Obama's Pentagon transition team has left the building after finishing its policy reviews and reports.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Members of the President-elect's transition team at the Pentagon have completed their reviews and reports and are no longer working in the building, making way for the next wave of Obama staffers to come in, according to Pentagon officials.

The initial transition team was conducting policy reviews and getting to know the inner workings of staffing and logistics as well as talking to the Secretary of Defense and other staffers that will be staying on through the transition.

"All of their reports are written and turned into the Obama transition team and they have left the building," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.

Most of the group of more than 20 transition members left before Christmas, but the team kept two or three on to help prepare Obama appointees through the Congressional confirmation process as they are named.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden is getting this German Shepherd puppy when he moves to Washington in January.

(CNN) – While the country is fixated on what kind of dog President-elect Barack Obama’s family will get when they move into the White House, his Vice President-elect Joe Biden quietly picked out a puppy of his own last week.

Biden’s wife, Jill, promised the future VP a dog if he and Obama got elected. Biden found the as-yet-unnamed pup, a three-month old male German Shepherd, in a breeder’s kennel in southeastern Pennsylvania, the area’s Daily Local News reports.

See more pictures of Biden's new puppy.

Biden revealed his wife’s pledge on Election Day, telling reporters flying with him to Chicago that she had first promised him a dog if he was elected president, and when his primary bid failed, if he was elected vice president. Mrs. Biden even taped pictures of dogs on the seatback in front of Biden on the plane, according to the report.

“I’ve always had a big dog my whole life, even the time I was a kid. I’ve had German Shepherds and Great Danes and Labs and Golden Retrievers,” Biden said on November 4. “So with Barack inquiring about would I be willing to get vetted, Jill said, ‘I’ll make you a deal: if you get the vice presidency and get elected, you can get a dog.’

“I know what kind I want, I don’t know what kind I’m going to get yet,” he added before reiterating that the ticket hadn’t won yet.

Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander said the vice president-elect had owned three German shepherds in his life, “so he's familiar with the breed and its personality."

“He's excited to bring it home when it gets a little older and has promised that his grandchildren can name it after the New Year,” Alexander said.

Biden was reportedly accompanied to breeder Linda Brown’s kennel by New Castle County Police K-9 coordinator Mark Tobin, who will train the puppy for the next six weeks before delivering it to the Bidens when they move into the vice presidential residence in January.

Brown told Delaware’s News Journal that the puppy is “the pick of the litter.”

Tobin added, “He's well-tempered, people-friendly and social…It's just a happy-go-lucky puppy."

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) - President-elect Barack Obama will hold the first meeting of his national security team on Monday in Chicago, according to a transition aide for the incoming administration.

Participants will include, among others, Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton, Attorney General nominee Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary nominee Gov. Janet Napolitano and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, according to a source who was briefed on the planning.

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(CNN) – "Corruption has replaced leadership.” That is what Gov. Rod Blagojevich said in television ads when he ran his 2002 gubernatorial campaign. Now, the Illinois governor is indicted on federal corruption charges for scheming to sell former Sen. Barack Obama’s vacant seat to the highest bidder. In the latest installment of CNN=Politics Daily, CNN’s Drew Griffin has the details as political scandal erupts in the Illinois State House. 

And: Did President-elect Obama or his aides know anything about Blagojevich’s pay-to-play tactics? CNN’s Elaine Quijano covers the story from Chicago.

Plus: Barack Obama versus the NRA. The president-elect has yet to be sworn into office, but he may already be battling the National Rifle Association. CNN’s Deborah Feyerick breaks down whether Obama is to blame.

Finally: It’s an interesting and controversial dilemma. Should the U.S. build more nuclear weapons in the efforts to eliminate them later? It could be one of the most important issues facing a president since the Cold War. CNN’s Jamie McIntyre takes a closer look at nuclear priorities in “Memo to the President.”

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(CNN) – Want to apply for a job in the Obama administration? You may think twice when you hear about the privacy-invading background search. In the latest installment of CNN=Politics Daily, what happens to that personal information when the application process ends? From credit reports, private emails, and incriminating photos, CNN’s Jason Carroll has the details.

Also: Online thieves attempt to gain access to top-secret information from the pentagon, state department, and NASA every day. One commission says that the Obama administration will face more cyber attacks than any previous administration. CNN’s Jeanne Meserve takes a closer look.

