Obama to name 4 more Cabinet posts Monday

By Nedra Pickler ASSOCIATED PRESS | Sunday, November 30, 2008

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President-elect Barack Obama plans to announce longtime advisers and political foes alike as his picks for top administration jobs at a Monday news conference, nominating one-time political nemesis Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state.

Mr. Obama's announcements include members of his national security team and beyond, completing the nominations for one-third of his Cabinet as he moves quickly to assemble the country's new leadership in times of war and a troubled economy.

His selections include some of his most loyal campaign advisers and notably some who were not, including Democratic primary rival Mrs. Clinton and President Bush's defense secretary, Robert Gates, staying in his current post.

Mr. Obama also plans to name Washington lawyer Eric Holder as attorney general and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary, according to Democratic officials. He also plans to announce two senior foreign policy positions outside the 15-member Cabinet: campaign foreign policy adviser Susan Rice as U.N. ambassador and retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones as national security adviser.

The Democratic official disclosed the plans on a condition of anonymity Sunday because they were not authorized for public release ahead of the news conference.

Those names had been discussed before for those jobs, but Mr. Obama was going to make them official Monday in his hometown.

Last week, he named key members of his economic team, including Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as treasury secretary. Mr. Obama is not yet ready to name his intelligence advisers, one Democratic official said.

Mrs. Clinton's nomination is the latest chapter in what began as a bitter rivalry for the Democratic presidential nomination. After Mr. Obama defeated her, Mrs. Clinton backed his general election campaign against Republican Sen. John McCain, and she now has agreed to give up her Senate seat to be his top diplomat.

To make it possible for his wife to become secretary of state, party officials said, former President Clinton agreed:

-- to disclose the names of every contributor to his foundation since its inception in 1997 and all contributors going forward.

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