Thus far, Obama has informally selected Washington lawyer Eric Holder as attorney general and former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle as secretary of the Health and Human Services Department. Those picks could be sidetracked by unexpected glitches in the final vetting process, officials said.
Senator Hillary Clinton seems likely to be Obama's secretary of state. She is deciding whether to take the position as America's top diplomat, her associates said.
Among other Cabinet posts: senior Democrats say there is a strong possibility that Defense Secretary Robert Gates would stay temporarily and later give way to former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig. Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, and Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, also are said to be under consideration.
Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker, who was Obama's national campaign finance chairman, was reported to be his leading choice for secretary of commerce, but she withdrew from consideration yesterday.
"Speculation has grown that I am a candidate for secretary of commerce," Pritzker said in a statement. "I am not. I think I can best serve our nation in my current capacity: building businesses, creating jobs, and working to strengthen our economy."
Officials say Laura D'Andrea Tyson, the former chair of White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton, is in the running for the post.
Obama appears to be assembling a team that includes a mix of longtime aides, Washington insiders, and a sprinkling of Democratic governors. Besides Napolitano, strong contenders for Cabinet posts include Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas.
Sebelius and Napolitano, who once was Arizona's attorney general, were among the first governors to commit to Obama's candidacy. Richardson endorsed Obama after ending his own presidential bid, angering Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton.
In her second term as governor, Napolitano has fought to curb illegal immigration, but she has been skeptical of the notion that building a fence along the border will solve the problem. She once said, "You build a 50-foot wall, somebody will find a 51-foot ladder."
