Obama Poised to Name Treasury Secretary
By VOA News
06 November 2008

President-elect Barack Obama waves after giving his acceptance speech at Grant Park in Chicago, 4 Nov. 2008
President-elect Barack Obama waves after giving his acceptance speech at Grant Park in Chicago, 4 Nov. 2008
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is expected to soon name his choice for Treasury secretary, about 10 weeks before he takes office and inherits the country's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Aides say Mr. Obama plans to meet Friday with his economic team and hold his first news conference since winning the election.
Mr. Obama was being briefed Thursday on highly classified intelligence. The White House says President George Bush will meet with Mr. Obama on Monday in Washington to discuss the transfer of power.
Mr. Obama's choice for chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, accepted the job Thursday. Emanuel is an Illinois congressman who also served under former President Bill Clinton.
In a statement, Obama called Emanuel a "good friend" said he knows no one better at "getting things done." Emanuel said he will do everything he can to help the President-elect unite Americans and deliver the change the country needs.
Sources close to Mr. Obama's transition team say the short list for Treasury secretary includes four people: Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Lawrence Summers, who served as Treasury secretary under former President Bill Clinton; Paul Volcker, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve; and New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, a former executive at the Goldman Sachs investment bank.
A leading contender for defense secretary is said to be former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig, while the short list for secretary of state is said to include Democratic Senator John Kerry and Republican Senator Chuck Hagel.
The president-elect will be sworn in on January 20.
President Bush, who has been in office for eight years, addressed staffers at the White House Thursday, thanking them for their work and urging them to do all they can to help the incoming administration make a smooth transition.