Obama 2nd Term Cabinet Changes

[Joe Biden 2020]

I figured I would put this here since it does not involve the 2012 Election, anymore.

Mods, can we sticky this for a while?

What changes will be made to the Cabinet?

I know Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is retiring after the first of the year?  Who should/will replace her?  Who else is leaving?

[Mr. Morden]

AFAIK, the only retirements we know for sure that are on the record are State, Treasury, and Transportation.  And Commerce is already vacant.

Politico has a new story on the second term Cabinet:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83519.html?hp=f3

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The article goes on to speculate about all the possible replacements.  I also posted some predictions recently:

Unless I'm mistaken, the only confirmed vacancies we have for the second term Cabinet are State, Treasury, Commerce, and Transportation.  Of those, I see….

State: John Kerry (unless the Senate is 50-50, and Democratic control hinges on Kerry's seat…..then either Tom Donilon, Susan Rice, or Jim Steinberg)
Treasury: Sheila Bair, Erskine Bowles, or Jacob Lew
Commerce: Steve Case or Karen Mills
Transportation: Antonio Villaraigosa

Other possibilities:

Secretary of Defense: Ashton Carter or Michele Flournoy (though Panetta will likely stick around for another year or two before retiring)
Attorney General: Janet Napolitano or Deval Patrick
Secretary of Homeland Security: Thad Allen or Ray Kelly
Chief of Staff: Valerie Jarrett or Ron Klain
Secretary of Agriculture: Kent Conrad or Blanche Lincoln
Secretary of Energy: Byron Dorgan or John Podesta
Secretary of HHS: Deval Patrick or Lois Quam
Secretary of HUD: Carol Galante
Secretary of the Interior: Christine Gregoire
Secretary of Labor: Marcy Kaptur
National Security Advisor: Michele Flournoy or Denis McDonough
Director of National Intelligence: John Brennan
OMB Director: Jeff Zients
Director of the National Economic Council: Sheryl Sandberg
US Trade Representative: Gene Sperling

[Lambsbread]

Chuck Hagel!!!!!

[Joe Biden 2020]

AFAIK, the only retirements we know for sure that are on the record are State, Treasury, and Transportation.  And Commerce is already vacant.

Politico has a new story on the second term Cabinet:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83519.html?hp=f3

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The article goes on to speculate about all the possible replacements.  I also posted some predictions recently:

Unless I'm mistaken, the only confirmed vacancies we have for the second term Cabinet are State, Treasury, Commerce, and Transportation.  Of those, I see….

State: John Kerry (unless the Senate is 50-50, and Democratic control hinges on Kerry's seat…..then either Tom Donilon, Susan Rice, or Jim Steinberg)
Treasury: Sheila Bair, Erskine Bowles, or Jacob Lew
Commerce: Steve Case or Karen Mills
Transportation: Antonio Villaraigosa

Other possibilities:

Secretary of Defense: Ashton Carter or Michele Flournoy (though Panetta will likely stick around for another year or two before retiring)
Attorney General: Janet Napolitano or Deval Patrick
Secretary of Homeland Security: Thad Allen or Ray Kelly
Chief of Staff: Valerie Jarrett or Ron Klain
Secretary of Agriculture: Kent Conrad or Blanche Lincoln
Secretary of Energy: Byron Dorgan or John Podesta
Secretary of HHS: Deval Patrick or Lois Quam
Secretary of HUD: Carol Galante
Secretary of the Interior: Christine Gregoire
Secretary of Labor: Marcy Kaptur
National Security Advisor: Michele Flournoy or Denis McDonough
Director of National Intelligence: John Brennan
OMB Director: Jeff Zients
Director of the National Economic Council: Sheryl Sandberg
US Trade Representative: Gene Sperling

I could seriously see John Kerry taking the job of, and being a great, Secretary of State.

[Zioneer]

I think now that Kerry doesn't have to worry about control of the Senate, he's going to go for Secretary of State. Chuck Hagel could be an interesting Secretary of Defense, though I'm not sure he'll be chosen.

[DemPGH]

Talk about a double-edged sword: I'd love to see Kerry as SOS, but my gracious, does that re-open the special election door for Scott Brown?

