous outlaws." In keeping with his view that terrorists deserve every legal privilege, Koh argues that they must be tried in civilian courts rather than military tribunals. Tellingly, Koh believes that the great virtue of civilian trials is that they stand a better chance of winning the approval of the international community. "The strongest argument against military commissions is not legal, but political," he has written. "Military commissions create the impression of kangaroo courts, not legitimate accountability mechanisms.… To truly win a global war against terrorism, the U.S. must not only apply, but also be universally seen to be applying, credible justice. Credible justice for international crimes demands tribunals that are fair and impartial both in fact and in appearance. By their very nature, military tribunals fail this test." Continues here . . .
National Intelligence Council	Obama has named Charles "Chas" Freeman, the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War, to head the U.S. National Intelligence Council. The NIC is a crucial component of the U.S. intelligence apparatus, serving as the center for midterm and long-term strategic thinking within the American intelligence community. It provides intelligence briefs for Obama and key U.S. agencies and produces reports that help determine American policy on crucial issues, such as Iran's nuclear program. He works for Chinese government and his company's deals were seen as attempt to expand communist nation's influence Freeman is on the board of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC, which in 2005 tried to purchase the ninth largest oil firm in the U.S. while he was a member. The merger was halted following bipartisan congressional opposition amid fears the deal would harm American national security interests. Freeman has served on the board of CNOOC since 2004. He also founded a pro-China organization, the U.S.-China Policy Foundation, which seeks to promote U.S.-China relations. Freeman did not return WND requests for comment left with a media representative for his Middle East Policy Council. CNOOC, the third largest Chinese oil company, focuses on the exploitation, exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas offshore of China. Seventy-five percent of the company's shares are owned by the government of the People's Republic of China. In 2005, CNOOC made a staggering, all-cash $18.5 billion offer to buy the American oil company Unocal, topping an earlier bid by ChevronTexaco. Immediately, lawmakers and many policy experts, including a broad array of Democrats and Republicans in Congress, mounted a major opposition campaign to the bid, urging the Bush administration to have the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. determine how the deal would affect national security. "This takeover is part of a Chinese strategy to move very aggressively into acquiring natural resource assets all over the world to fuel China's continued growth, because China is relatively resource-poor," Alan Tonelson, a research fellow with the U.S. Business and Industry Council, told reporters in 2005. "It's also part of a Chinese campaign to move, again, very aggressively into the American economy." Here's more stuff on this guy.
Science Adviser	When Obama nominated John P. Holdren as his Science Adviser last December 20, he stated "promoting science isn’t just about providing resources" but "ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology." In nominating John Holdren, his words could scarcely have taken a more Orwellian ring. Some critics have noted Holdren's penchant for making apocalyptic predictions that never come to pass, and categorizing all criticism of his alarmist views as not only wrong but dangerous. What none has yet noted is that Holdren is a globalist who has endorsed "surrender of sovereignty" to "a comprehensive Planetary Regime" that would control all the world's resources, direct global redistribution of wealth, oversee the "de-development" of the West, control a World Army and taxation regime, and enforce world population limits. He has castigated the United States as "the meanest of wealthy countries," written a justification of compulsory abortion for American women, advocated drastically lowering the U.S. standard of living, and left the door open to trying global warming "deniers" for crimes against humanity. Such is Obama's idea of a clear-headed adviser on matters of scientific policy.
