Obama backs auto rescue, finishes Cabinet picks

Source: Agencies  |   2008-12-20  |     ONLINE EDITION

US President-elect Barack Obama offered embattled US automakers a promise and a threat yesterday, saying he hoped to create more autoworker jobs but only if carmakers do not squander the opportunity to reform.

Speaking after the outgoing administration of President George W. Bush offered US$17.4 billion in emergency loans to Detroit's beleaguered "Big Three" car giants, Obama said he would work with both carmaker unions and management to rebuild the industry.

"My top priority in this administration is to create 2.5 million new jobs and I want some of those jobs to be in the auto industry," Obama said at a news conference.

He declined to say what, if any, changes he would make to the auto rescue plan announced by the White House after he takes office on January 20, or whether he would entertain calls by the United Auto Workers union to remove what it called "unfair" conditions in the Bush bailout plan.

But he said his economic team would discuss with workers and management ways to ensure their collective survival, saying the chance to end bad management practices and reform the industry "must not be squandered".

"I just want to make sure that when we see a final restructuring package, that it's not just workers who are bearing the brunt of that restructuring," Obama said.

"All shareholders are going to have to play a part in this process."

Obama finished naming candidates for his Cabinet-in-waiting, naming his picks to head the Transportation and Labor departments and his chief trade negotiator.

Obama tapped California Democratic Representative Hilda Solis to be labor secretary and retiring Illinois Republican Representative Ray LaHood to head the Transportation Department -- making him the second Republican in the Cabinet. Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk was named to be US trade representative.

The announcements round out Obama's prospective Cabinet, which includes his former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will keep his job under the new president.

Here are people Obama has chosen for key posts. Many remain subject to vetting and Senate confirmation.

SECRETARY OF STATE

* New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Obama's former Democratic Party rival for the White House, was named to the top diplomatic post. The move is seen as part of Obama's effort to rebuild the United States' reputation abroad. Aides have said Obama admires Clinton's work ethic and also believes the former first lady's star power would boost his vision of improving America's global standing.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

* Current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, named by President George W. Bush in late 2006, is considered a moderate voice on the Republican's national security team and embodies an important signal of continuity. Obama had said early on he would include Republicans in his Cabinet and the 65-year-old Gates has been lauded by members of both parties since taking over the Pentagon from Donald Rumsfeld.

TREASURY SECRETARY

* Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, is Obama's choice for the Treasury Department, making him Obama's point person in dealing with the economic crisis. Geithner has helped lead efforts to stabilize financial markets and argued that banks crucial to the global financial system should operate under a unified regulatory framework.

HOMELAND SECURITY

* Janet Napolitano, the Democratic governor of Arizona, was named to head the US Homeland Security Department, a sprawling agency formed to bolster civil defense following the September 11 attacks.

NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL

* Lawrence Summers, 53, has been chosen to head the council. He was treasury secretary for the final 1-1/2 years of the Clinton administration and has been a senior adviser to Obama for several months, helping to guide his response to the financial meltdown.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

* Retired Marine General James Jones, the former top operational commander of NATO, was named by Obama to be his national security adviser. Jones is widely respected by both Democrats and Republicans and has avoided aligning himself with either party but is known to have been a strong critic of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

* Eric Holder, a former Justice Department official in the Clinton administration, will run the Justice Department. Holder has been a senior legal adviser to Obama's campaign and helped vet his vice presidential candidates.

SECRETARY OF ENERGY

* Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics, is Obama's choice for secretary of energy. Chu was an early advocate for finding scientific solutions to climate change and guided the Lawrence Berkeley laboratory to become the world leader in alternative and renewable energy research.

SECRETARY OF INTERIOR

* Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado, who once practiced as an environmental lawyer, was named to head the Interior Department. The son of Americans of Mexican descent, he is one of two Hispanic people named to Obama's Cabinet. He will be a key member of Obama's energy team who would oversee the leasing of federal lands for oil and gas drilling.

COMMERCE SECRETARY

* New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, 61, a former UN ambassador and energy secretary during the Clinton administration, had been an early supporter of Obama after dropping his own presidential ambitions. Richardson is of Hispanic origin.

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT COORDINATOR

* Carol Browner, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration, was named to a new position coordinating White House policy on energy, climate and environmental issues. The new position was expected to spearhead climate change policy.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

* Tom Daschle, a key early supporter and savvy former US Senate leader, was selected by Obama as secretary of health and human services. The high-profile selection signals that the push to extend health coverage to the 46 million uninsured Americans will be a high priority for Obama.

SECRETARY OF EDUCATION

* Arne Duncan, head of the Chicago public school system, is Obama's pick for secretary of education. Duncan, a fellow Harvard graduate and longtime friend of Obama's, has earned a strong reputation at the helm of the country's third-largest public school district, tackling problems including teacher quality and failing schools.

SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE

* Tom Vilsack, a former governor from the major US farm state Iowa, is Obama's choice to be agriculture secretary. Vilsack backs tighter farm subsidy rules and new-generation biofuels. One of his major issues as governor was bringing more high-tech agribusiness to Iowa.

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION

* Representative Ray LaHood, a Republican, hails from Obama's home state of Illinois and is said to have a rapport with the president-elect.

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

* Mary Schapiro, a veteran financial market regulator, is Obama's pick to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Schapiro currently leads the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the largest nongovernmental regulator for all securities firms doing business with the US public. She is a former SEC commissioner and former chairwoman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

SECRETARY OF LABOR

* California Democratic Representative Hilda Solis, 51, has been chosen to lead the Labor Department. Solis, who represents a Southern California district made up largely of Hispanic and Asian voters, is among the most liberal members of the US House of Representatives and has taken a lead on both environmental and labor issues.

US TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

* Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk has been selected to be US trade representative. Kirk, a partner at the Houston-based law firm of Vinson and Elkins, is little known in Washington trade circles and became Obama's pick after his first choice, Representative Xavier Becerra, a California Democrat and member of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, turned down the job.

DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

* Retired Navy Adm. Dennis Blair is Obama's choice to be the top US intelligence official. As director of national intelligence, Blair would oversee the entire US intelligence apparatus and be responsible for delivering Obama's daily intelligence briefing. His nomination would keep an experienced military leader in the post. Blair is a four-star admiral and former top US military commander in the Pacific region.