Continue reading A Precedent For 'Unprecedented' Bipartisanship.
By KEVIN FRIEDL
Barack Obama rounded out his Cabinet-level nominations in Chicago this afternoon, naming California Rep. Hilda Solis (D) as his choice for Labor secretary, Illinois Rep. Ray LaHood (R) as his Transportation secretary pick and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk as his nominee for U.S. trade representative.
The president-elect's choices bring a Latina, a second Republican and a Southerner into his Cabinet. He also named Karen Mills, an economist and adviser to his transition team, to head the Small Business Administration.
Taking place in the wake of President Bush's announcement about the auto bailout, on a Friday afternoon and after the superstar picks Obama has already announced, this round of nominations had a somewhat perfunctory feel, and reporters' questions focused more on the state of the economy than on Obama's team itself.
"This is not an optimal situation, but what we're going to have to do is make the best decision we can with the hand we're dealt," Obama said in response to a question about his stimulus plan. Repairing the economy, he said, involves focusing "single-mindedly on job creation, increasing demand, getting the economy back on track, fixing our financial markets."
"That is going to cost a significant amount of money on the front end," he acknowledged, adding that deficit spending was nevertheless necessary to stimulate the economy. "Then we'll have laid that groundwork for long-term economic growth."
"We're going to have to be bold," Obama said.
Solis is known in the House as a close ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi as well as a strong union supporter, and her selection was cheered by organized labor even before the choice became official.
LaHood's reception by transportation interest groups was more reserved. Patrick Forrey, president of the air trafiic controllers union, released a statement saying only that he was "looking forward to sitting down with Secretary-designee LaHood as soon as possible" -- hardly a ringing endorsement.
By LISA CARUSO
Transportation leaders from across the ideological spectrum were taken aback by the surprise news, which first leaked out Wednesday, that President-elect Obama plans to name retiring Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., as his nominee for Transportation secretary.
Although Obama was not expected to make the announcement until today, already the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the airline industry trade group and some leading transportation labor unions have weighed in with hopeful praise of the nominee, who before Wednesday was not on anyone's short list -- or wish list -- for secretary.
But with just two more slots to fill, Obama still had only one Republican in his Cabinet, and LaHood's reputation for bipartisanship and close ties to home-state colleagues Obama and incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, with whom he served in the House, appear to have carried the day over more experienced potential picks like former Deputy Secretary of Transportation Mortimer Downey and former FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, both Democrats.
First elected to Congress in 1994, LaHood spent his first six years on the Hill as a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, serving on the panel for the 1998 reauthorization of the surface transportation bill (dubbed TEA-21). If confirmed, he will lead the administration's effort to renew the law, which was last reauthorized in 2005 as SAFETEA-LU, next year.
