By AMY HARDER
On Tuesday, President Obama announced the nomination of Judith A. McHale as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs. McHale is the former president and CEO of Discovery Communications.
In February, NationalJournal.com spoke with James Glassman, McHale's predecessor. "What I dread, what I'm really worried about, is appointing somebody who essentially sees his or her job as an image-maker," Glassman said then. "That would be a huge mistake."
Now, more than two months later, NationalJournal.com was able to catch up with Glassman to get his initial response to the McHale nomination. First, Glassman said he was "thrilled that there is a nominee after nearly three months. It's an extremely important position. I'm sorry it took this long."
Glassman emphasized that he did not want to prejudge McHale. In February, he said his successor must have an "an orientation toward national security, not an orientation toward public relations." McHale has no substantial national security or foreign policy background, but Glassman was quick to point out that neither did he. He said the important thing is to make sure McHale takes the proper approach to her new job.
On his blog, Glassman wrote that McHale's record shows she "certainly has the drive and talent to do the job. The bigger issue is what she thinks the job is. We will soon find out."
Both in his interview with NJ.com and his blog comments, Glassman took issue with Foreign Policy's Marc Lynch, who argued in a blog post that McHale would be a "terrible, terrible selection." "While I like Marc a lot, I think that was kind of unfair," Glassman said. Lynch and others have pointed out that McHale has been a longtime friend and donor to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. That fact alone should not discredit McHale, Glassman said. It's common for supporters of politicians to end up being brought into a new administration, and these people often serve admirably, he added.
Glassman has not met with his successor, but he said he would be more than happy to do so if approached. So, what advice does he have for McHale? "I would urge her to not simply talk to the people in the building," Glassman said. "She needs to understand how the office works within the State Department, but she should also get out and talk to the key players in the interagencies." He cited the Defense Department as the most crucial agency relationship.
After the jump, see McHale's full biography, per the White House.
Continue reading Glassman Weighs In On His Successor At State.
By GREGG SANGILLO
(Credit: Hassan Ammar/AFP/Getty Images)
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., announced on Wednesday that she was leaving her House seat to accept the Obama administration's nomination as undersecretary for arms control and international security at the State Department.
This could be an interesting choice for several reasons. The position was filled by an acting head, John Rood, from mid-2007 through the end of George W. Bush's term. Rood, who was a former NSC staffer and aide to Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., was never confirmed by the Senate; an undersecretary who has gone through the full confirmation process will bring more muscle to the position. And the nomination of a member of Congress would signal the Obama administration's commitment to pledges he made on the campaign trail to pursue nonproliferation.
It could also be a highly influential post in government. It was the launching pad for the controversial conservative John Bolton, who took the lead on arms control issues in the job and became an outspoken hawk on Iran and North Korea.
Tauscher has a reputation as someone with knowledge of the nuclear arsenal and nonproliferation issues, and the Lawrence Livermore nuclear weapons laboratory sits in her district. Tauscher pushed legislation to fund nuclear weapons dismantlement, and she's also led House opposition to funding controversial Energy Department research programs into smaller "bunker busting" nuclear weapons.
On general national security matters, she's somewhat hawkish, but has at times walked a tight rope. She voted for the 2002 resolution to wage war against Iraq. In May 2007, she voted for a failed amendment by Rob Andrews, D-N.J., that would have prevented Iraq and Afghanistan war funding to be expanded into any operation against Iran. But she switched sides and voted against a more sweeping amendment by Oregon Democrat Peter DeFazio that stated no previous law authorized military action against Iran.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Obama administration will reverse two last-minute agriculture decisions made by the Bush administration, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today in his first telephone news conference. The department will scrap a plan to pay for mandatory country-of-origin labeling with $3.2 million from a fruit and vegetable block grant program, and the public comment period on a farm subsidy payment limit rule has been extended for 60 days. It was due to expire Wednesday.
In other administration news, AP reports that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will name Todd Stern, the Clinton White House's top negotiator in the Kyoto Protocol talks, as a special envoy for climate change, according to U.S. officials.
Subscribers can read the full reports on the Agriculture Department moves and the Stern hiring at CongressDaily.
By AMY HARDER
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright praised President Obama for the executive order he signed today that lifts restrictions on federal funding for groups that provide abortion services around the world.
The prohibition, known as the "Mexico City Policy," restricts the U.S.'s ability to engage constructively with other countries, Albright said. Reversing it, she added, is "a very big deal because the big issues internationally have to do with the health of women and on, generally, the right of people to choose what they want to do, having information."