Senior Adviser	Obama has named his longtime friend and supporter Valerie Jarrett to be his White House senior adviser. Jarrett, who hired Michelle Obama for a job in the Chicago mayor's office years ago, is one of the president-elect's closest friends and advisers. Her name has been floated for several top administration jobs. But Obama settled on the senior adviser role, said a person close to the president-elect and willing to speak only on background because the decision has not been officially announced. A White House senior adviser can handle a range of duties. President George W. Bush's top political aide Karl Rove held the title in the current administration. Jarrett has a background in real estate and politics in Chicago and is linked to a series of real estate scandals, including several housing projects operated by convicted felon and Obama fundraiser/friend Antoin "Tony" Rezko. According to the documents obtained by Judicial Watch from the Illinois Secretary of State, Valerie Jarrett served as a board member for several organizations that provided funding and support for Chicago housing projects operated by real estate developers and Obama financial backers Rezko and Allison Davis, Obama's former boss. Jarrett was a member of the Board of Directors for the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corporation along with several Davis and Rezko associates, as well as the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization, an organization that worked with Rezko and Davis. As Chief Executive Officer of the Habitat Company Jarrett also managed a controversial housing project located in Obama's former state senate district called Grove Parc Plaza. According to the Boston Globe the housing complex was considered "uninhabitable by unfixed problems, such as collapsed roofs and fire damage. Obama signed an executive order in March 2009 that established a "White House Council on Women and Girls." The Council will be chaired by Jarrett, and the day-to-day operations will be run Tina Tchen, who is currently director of the White House Office of Public Liaison and was a major fundraiser for Obama during the campaign. "The mission of the Council will be to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families," reads a memo describing the move and obtained by The Fix. As soon as I saw Valerie Jarrett's name, I knew this was going to be a big job -- every single policy, of every single government agency will have to fit the women’s rights agenda -- As interpreted by Obama and the Bride -- as executed by the trusted aid -- that's breathtaking!
Speechwriter	Behind a president defined more by his oratory than any political figure in a generation is chief speechwriter Jon Favreau, whose work with Obama began soon after the Illinois senator arrived in Washington four years ago and who knows the president's ideas and rhythms so well that Obama has called him a mind-reader. Throughout the grueling, nearly two-year-long presidential campaign, Favreau lived a life of constant deadlines and caffeine-fueled nights, carrying Obama's 1995 autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," and committing to memory the 2004 Democratic convention speech that introduced Obama to the country. He now works one floor below the president, in a basement office in the West Wing. Favreau, or "Favs" to his friends and co-workers, is the second-youngest person ever to work as chief White House speechwriter. At College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit school in Worcester, Mass., Favreau founded a volunteer project to provide support to welfare recipients, spent a semester in Washington as an intern for Kerry and delivered the valedictory address. After starting on Kerry's presidential campaign as a press assistant whose responsibilities included handling news clippings, he landed a job on the speechwriting staff in a moment of upheaval, based on the strength of his college valedictory address. Future Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs, who was on Kerry's staff, later set up a lunch meeting between Obama and Favreau shortly after the Illinois senator arrived in Washington. Disappointed and exhausted after Kerry's loss, Favreau was thinking about going to law school or trying his hand at screenwriting, said several associates. "I remember him calling me after the lunch," Porter said. "He said, 'I'm staying here. This guy's the real deal.' "
White House Counsel	Obama selected Gregory Craig, a presidential assassin’s lawyer, as White House counsel. Craig has plenty of experience in politics as well as the courtroom, having served as Bill Clinton’s legal counsel during the impeachment hearings. Craig flipped from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama early in the primaries, and Obama has repaid his support -- but Craig’s caseload will raise a few eyebrows: Besides defending Clinton through the impeachment process, an effort that Craig lost, who else had the benefit of Craig’s counsel? John Hinckley, Jr. -- Craig presented and won the insanity defense that allows Ronald Reagan’s would-be assassin to spend weekends with his family now. Elian Gonzalez’s father -- Craig represented the father who demanded the return of his son after his estranged wife died trying to take Elian to freedom. Most people saw this as a thinly-veiled publicity stunt from Fidel Castro, attempting to embarrass the US. The dispute got resolved when Janet Reno ordered an armed assault on the house where Elian’s family in the US provided him a home. Kofi Annan -- The former Secretary-General of the UN hired Craig to defend his interests in the Volcker Commission probe of the Oil-for-Food scandal, which put billions of dollars into Saddam Hussein’s pockets while providing cash for Annan’s son, his deputies, and some allege Annan himself. Pedro Gonzalez Pinzon (Active client) -- A Panamanian legislator wanted for murdering an American soldier in 1992. The Dallas Morning News demanded that Obama force Craig to drop the case during the campaign, but no report of whether he did is easily available. I doubt that any President has selected the defender of a presidential assassin as White House Counsel before now.