Obama to name key posts today
President-elect Barack Obama plans to announce six experienced hands to fill top administration posts today, moving at record speed to name the leadership team that will guide his presidency through a time of war and recession.
His selections include longtime advisers and political foes alike, most notably Democratic primary rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state and President Bush’s defense secretary, Robert Gates, staying in his current post. The two were among six who Obama planned to announce at a news conference in Chicago, Democratic officials said.
The officials said Obama also planned to name Washington lawyer Eric Holder as attorney general and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary. He also planned to announce two senior foreign policy positions outside the Cabinet: campaign foreign policy adviser Susan Rice as U.N. ambassador and retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones as national security adviser.
The Democratic officials disclosed the plans Sunday on a condition of anonymity because they were not authorized for public release ahead of the news conference. Those names had been discussed before for those jobs, but the officials confirmed that Obama will make them official today in his hometown.
Biden announces staff choices
Vice President-elect Joe Biden said Sunday he had chosen a close adviser of more than 25 years as his counselor and had picked two other longtime political advisers for key posts in his office.
Michael C. Donilon, who was part of Biden’s debate preparation team and served as his traveling adviser during the general-election campaign, was named counselor to the vice president.
Terrell P. McSweeny will serve as domestic policy adviser to the vice president, according to a statement from Biden’s office. Evan M. Ryan will be assistant to the vice president for intergovernmental affairs and public liaison, according to the statement. She was an adviser to Biden during the general-election campaign and served as his deputy campaign manager during the primary.
HOUSTON
City is gun source for Mexican gangs
Houston has become a firearms marketplace for Mexican drug cartels, according to federal law enforcement officials.
Gangsters have spent millions in Texas on military-style weapons and ammunition that are being used in the cartels’ ongoing clashes with Mexican police, government and citizens. Houston has emerged as a buyers’ haven.
“Our investigations show Houston is the top source for firearms going into Mexico, top source in the country,” said J. Dewey Webb, special agent in charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Houston division, in a story Sunday in the Houston Chronicle.
Mexican gangsters have chosen Houston because of its numerous gun shops, its proximity to the border and its long-established networks for smuggling narcotics into the United States, the ATF said.
Authorities say numerous crimes, including a 2007 Acapulco massacre that left four police officers and three secretaries dead, illustrate the carnage brought on by Houston-bought guns that have gotten into the hands of ruthless killers.
The ATF is targeting at least three Houston groups it contends supply weapons to the Gulf Cartel, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.