President Obama

Read the latest post-presidency news about President Barack Obama on Newser.com

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It's Official: Solis, Kirk, LaHood Join Cabinet

(Newser) - Barack Obama announced his final Cabinet choices today, making official what insiders have hinted at for a week, the Washington Post reports. Hilda Solis will be the nominee for labor secretary, Ron Kirk for trade representative, and Republican Ray LaHood for transportation. Solis appears to be the lightning rod, as...

With Picks, Obama Plays Both Sides of 'Change' Coin

He's got old hands on economy, foreign policy, new faces to bring shifts elsewhere

(Newser) - Barack Obama seems intent on giving America two administrations for the price of one, Gerald Seib writes in the Wall Street Journal. The first, his national-security and economic appointments, is full of well-known Washington veterans, sending a message of steadiness amid war and financial calamity. But the second wave of...

Paulson Wants Next $350B, But Bush May Not Ask for It

Request likely to set off more hand-wringing in Congress over bailout tactics

(Newser) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called today for Congress to release the second half of the $700 billion bailout fund, but his plea isn’t being echoed at the White House—which would have to make the formal request, the Wall Street Journal reports. “It’s not necessarily true that...

Pentagon Warned: Prepare to Shut Gitmo

Dilemma is what to do with worst inmates

(Newser) - The Pentagon has been ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to draw up plans to be prepared to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center soon after President-elect Obama takes office, reports the Voice of America. The immediate problem is what to do with prisoners who likely can't be convicted in...

Castro Offers Prisoner Swap, Talks With US

Raul promises to free dissidents in exchange for Cuban 5

(Newser) - In another sign of a potential thaw in US-Cuban relations, Raul Castro offered today to release five political dissidents if the US frees five Cubans jailed on spy charges. Castro says the prisoner swap could precede talks between himself and Barack Obama, Reuters reports. “Give us back our five...

Ex-Dallas Mayor Kirk Will Be Obama's Trade Rep

Free-trade Democrat among few Southerners tabbed for cabinet

(Newser) - Barack Obama will announce former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk as his nominee for trade representative tomorrow, the Dallas Morning News reports. Kirk, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2002, is pro-trade and a staunch supporter of NAFTA. Kirk campaigned extensively for Obama, and is one of the few Southern faces...

Obama Picks Solis for Labor
 Obama Picks Solis for Labor 
Dec 18, 2008 2:17 PM CST

Obama Picks Solis for Labor

Calif. Congresswoman has pushed for creation of 'green jobs'

(Newser) - Barack Obama will nominate Hilda Solis, a daughter of Latin American immigrants who’s currently a California Congresswoman, for secretary of labor, the Washington Post reports. Elected in 2000, Solis currently sits on the House Energy and Commerce committee and the Natural Resources committee, among others. She, like Obama, has...

Support Strong for Gay Navy Secretary

'Don't ask, don't tell' wouldn't apply because post is a civilian job

(Newser) - Retired military leaders and congressional Democrats are urging Barack Obama to nominate Bill White, an openly gay executive at the New York museum featuring the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, as secretary of the Navy, the Washington Times reports. The civilian post would not be subject to the Pentagon’s “...

Obama Taps Schapiro as SEC Chair

Schapiro brings a wealth of experience to her new position

(Newser) - Barack Obama named Mary Schapiro as chair of the beleaguered SEC today, the Wall Street Journal reports. Schapiro's hefty resume includes stints as an SEC commissioner under former presidents Reagan and Bush, and another as acting commissioner in 1993 by Bill Clinton. Since then, Schapiro served on and eventually headed...

Warren's Inauguration Role Angers Gay Leaders

(Newser) - Gay-rights groups are fuming over Barack Obama's selection of evangelist Rick Warren to perform the invocation at his inauguration ceremony, Politico reports. Warren opposed California's recently defeated Proposition 8 that would have legalized gay marriage. His selection may help Obama mend fences with conservative voters, but gay activists say they...