Albright sees this executive order as a promising sign that the Obama administration will work to improve the country's global relations: "In many developing countries there is huge population pressure, so it is another signal that [the U.S. is] rejoining the international community."
The policy has teetered along party lines since its inception in 1984 under Ronald Reagan. Bill Clinton rescinded the rule in 1993, only to have George W. Bush reinstate it in 2001.
Secretary Clinton's Global Sway
Albright, who became the first female secretary of State during the Clinton administration, also offered a few words of wisdom for the woman now at the helm of that same department. "First of all, being secretary of State of the United States is one of the most all-time great jobs representing this country," Albright said. "She is in a position to be a partner in terms of reformulating American foreign policy. That is going to be very important."
Continue reading Albright Backs Reversing 'Mexico City Policy,' Offers Clinton Advice.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
New York Gov. David Paterson has chosen Democratic Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the vacancy left by the appointment of former Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of State, Democratic sources said. A formal announcement is expected around noon.
Gillibrand's selection caps more than two months of jockeying for the seat by more than a dozen contenders -- including several House members -- and comes less than a day after Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, withdrew from contention for "personal" reasons.
The 42-year old Gillibrand, an attorney by profession, will become the youngest member of the Senate.
With Paterson, who succeeded to the governorship last year following the resignation of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer in the wake of a sex scandal, facing re-election in 2010, Gillibrand's selection reflects the governor's desire to balance the statewide Democratic ticket with a woman and a person from New York's upstate region.
Gillibrand's resume includes a stint working for Cuomo while the latter was HUD secretary in the administration of former President Bill Clinton.
Read Gillibrand's Almanac of American Politics profile here.
President Obama joined Vice President Joe Biden and newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department this afternoon to stress his commitment to reinvigorating America's diplomatic efforts and to introduce two new emissaries to deal with some of the most pressing foreign policy issues facing his administration -- the Middle East and the region of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell has been named Obama's special envoy to the Middle East. As President Clinton's special envoy to Northern Ireland in the 1990s, Mitchell played a central role in the negotiations that resulted in the Good Friday Agreement, an experience which he said today taught him that there is no such thing as a conflict that cannot be ended.
Obama's appointee as special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, helped broker the Dayton Peace Accords between warring factions in Bosnia in 1995 and also served as the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. from 1999-2001. Holbrooke said today that, while the U.S. understands that Pakistan is far more than the "turbulent" tribal region on its border with Afghanistan, the two countries are now so closely intertwined that they cannot be dealt with separately from one another.
Both appointees, as well as Obama and Clinton, stressed the difficulty of the challenges facing them, but pledged their best to achieving a lasting peace in the Middle East and a more effective campaign to root out terrorists and extremists along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border.
Updated: The Washington Post has the transcript of remarks by Obama, Clinton, Mitchell and Holbrooke.
By ALEXIS SIMENDINGER
The Senate acted swiftly just hours after President Obama's inauguration ceremonies to confirm six of his Cabinet nominees as well as his budget director.
By unanimous consent, the Senate confirmed at 3:42 p.m. Tuesday the nominations of Obama's picks to lead the departments of Energy (Steven Chu), Education (Arne Duncan), Homeland Security (Janet Napolitano), Interior (Ken Salazar), Veterans Affairs (Eric Shinseki) and Agriculture (Tom Vilsack).
The Senate also confirmed Peter Orszag to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, a Cabinet-level post. With those seven approvals, Obama came close to matching President George W. Bush's record of moving seven of his nominees into their new posts in 2001 on the same afternoon he was sworn in.
Hillary Rodham Clinton's confirmation to be secretary of State was delayed by a day at the insistence of Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who requested a roll-call vote on her nomination. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Senate will have three hours to debate Clinton's appointment Wednesday before they vote Wednesday afternoon.
"I expect her to be easily confirmed," Cornyn conceded during an interview. But he explained that he wanted to deny Clinton unanimous-consent affirmation on Inauguration Day so he could use a floor vote to "air my concerns" that Bill and Hillary Clinton have not been "transparent enough" about President Clinton's foundation fundraising from foreign nationals. Cornyn wants the Clintons to do "more work" to eliminate conflicts of interest.
"If it doesn't get handled now, then it probably won't get handled, so it's important to talk about it," he told National Journal.
