Obama's Cabinet

[Ladywriter 7,783]

To browse at your leisure:

Secretary of State

Hillary Rodham Clinton

The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence.

• 1 History
  
• 2 Functions
  

Secretary of Defense

Robert Gates

The United States Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) is the head of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), concerned with the armed services and military matters. This position roughly corresponds to Minister of defense in other countries. The role of the Secretary of Defense is to be the principal defense policy advisor to the President and is responsible for the formulation of general defense policy related to all matters of direct and primary concern to the DoD, and for the execution of approved policy.[1] The Secretary is appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate, and is a member of the Cabinet. By statute (10 U.S.C. § 113) the secretary must be a civilian who has not served in the active component of the armed forces for at least 10 years.[2]. The Secretary of Defense is sixth in the presidential line of succession.

Secretary of the Treasury

Timothy Geithner

From the U.S. Department of the Treasury website

"The Secretary of the Treasury is the principal economic advisor to the President and plays a critical role in policy-making by bringing an economic and government financial policy perspective to issues facing the government. The Secretary is responsible for formulating and recommending domestic and international financial, economic, and tax policy, participating in the formulation of broad fiscal policies that have general significance for the economy, and managing the public debt. The Secretary oversees the activities of the Department in carrying out its major law enforcement responsibilities; in serving as the financial agent for the United States Government; and in manufacturing coins and currency. "The Chief Financial Officer of the government, the Secretary serves as Chairman Pro Tempore of the President's Economic Policy Council, Chairman of the Boards and Managing Trustee of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds, and as U.S. Governor of the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development." The Secretary along with the Treasurer must sign Federal Reserve notes before they can become legal tender. The Secretary also manages the United States Emergency Economic Stabilization fund.

Secretary of Energy

Stephen Chu

The United States Secretary of Energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fifteenth in the Presidential line of succession. The post was created with the formation of the Department of Energy on October 1, 1977, by President Jimmy Carter's signing of the Department of Energy Organization Act.[1] The position was originally developed to focus on energy production and regulation. During the 1980s, the emphasis shifted to development of technology for better, more efficient energy sources as well as education regarding energy. As the Cold War ended, the department's efforts were more often devoted to nuclear waste disposal and maintenance of environmental quality.[2]

Secretary of Health and Human Services

Tom Dashle

The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, concerned with health matters. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.

In 1979, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education. The final Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare was Patricia Roberts Harris, who was also the first Secretary of Health and Human Services.

The duties of the secretary revolve around human conditions and concerns in the United States. This includes advising the President on matters of health, welfare, and income security programs. It strives to administer the department of Health and Human Services to carry out approved programs and make the public aware of the objectives of the department. [1]

Secretary of Homeland Security

Janet Napolitano

The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body concerned with protecting the American homeland and the safety of American citizens. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The position was created following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The new department consisted primarily of components transferred from other cabinet departments because of their role in homeland security, such as the Coast Guard, Border Patrol, Secret Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It did not, however, include the FBI or the CIA.[1]

Secretary of the Interior

Ken Salazar

The Department of the Interior oversees such agencies as the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Geological Survey, and the National Park Service. The Secretary also serves on and appoints the private citizens on the National Park Foundation board. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.

Secretary of Agriculture

Tom Vilsack

The department includes several organizations. The 297,000 mi2 (770,000 km²) of national forests and grasslands are managed by the United States Forest Service.[3] The safety of food produced that are produced in the United States and sold here is ensured by the United States Food Safety and Inspection Service.[4] The Food Stamp Program works with the states to provide food to low-income people.[5] Advice for farmers and gardeners is provided by the United States Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.[6]

Attorney General

Eric Holder

The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice (see 28 U.S.C. § 503) concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The Attorney General is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government. The Attorney General serves as a member of the President's Cabinet, but is the only cabinet department head who is not given the title Secretary.

The Attorney General is nominated by the President of the United States and takes office after confirmation by the United States Senate. He or she serves at the pleasure of the President and can be removed by the President at any time; the Attorney General is also subject to impeachment by the House of Representatives and trial in the Senate for "treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors."

On November 9, 2007, Michael B. Mukasey was confirmed to serve as the 81st Attorney General of the United States.

The office of Attorney General was established by Congress by the Judiciary Act of 1789. The original duties of this officer were "to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law when required by the President of the United States, or when requested by the heads of any of the departments."[1] Only in 1870 was the Department of Justice established to support the Attorney General in the discharge of his responsibilities.

Secretary of Labor

Hilda Solis

The United States Secretary of Labor is the head of the Department of Labor who exercises control over the department and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace and all other issues involving any form of business-person controversies.

Tried to give ya voting records when possible

article

[Ladywriter 7,783]

Housing & Urban Development

Shaun Donovan

The United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, concerned with urban housing matters. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.

Secretary of Transportation

Ray LaHood

The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.

