In posts from November and December, I weighed in on the sizable number of Cabinet vacancies President Obama was expected to face in the wake of his re-election. Once a president secures a second term, it is almost inevitable that there will be some drastic restocking of the Cabinet (and in the ranks of other senior leadership positions). Often, Cabinet members and other agency heads are eager to return to a slower-paced lifestyle. It also is common for re-elected presidents to make personnel changes in order to accomplish new goals.
Mr. Obama is no exception to the norm. Three of the most prominent members of his Cabinet – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta – announced quite a while ago that they would not stay on if the president were to be re-elected. (Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Geithner have been in their positions since the onset of the Obama administration, while Mr. Panetta took charge at the Pentagon in the summer of 2011 after the departure of Robert Gates, a holdover from the George W. Bush administration.) Mr. Obama has respectively nominated Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew and former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., to replace them.
Also departing are Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood originally said he would not serve in a second Obama term, but his recent public statements suggest he may have changed his mind. Mr. Obama also needs to name a new secretary of commerce. Last summer, Secretary John Bryson resigned for health reasons (after less than a year in office). Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank has been acting secretary since then and is not expected to receive the nod for the permanent position. The president has not yet nominated anyone to fill these posts but check out CNN’s list of people he might call on.
Since Mr. Lew will probably move next door to the Treasury Department, Mr. Obama will need to appoint a new chief aide. That person will not need to be confirmed by the Senate.
Meanwhile, all signs are that Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Health and Human Service Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will stay in their positions, at least for a little while.
We, as an editorial board, have already weighed in on the nomination of Sen. Kerry. To put it mildly, we didn’t think much of it. Stay tuned, because we probably will be opining on the others in the very near future.