Cornyn said GOP senators may seek to place a hold on the confirmation of Eric Holder to be attorney general, once Holder wins approval from the Judiciary Committee, which could happen Wednesday. Such a hold would carry Senate consideration over into next week.
As he departed the Capitol Tuesday, Cornyn said he had spoken to Hillary Clinton about his concerns, and explained that he hoped to win changes in the disclosure agreement worked out between President Clinton and the government, because she is the nation's "top diplomat." The former first lady told Cornyn she had agreed to unusual disclosures and accountability measures to make her husband's transactions more visible, and that she hoped that any additional steps the Senate seeks would not be "specific to her," Cornyn said. Their conversations, he added, were "cool and civil. She understands the concerns."
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today voted 16-1 to approve the nomination of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., as secretary of State. The move clears the way for Senate confirmation soon after President-elect Obama takes office. The lone vote against Clinton was cast by Sen. David Vitter, R-La. In a statement, he said he was concerned about former President Bill Clinton's foundation, calling it a "multimillion-dollar minefield of conflicts of interest."
Hotline's Amy Walter and John Mercurio talk about Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton's appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations committee on Tuesday, as well as her possible successor in Congress.
(Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
During her confirmation hearing, currently ongoing, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that she would use a mix of defense and diplomacy -- a mix she called "smart power" -- to boost the United States' standing as a world leader. But the emphasis would be on diplomacy and bridge-building whenever possible, she noted. "America cannot solve the most pressing problems on our own, and the world cannot solve them without America," Clinton said. Under the smart power approach, she said, "diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy." Clinton, who lost the Democratic nomination to President-elect Obama, is expected to easily win confirmation.
By ALEXIS SIMENDINGER
Obama transition officials are making it clear to incoming Cabinet secretaries and agency heads that they'll be handed a slate of perhaps five or six pre-screened candidates for the top jobs in their departments and encouraged to interview and hire from among those candidates. If the secretaries want to reach outside those lists to make their own hires, they will be required to justify their picks to the president-elect's top advisers, some of whom are headed for the offices of the White House Counsel and White House personnel.
The West Wing's control over the top slots in each department is similar to the practices of Barack Obama's predecessors, Presidents Bush and Clinton, but with a twist. The secretaries are being told that the ethnic and racial makeup of the senior officials in their departments should reflect diversity to the extent possible. Apparently, the new White House will be keeping track, according to sources close to the transition.
Outside observers have said they're puzzled, however, that Hillary Rodham Clinton -- known for having female-dominated staffs while first lady, New York senator and presidential contender -- had by early this week tapped eight white men and one woman to help her at the State Department, if she's confirmed as secretary. Although Clinton supposedly cut a deal with Obama to be able to hire her own team, some observers are dubious. Two sources report there's already been some friction between Clinton and deputy-designate James Steinberg, suggesting that she accepted her deputy more than selected him.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate cleared the way Wednesday for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., to become secretary of State in the Obama administration by agreeing to roll the position's salary back to 2007 levels.
The move was necessary because of a constitutional clause barring members of Congress from taking government jobs for which the pay was raised during their current term in office. The provision is designed to prevent lawmakers from personally benefiting from laws they have passed -- including those setting salaries for government jobs. The Senate voted last year to increase the salaries of Cabinet secretaries from $186,600 to $191,300.
By KEVIN FRIEDL
Recent polling has turned up plenty of good news for the incoming administration, as majorities from both parties as well as independents say they approve of how Barack Obama has run the transition. Even Republican political insiders gave Obama's four biggest appointments passing grades in National Journal's newest Insiders poll. And public confidence in the president-elect has remained consistently high.
But if there's a bug in Obama's lemonade, it's that his staunchest supporters during the election -- liberals and Democrats -- are also the groups he's most at risk of turning off with centrist, pragmatic appointments and policies. According to Gallup tracking data taken before and after Obama rolled out his national security team, Democrats' confidence in Obama dropped 3 percentage points after he announced the nominations of Hillary Rodham Clinton for secretary of State and Robert Gates for Defense. That measure among liberals fell 7 points.
To be sure, neither bloc is in danger of bolting the Obama camp: Ninety-one percent of Democrats still expressed confidence in Obama after the announcements, as did 84 percent of liberals. But with some voices on the left becoming increasingly agitated by Obama's performance so far, the transition team will no doubt be keeping a wary eye on its left flank.
Interestingly, while Obama's time as president-elect has seen his support erode among liberals, it's come with no commensurate rise in confidence from conservatives or Republicans, who expressed confidence in him at 46 and 33 percent, respectively.
(Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
Atlantic Media Political Director Ronald Brownstein spoke with former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski for today's edition of "National Journal On Air." During the course of their conversation, Brzezinski touched on the incoming foreign policy team, controlling weapons of mass destruction and Obama's global popularity.
Related: Carter Official Jody Powell Rates Clinton Pick
NJ: President-elect Obama this week named the key members of his national security team: Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates and General Jim Jones. What was your assessment of the team he pulled together?
Brzezinski: I think it's a very strong team in terms of individual capabilities and personal experience. Each one adds an important dimension to our ability to handle foreign affairs. But there is, I think, a potential problem, namely, because they're such strong individuals there could be some problems with coordination, especially since in some respects both the new secretary of State and the retained secretary of Defense have had different perspectives in foreign policy issues than the president-elect. So a great deal depends on the degree to which the president, working through the national security adviser, General Jones, can impose a sense of direction, can impose central strategic control over the shaping of foreign policy.
NJ: You know, one thing that's interesting about this team is that unlike many presidents, he has not chosen long-time confidantes for any of these three positions. I mean, none of these three are people that he has spent enormous time with over the years or were in the foxhole with him, as it were, in the campaign. Is that a challenge?
Brzezinski: Well, first of all it's understandable, because he hasn't been dealing with foreign affairs. His associates have not been really concerned with foreign affairs. His political associates have been concerned with his political career in Illinois and then nationally, and his focus has been largely on domestic issues. But it is a problem. Sure, it is a problem, and that's why he compensates for it by having strong individuals who presume to know something about these subjects and a very strong national security adviser in our former NATO commander and Marine Corps commandant who should be able to crack the whip.
Read the complete interview here.
If the left and right can find common ground on any of President-elect Barack Obama's major Cabinet picks so far, it's on Treasury nominee Timothy Geithner. Top political bloggers and political Insiders polled by National Journal this week are in closer agreement on Geithner than on three other high-profile picks: Hillary Rodham Clinton at State, Robert Gates at Defense and Eric Holder as attorney general.
Geithner's selection rated B+ grades from both Democratic and Republican Insiders; left-leaning bloggers gave him a B and right-leaners a B-. Commenters noted his involvement in the financial bailout talks as president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank -- James Joyner of Outside The Beltway said he "presided over the meltdown of the financial sector in New York but is oddly considered a rock star in financial circles." A Democratic Insider said, "Time will tell whether the Geithner-[Henry] Paulson approach has been the correct one, but the economic crisis needed someone that insiders respect and support, and the Geithner pick has sent the right signals to the Hill, Wall Street, and the boardrooms."
The highest grade given to any pick was Clinton's A- from Democratic Insiders and Gates' A- from the GOP Insiders. "Her detractors will be pleasantly surprised at how well she works in his [Obama's] and our behalf," wrote one Democratic Insider who gave Clinton an A. One Republican who gave Gates an A said, "This tells me Obama is a realist, and won't buckle at the knees each time the Far Left comes calling."
The lowest grade was the D- that right-leaning bloggers gave to Holder, an official in the Clinton Justice Department under Janet Reno. "Holder served as No. 2 to one of the worst, most lawless attorneys general in U.S. history," said David Kopel of the Volokh Conspiracy. "His role and his lies in the Elian Gonzalez abduction were despicable."
Full results of both polls -- including Insiders' and bloggers' thoughts on an auto industry bailout -- are free on NationalJournal.com.
By KIRK VICTOR
Jody Powell, President Jimmy Carter's press secretary, said in a recent interview that he has concerns that former President Bill Clinton's far-flung business interests could well get in the way of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's ability to perform as secretary of State.
"It seems to me it will be very, very hard for her to do her job as secretary of State and for him to continue the work that he wants to do in terms of raising money and all of that even if you could avoid an actual conflict -- which I think would be hard. I worry that they would constantly be hit with [charges about] the appearance of conflict."
"It just seems to me that there are some very knotty, built-in problems in that situation that I don't see how you cut," Powell continued.
When pressed on whether President-elect Obama seemed to be reneging on his promise of "change," given the Establishment figures he is putting in top Cabinet posts, Powell said this extraordinarily difficult period demands Cabinet choices of depth and experience.
