EARLYBIRD

Thursday, December 18, 2008 8:30 AM

Top Transition News - 12/18

President Bush is preparing a luncheon for all five living presidents -- former, current and elect -- for Jan. 7. (Washington Post)

President-elect Obama and many members of his inner circle are part of the Baby Boom sub-group "Generation Jones" -- Boomers born between 1954 and 1964. (Los Angeles Times)

As it has been for previous first families, changing the decor of the White House will be a political minefield for the Obamas. (New York Times)

Grading The Picks

Interior Secretary-designate Ken Salazar is not a slam-dunk pick for the greens, who are worried about his ties to the ranching and mining industries. (Time)

Farmers, agribusiness and consumer interests are ecstatic over the choice of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) to lead the Department of Agriculture. (NationalJournal.com)

Vilsack collected more than $42,000 in farm subsidies from 2000 to 2006 and advised clients of his lobbying firm on agribusiness. (Politico)

The Name Game

Obama is preparing to tap Securities and Exchange Commission veteran Mary Schapiro to lead the embattled agency. (Wall Street Journal)

Obama will select Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., for Transportation secretary, adding a Republican to a centrist Cabinet that had nonetheless lacked any GOP faces beyond Defense Secretary Robert Gates. (Chicago Tribune)

Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., who became the highest-profile candidate to turn down a job offer from Obama, argued that with the focus on job creation and economic recovery, the U.S. trade representative post will have less importance in the new administration. (Los Angeles Times)

Lobbying groups for the drug industry are pressuring Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle to pick a Food and Drug Administration chief who is "familiar with the industry." (Wall Street Journal)

Inauguration Conflagration

The military will be on high alert during the inauguration, dispatching more air patrols and deploying chemical attack experts and medical units. (Los Angeles Times)

NASA has been asked to march in the Jan. 20 inaugural parade, an invitation that might signal a softening of tensions between Obama and the space agency. (NationalJournal.com)

Gay activists are upset about Obama's invitation of conservative evangelist Rick Warren's to deliver the inauguration invocation. (New York Times)

Local vendors will get first dibs on the 716 prime downtown vending spots for the inauguration. (Washington Post)

Chief speechwriter Jon Favreau, 27, is writing Obama's Inauguration Day address around "the idea that America was founded on certain ideals that we need to take back." (Washington Post)