Taylor Lincoln's blog

We will not be updating until after the New Year.

Obama plans to nominate retiring Republican Illinois congressman Ray LaHood as his Transportation secretary, the Washington Post reports.  LaHood is a centrist, noted for an independent streak and has a reputation as a deficit hawk. We complimented LaHood several years ago for sending a letter to lobbyists asking them to stop raising money on his behalf. [See pages 25-26.] (More after the jump.)

Obama will announce Arne Duncan, CEO of the Chicago school system, as his nominee for secretary of Education at a press conference at 11:45 Eastern. Duncan is viewed as a reformer who believes in charter schools and No Child Left Behind, while still getting along with the teachers' union. Harvard educated, Duncan played professional basketball in Australia. [Washington Post Wall Street Journal] (More after the jump.)

Obama has selected Shaun Donovan, housing commissioner for New York City, as his nominee for secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Donovan was acting federal housing commissioner and deputy assistant secretary for multifamily housing in the Clinton administration. He took a leave of absence from his New York City duties to work on the Obama campaign. [New York Times  Washington Post] (More after the jump.)

The Washington Post's Al Kamen reports that Steve Heminger, executive director of the commission that oversees transportation planning in the San Francisco area, is the favorite for Transportation secretary. Former FAA chief Jane Garvey, former Deputy Secretary of Transportation Mortimer L. Downey and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk are other candidates. (More after the break.)

Obama is expected to announce "as early as" today that former EPA Administrator Carol Browner will be appointed to a new White House job in charge of  "environmental, energy, climate and related matters," the Washington Post reports, citing Democratic sources. The Post speculated that Obama might announce other environmental appointees, such as EPA, Interior and Energy, in conjunction with the Browner roll out.

Obama has chosen retired Gen. Eric Shinseki to be secretary of Veterans Affairs. Shinseki was marginalized during the Bush administration in retaliation for his Senate testimony that "several hundred thousand soldiers” would be needed to win the peace in Iraq, a forecast for which he was ultimately vindicated.

In his weekly radio address, President-elect Barack Obama laid out a "few" of the details he would like to see in a stimulus plan. Obama called for a "massive effort to make public buildings more efficient"; the largest new investment in roads and bridges since the 1950s (states should act smart and quick on the money they are offered -- "use it or lose it," Obama warns); the most sweeping effort of all time to modernize school buildings; creation of universal broadband Internet infrastructure; and installation of cutting edge information technology in doctors' offices and hospitals. "These are a few parts of the economic recovery plan that I will be rolling out in the coming weeks," Obama said. (More after the jump.)

Both the Washington Post's editorial page and the New York Times' columnist David Brooks are focused this morning on Obama picks for Education, pushing Obama to choose a serious reformer even if it will cost him the education establishment's good will. (More after the jump.)

More job rumors. The Wall Street Journal joins others in reporting that Rep. Xavier
Becerra (D-Calif.) is the favorite to head the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The Journal also reports that Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is a leading candidate for Interior. Both selections are intended to balance the cabinet out with more liberal selections, the Journal says. (More after the jump.)