"I'm sure there will be, and already have been, complaints that he didn't go off and find somebody that nobody had ever heard of for key positions," Powell said. "We are in such a mess as a country, internationally and domestically, we don't have the luxury of indulging that sort of, 'well, maybe they will work out -- let's give it a try.'"
Comparing Obama's choices with the kinds of people that Carter picked, such as Cyrus Vance, a pillar of the foreign policy establishment who became secretary of State despite Carter's promise to bring change, Powell added: "Carter... picked people with experience in government, but he also pursued and didn't back off promises he made during the campaign, and that was not a problem. They supported him. They supported what he was trying to do. That is the key -- sitting down and getting to know somebody and letting them know what you plan to do and taking [the] measure of whether they are prepared to march along with you."
By MARY GILBERT
President-elect Barack Obama presented his new foreign policy team at a press conference this morning. Most of his selections had been anticipated for the last week or so, but the blogs are abuzz with thoughts on what these picks mean for Obama's approach to international issues.
By AMY HARDER
Following in the wake of last week's Mumbai terrorist attacks, President-elect Barack Obama announced his national security team at a press conference this morning in Chicago. With unrest between India and Pakistan rising over the weekend, Obama addressed the situation briefly but declined to comment further when pressed by a reporter.
"This is one of those times that I reiterate that there is one president at a time," the president-elect said. "We will be engaged in delicate diplomacy in the next several days and weeks. It would be inappropriate for me to comment, but what I can so unequivocally is that both myself and the team that stands beside are absolutely committed eliminating the threat of terrorism."
That team includes several appointments that had been rumored for weeks -- Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of State, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Eric Holder as attorney general, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as Homeland Security Department secretary, Obama's campaign foreign policy adviser Susan Rice as ambassador to the United Nations and Gen. Jim Jones as national security adviser.
After announcing Clinton as his secretary of State, Obama was asked about "belittling" her international experience while on the campaign trial. "This is fun for the press to try to stir up whatever quotes were formed over the course of the campaign," Obama quipped in response. "If you look at statements that [Clinton] and I have made outside of the heat of the campaign, we share a view that America has to be safe and secure." He added that in making his decision, he never experienced a "light bulb moment"; rather, once their primary battle was over, he started thinking of ways they could work together.
Continue reading Obama Stresses Pragmatism Of Security Appointees.
(Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
The Obama-Biden transition team this morning made official several key appointments, confirming reports that the president-elect was seeking Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of State, Eric Holder for attorney general and Robert Gates as secretary of Defense.
The team also confirmed that Arizona governor -- and early Obama endorser -- Janet Napolitano was Obama's pick for DHS chief, and named retired Gen. Jim Jones as national security adviser and Susan Rice as ambassador to the U.N. Combined with previously announced names, today's rollout brings the total number of announced picks from the Obama team to 42.
Check back shortly for coverage and video of Obama's press conference unveiling his national security team.
Complete release available after the jump.
Continue reading Clinton, Holder, Gates Officially Announced.
As Barack Obama begins to assemble his team, the pundits are weighing in on his selections and what they may say about his leadership style. Here is a sampling of Tuesday's transition-related op-eds.
Pundits highlight Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama's differences on Iraq and Iran, and warn that they must work together seamlessly if she becomes secretary of state.
(Credit: Ben Sklar/Getty Images)
The New York Times is reporting that New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has accepted President-elect Obama's offer to leave the Senate and join the administration as secretary of State. The appointment, if confirmed, would mark a surprising conclusion to the pair's epic primary contest, coming after a week of speculation over whether Clinton would take the post.
In February, National Journal reporters took stock (subscription) of just how much the two senators differed on foreign policy. Clinton had and has the more hawkish reputation of the two -- he opposed the war in Iraq, she voted to authorize it. "Most of their foreign-policy disagreements, though, are rhetorical, not substantive," the analysis concluded. On Iraq, both pledged to withdraw troops "swiftly; neither would do so completely."
On foreign-policy issues in general, "ultimately their goals are the same," said Moira Whelan, director of strategy and outreach at the National Security Network and an Obama supporter. "Their understanding of what the macro issues are is similar; their approaches to what comes first and how to address them is where you would see the differences."Perhaps because of their similar positions on so many issues, Obama and Clinton go to great lengths to differentiate themselves and appeal to primary voters by stressing whatever distinctions they can. Obama tees up his early opposition to military action in Iraq as evidence that he exercised better judgment than Clinton on the most important foreign-policy issue since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
Continue reading Clinton Report Puts Policy Differences Back In Focus.
