Obama Team Springs Leaks

Rumors Disrupt Plan For Announcing Cabinet Nominees

By Shailagh Murray and Chris Cillizza
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, November 21, 2008

Barack Obama was famously able to impose discipline and control over his presidential campaign, but it didn't take long for him to discover that running a transition is something quite different.

Top aides to the president-elect had hoped to take a methodical approach to selecting and unveiling their new team, starting with the announcements of top national security and economic players shortly after Thanksgiving. But leaks and rumors have disrupted that plan, suggesting that the "no-drama Obama" mantra famously repeated by his staff may not be as operational in Washington as it was at campaign headquarters in Chicago.

Obama has not officially announced any Cabinet appointments, but transition officials have reluctantly confirmed that former senator Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) will be nominated as secretary of health and human services, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is the top choice for the Department of Homeland Security, and Eric H. Holder Jr. is likely to be the attorney general pick.

Meanwhile, the fate of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) remains up in the air, with varying reports on whether or not she will accept the job of secretary of state, which she discussed with Obama last week in Chicago. And late last night, Obama aides were confronted with unconfirmed talk that retired Gen. James L. Jones could be tapped for national security adviser.

(More here.)