Secretary of Commerce

Bill Richardson

The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce."[1] Until 1913 there was one Secretary of Commerce and Labor, uniting this department with the Department of Labor, which is now headed by a separate Secretary of Labor.[2]

Secretary of Education

Arne Duncan

The United States Secretary of Education is the head of the Department of Education. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet, and 16th in line of United States presidential line of succession. The United States Secretary of Education deals with Education policy.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter established the Department of Education as a cabinet-level agency. Previously, Education had been handled by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, henceforth known as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs

Eric Shinseki

The United States Secretary of Veterans' Affairs is the head of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the department concerned with veterans' benefits and related matters. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and second to last at 17th in the line of succession to the presidency (the position was last until the addition of the United States Department of Homeland Security in 2006[1]). To date, all appointees and acting appointees to the post have been United States military veterans, but that is not a requirement to fill the position.

When the post of Secretary is vacant, the United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs[2] or any other person designated by the President serves as Acting Secretary[2] until the President nominates and the United States Senate confirms a new Secretary.

UN Ambassador

Susan Rice

The United States Ambassador to the United Nations (full title: Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations, also known as the U.S. Permanent Representative, or "Perm Rep", to the United Nations) is the leader of the United States' delegation to the United Nations. As such, he/she is charged with representing the United States on the UN Security Council, as well as being the representative of the United States in all plenary meetings of the General Assembly except in the rare situation in which a superior officer of the United States (such as the U.S. Secretary of State or the President of the United States) is present. Like all United States ambassadors, he/she must be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

EPA administrator

Lisa Jackson

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or sometimes USEPA) is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged to regulate chemicals and protect human health by safeguarding the natural environment air, water, and land.

Trade representative

Ron Kirk

The Office of the United States Trade Representative, or USTR, is the United States government agency responsible for developing and recommending United States trade policy to the President of the United States, conducting trade negotiations at bilateral and multilateral levels, and coordinating trade policy within the government through the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) and Trade Policy Review Group (TPRG). Established as the Office of the Special Trade Representative (STR) under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the USTR is part of the Executive Office of the President. With over 200 employees, the USTR has offices in Geneva, Switzerland, and Brussels, Belgium.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

tell me, what are your impressions so far? Any real frontrunners in there aside from Hillary?

[Ladywriter 7,783]

well.... I dunno if I woulda made Hillary Sec of State. Yes she does know and have working relationships via the Clinton presidency/foundation with diplomats BUT the majority of her work has focused around families issues; education, health care etc since the time she was 1st lady. I would have preferred seeing her in a position that kept her state side and working for families.

The political "smart" of making her sos ~ Hillary has a spot in line of succession to the presidency; a move to hopefully appease still disgruntled Hillary supporters and Hillary aint around to give Barak any more grey hair When (not if) Hillary runs for prez again she'll have 4-8 years of SoS experience to add to her resume; unless Barak is magically worse then W ~not in a trillion billion years~ Hillary is fully set up to become presedent after the Obama admin is all done. The democratic party has seen how badly voters wanted Hillary. They'll play the "this is historic" card going from 1st black presedent to first woman president. Its set up nicely for the dems to control the oval office for the next 16 years.

I prolly wouldn't have chosen Lisa Jackson "If the EPA is saying that New Jersey's enforcement is bad, you know there is a serious problem” Um, hellz yes. Just to get somebody from epa to do anything you have to light a fire under their ass. They're kinda like FEMA and the FDA.

They dun fuckin care about you.

:sparkle:Chu has spearheaded many clean energy initiatives at the Berkeley Lab, many of which have focused on using non-food plants to convert sunlight into liquid fuel. One of these initiatives, known as Helios, is expected to begin construction in 2010. Chu’s Nobel Prize came in 1997 for his contributions to “laser cooling,” a method of trapping gaseous atoms with laser light. This technique makes it easier to study atoms.

Chu has pushed scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and in industry to develop technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He has joined the Copenhagen Climate Council, an international collaboration between business and science, established to create momentum for the 2009 United Nations Climate Chance Conference in Copenhagen.

Chief in Chu's campaign is an unprecedented research pact reached between UC Berkeley, the oil major BP, the Lawrence Berkeley Lab and the University of Illinois, which has drawn controversy with some of Berkeley's faculty voicing their concerns that the university was selling out to the industry giant.[/url]Nearly US$400 million in new lab space will expand energy-related molecular work centered at Lawrence Berkeley that involves partners around the world. A US$160 million Energy Biosciences Institute Helios Building is to be funded by British Petroleum and subsidized with $70 million of California state funds. It will house up to 50 BP scientists in a private lab, and will include Chu's separate solar-energy program, but is reportedly on hold due to "geotechnical issues".

He is an early signatory to Project Steve, an educational campaign supporting the conventional scientific understanding of evolution.

[Ladywriter 7,783]

Bill Richardson Withdraws From Commerce Secretary Nomination

Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress at 10:46 AM on January 4, 2009.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.

"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said Sunday in a report by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."

A federal grand jury is investigating whether a California firm, CDR Financial Products, won a lucrative $1.6 billion contract from the state of New Mexico after it contributed at least $110,000 to three political committees formed by Richardson.