[Joe Biden 2020]

I was hearing on the evening news in Salt Lake City this evening that Former Utah Governor and former Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, Jr.  may be among the names to replace Hillary Clinton.  Huntsman already knows a lot of Mandarin Chinese language, and he served as ambassador to China under President Obama.  The President has been known to include Republicans in his inner circle, so it wouldn't surprise me to see Huntsman's name at least floated around by the national media.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Talk about a double-edged sword: I'd love to see Kerry as SOS, but my gracious, does that re-open the special election door for Scott Brown?

I understand the concern here but I think if Brown runs in a special election for the Class 2 seat just half a year after losing the Class 1 seat there will be a lot of people here who will see that as somewhat...well, base. And we have learned from 2010.

[Speed of Sound]

Maybe because it was my first election I really fought for, but I never fell out of love with Kerry (despite so many never falling in love in the first place). I would really love to see him as SoS; it'd be the cherry on top, to hell with the senate seat.

[Blue3]

Well, Petraeus just resigned for cheating on his wife (Elizabeth Warren's deputy).

[Simfan34]

I was hearing on the evening news in Salt Lake City this evening that Former Utah Governor and former Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, Jr.  may be among the names to replace Hillary Clinton.  Huntsman already knows a lot of Mandarin Chinese language, and he served as ambassador to China under President Obama.  The President has been known to include Republicans in his inner circle, so it wouldn't surprise me to see Huntsman's name at least floated around by the national media.

I've been hearing such things, too.

[Frodo]

It looks like John Kerry is being considered for the Defense Secretary position instead, with Susan Rice going for the State Department:

Obama considering John Kerry for job of defense secretary

By Karen DeYoung and Greg Miller, Monday, November 12, 7:31 PM

President Obama is considering asking Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) to serve as his next defense secretary, part of an extensive rearrangement of his national security team that will include a permanent replacement for former CIA director David H. Petraeus.

Although Kerry is thought to covet the job of secretary of state, senior administration officials familiar with the transition planning said that nomination will almost certainly go to Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

John O. Brennan, Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser, is a leading contender for the CIA job if he wants it, officials said. If Brennan goes ahead with his plan to leave government, Michael J. Morell, the agency’s acting director, is the prohibitive favorite to take over permanently. Officials cautioned that the White House discussions are still in the early stages and that no decisions have been made.

[Psychic Octopus]

Susan Rice as Secretary of State? Oh boy, the GOP is going to raise hell over that one. And now, everyone one hundred years from now will confuse Condoleeza Rice and Susan Rice. Or think they are sisters. Or both.

If I were Obama, I'd take Kerry for SoS. The man wants it, and has assisted Obama greatly these past few years.

Now, let's see who the next Treasury Secretary will be. Erskine Bowles is favored, no? I've heard Jack Lew mentioned, but Lew is probably too much of an asset as Chief of Staff.

[Mr. Morden]

Now, let's see who the next Treasury Secretary will be. Erskine Bowles is favored, no? I've heard Jack Lew mentioned, but Lew is probably too much of an asset as Chief of Staff.

From the Politico story I quoted upthread:

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[Mr. Morden]

Holder will apparently stay on as Attorney General for about another year, before stepping down.  He wanted to quit, but Valerie Jarrett talked him into staying on for another year:

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/11/mysteries-obama-cabinet-become-clearer-holder-agrees-stay/59175/

This whole second term Cabinet reshuffle seems very unusual.  We keep hearing rumors about a mass exodus from the Cabinet, but no specifics.  No confirmations on anyone leaving since the election.  And even the people who already said they were leaving before the election, like Clinton....there doesn't seem to be any particular urgency for them to leave, or for replacements to be named.

Contrast that with Nov. 2004, when several Bush Cabinet members started announcing their retirement immediately after the election.

[Mr. Morden]

Update on who's likely to be in and who's likely to be out:

http://tv.msnbc.com/2012/11/28/obamas-second-term-cabinet-shuffle/

Sounds like Geithner and Panetta might actually stay on for a little while, though probably not too far into Obama's second term.

I'm still surprised that we've made it to the end of November without Obama naming a single second term Cabinet member.  This seems much slower than past 2nd term Cabinet shuffles.