Obama Picks First Woman to Lead SEC
Obama Picks First Woman
to Lead SEC
Dec 17, 2008 5:56 PM CST

Obama Picks First Woman to Lead SEC

Veteran regulator Mary Schapiro will take over agency

(Newser) - Barack Obama has made his pick for a new leader of the SEC, currently under siege for its failure to detect the massive fraud of Bernard Madoff, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama is expected to announce tomorrow that Mary Schapiro—a former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission—...

GOP's LaHood Will Take Transportation Post

Illinois congressman was retiring from seat

(Newser) - Barack Obama has chosen Illinois congressman Ray LaHood, a Republican, for the post of transportation secretary, Bloomberg reports. Obama is expected to make the announcement by the end of the week. LaHood, 63, had already announced his retirement from Congress this year after seven terms. He has a reputation for...

Aretha, Rick Warren on Tap for Inauguration Day

John Williams will compose new music for Obama's landmark occasion

(Newser) - Aretha Franklin will participate in Barack Obama’s inauguration next month, the New York Times reports, with the Queen of Soul hitting the stage after evangelical leader Rick Warren gives the invocation. Obama has also commissioned composer John Williams to write a new piece of music for the ceremony—to...

DC Ups Defenses for Inauguration

No specific threat, says general in detailing January plans

(Newser) - The Pentagon plans a dramatic expansion of the military presence in Washington to coincide with Barack Obama’s Jan. 20 inauguration, the Los Angeles Times reports. About 4,000 National Guardsmen and 7,500 active-duty troops will augment local police and security forces, while air patrols will be increased. No...

Obama Team Clogs Inboxes, Elicits Backlash

Mugs to donations, that David Plouffe emails incessantly

(Newser) - Barack Obama and his various Internet organs are hawking everything from civic engagement and disaster relief to coffee mugs and fleece scarves, causing fatigue among supporters, Politico reports. And while some are just tired of incessant emails from the likes of David Plouffe, watchers are concerned about how the president-elect...

Obama Adds Centrists Salazar, Vilsack to Cabinet

Salazar brings centrist cred to the team

(Newser) - Barack Obama added Ken Salazar and Tom Vilsack to his growing list of Cabinet appointments today, tapping the noted centrists as secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture respectively. “It is time for a new kind of leadership in Washington that's committed to using our lands in a responsible way,...

Hillary to Supporters: Lay Off Caroline

Clinton's not holding any primary grudges, and not taking sides

(Newser) - To those Clintonites bashing Caroline Kennedy—the Democratic scion who threw her weight behind Barack Obama in the hard-fought primaries—Hillary Clinton has a message: Pipe down, the New York Daily News reports. Clinton insiders say the soon-to-be secretary of State understands "She's got to be part of the...

More Deja Vu: Betty Currie on Obama Team

Bill Clinton's secretary is now answering phones for Podesta

(Newser) - Yet another link with the Clinton White House: Betty Currie, the secretary to Bill Clinton who became embroiled in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, has rolled up her sleeves and is now manning the phones for John Podesta, the co-chairman of Obama’s transition team and former Clinton chief of staff,...

Obama Is Time 's Person of the Year
 Obama Is Time's 
 Person of the Year 
Glossies
Dec 17, 2008 9:59 AM CST

Obama Is Time's Person of the Year

Winning election was remarkable, but quick, confident transition seals deal for mag

(Newser) - Barack Obama “hit the American scene like a thunderclap, upended our politics, and shattered decades of conventional wisdom” on his way to the White House, David Von Drehle writes, and those things alone might make him Time’s person of the year. But already Obama has moved into a...

Obama Will Face Shuttle Dilemma

NASA to transition team: We have a problem

(Newser) - America's aging space shuttle fleet will pose some tough questions for Barack Obama, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Bush administration has recommended the shuttle be mothballed by 2010. To avoid leaving a potentially crippling 5-year gap in America's manned space flight program, Obama's NASA team will need to decide...

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