America’s infrastructure has been neglected for decades as water systems, bridges, roads, and electrical grids are currently out-of-date. Barack Obama says he can fix it, and create jobs. So how exactly will the president-elect do it? CNN’s Chris Lawrence has the story in the latest “Memo to the President.”

Plus: President-elect Obama and former Vice President Al Gore met Tuesday to discuss environmental policy and job creation, but their talk is raising speculation. CNN’s Elaine Quijano tells us why.

Finally: President Bush gets down. CNN’s Jeanne Moos takes a look at the lighter side of the presdent

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Gov. Ed Rendell said he would have made the same comment if 'Jim Napolitano' had been nominated.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell defended his recent off-microphone remark about Homeland Security Secretary-designate Janet Napolitano, calling the comment “100 percent true.”

While having a private conversation at the National Governor’s Association meeting in Philadelphia on Tuesday, an open microphone picked up Rendell labeling Gov. Napolitano, D-Arizona, as “perfect” for the cabinet position because she has no family, and the position requires a person with “no life.”

On Tuesday CNN’s Campbell Brown railed against the governor, commenting that it was a sexist statement that would have never been uttered had Napolitano been a man.

But the outspoken Pennsylvania Democrat shrugged off the criticism in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Sunday.

“What I said about Janet is true. I think she's the gold standard for governors. She works hard, she's dedicated, she's focused,” he said on Late Edition.

“Campbell Brown, who I love, as a person and respect as a newsperson, couldn't have been more wrong. She said that it was somehow sexist or a comment on single women. Let me tell you—If Janet Napolitano was Jim Napolitano and had no family, I would have said the exact same thing,” Rendell confidently stated.

Though Rendell claimed that he sent the Arizona governor a hand-written note apologizing for any discomfort he caused her, he strongly defended his controversial comment.

“Wolf, we've gotten really far off field in the way we cover news if that statement which is absolutely 100 percent true is construed as something. I would have said it about man or woman in similar position. It was meant to comment on how tough the job is and how great a choice Janet is,” Rendell told Blitzer.

Retired Gen. Eric Shinseki is President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Veterans Affairs secretary.

(CNN) - President-elect Barack Obama announced Sunday that retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki is his pick for secretary of Veterans Affairs.

The nation needs "a 21st Century" Department of Veterans Affairs "that will better serve all who have answered our nation's call," he said at a news conference in Chicago.

"And there is no one more distinguished, more determined, or more qualified to build this VA than the leader I am announcing as our next Secretary of Veterans Affairs - General Eric Shinseki. No one will ever doubt that this former Army chief of staff has the courage to stand up for our troops and our veterans. No one will ever question whether he will fight hard enough to make sure they have the support they need."

He said Shinseki "understands the changing needs of our troops and their families. And he will be a VA secretary who finally modernizes our VA to meet the challenges of our time."

Shinseki, who stepped to the microphone after Obama, made a vow to his fellow veterans. If confirmed, he said, he will "work each and every day" to ensure the nation is serving them "as well as you have served us."

In an interview that aired earlier on NBC's "Meet The Press," Obama said, "When I reflect on the sacrifices that have been made by our veterans and I think about how so many veterans around the country are struggling even more than those who have not served - higher unemployment rates, higher homeless rates, higher substance abuse rates, medical care that is inadequate - it breaks my heart," Obama told NBC's "Meet the Press."

"And I think that General Shinseki is exactly the right person who's going to be able to make sure that we honor our troops when they come home."

The official announcement took place in Chicago on Sunday, the anniversary of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

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New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is headed to Washington.

(CNN) - Bill Richardson and Janet Napolitano: Both are governors of neighboring states in the Southwest. Both are headed to Washington. But their departure is triggering very different succession scenarios in their home states.

CNN has learned that New Mexico Governor Richardson will be nominated tomorrow as President-elect Obama's Commerce Secretary. For Richardson, who was Energy Secretary and UN Ambassador under President Clinton and a former Congressman from New Mexico, it means a return to the nation's capitol.

But who takes Richardson's job?

That person would be the state's lieutenant governor, Democrat Diane Denish, who stands to become become New Mexico's first female governor. Denish was Richardson's running mate in the 2002 and 2006 elections and with the governor term-limited out of the 2010 race, was planning a gubernatorial run of her own.

While the governorship in New Mexico stays in Democratic hands, it's just the opposite in neighboring Arizona.

That state's governor, Janet Napolitano, was nominated yesterday by Obama to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security. Arizona doesn't have a lieutenant governor, so when Napolitano steps down to head to Washington, Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer — a conservative Republican - takes over the job.

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(CNN) - Is President-elect Obama a hawk or dove? In the latest installment of CNN=Politics Daily, Republicans are gushing over Obama’s national security team, and his anti-war supporters are less-than-pleased over some of his cabinet picks. CNN’s Jim Acosta reports.

Plus: Roughly a month after the GOP presidential ticket failed to capture the White House, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is still grabbing the spotlight. The Alaska governor has been offered numerous book deals, and is currently one of the most searched women on the internet. CNN’s Deborah Feyerick has the latest on Palin’s superstar status.

An urgent warning delivered by a bipartisan commission says the United States is likely to face a biological or nuclear attack by the year 2013. CNN’s Jeanne Meserve has the details in her “Memo to the President.”

Finally: Governors are hitting up Barack Obama to help their states stay afloat during this difficult economic period. CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux reports on what the governors want out of the economic stimulus package, and how they will apply the funds to help create jobs.

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Barack Obama has named Robert Gibbs his press secretary.

(CNN) – President-elect Barack Obama's transition team on Saturday announced several key appointments to his communications team.

Ellen Moran, the executive director of EMILY's List, will serve as Obama's communications director. Moran worked for the AFL-CIO, coordinating "Wal-mart corporate accountability activities," before returning to EMILY's - an organization dedicated to helping Democratic women get elected to office.

Robert Gibbs, an Obama campaign spokesman who also has acted as spokesman for the transition, will become Obama's press secretary - one of the most highly visible roles in the administration.

Gibbs, an Auburn, Alabama, native who has worked for Sen. Fritz Hollings, the Democratic Senatorial Committee and Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign, was communications director, then a senior strategist, for the Obama campaign.

Dan Pfeiffer, current communications director with the transition team, will be Obama's deputy communications director. He began work with the Obama campaign in January 2007 as traveling press secretary before returning to Chicago to work as communications director.

"These individuals will fill essential roles, and bring a breadth and depth of experience that can help our administration advance prosperity and security for the American people," Obama said in a written statement. "This dedicated and impressive group of public servants includes longtime advisors and a talented new addition to our team, and together we will work to serve our country and meet the challenges of this defining moment in history."

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(CNN) – Two sources close to the transition say that New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner is “on track” to being offered the nomination for Treasury Secretary. The announcement will happen within days, possibly Monday, potentially with another member or members of the Obama economic team as well.

After dropping out of the presidential race, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who had worked in Bill Clinton's administration, endorsed Barack Obama.

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) - Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico is a serious contender for commerce secretary in the Obama administration, two sources close to the transition said Friday.

The same sources, however, cautioned that Richardson could be tapped for another senior post as well. They do not consider Richardson's appointment to the Commerce Department to be a done deal.

Richardson, 61, was a candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Currently in his second term as New Mexico's governor, he previously served as ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary in the Clinton administration.

President-elect Obama is considering several people for the post of national security adviser.

(CNN) – A former military man, retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones, appears to be leading the pack of likely contenders for the position of national security adviser in the incoming Obama administration.

Here’s CNN’s list of other possible contenders to advise President-elect Obama on national security:

JAMES STEINBERG: Steinberg has previously served in government as a deputy national security adviser and in the State Department.

RET. GEN. ANTHONY ZINNI: This Vietnam War veteran formerly headed U.S. Central Command.

DR. SUSAN RICE: A veteran of the Clinton administration, Rice has worked in the State Department and the National Security Council and was a senior adviser to the Obama campaign.

DENNIS ROSS: Like many of the other contenders for national security adviser, Ross served in the Clinton administration and advised the last Democratic president about the Middle East. Ross has also advised Obama about the volatile region.

Click here for additional CNN short lists for Obama’s potential cabinet.

Soon after his historic White House win, President-elect Obama and his wife, Michelle, attended at parent-teacher conference at their daughters' school in Chicago.

(CNN) – While a candidate, Barack Obama frequently said on the campaign trail that the federal No Child Left Behind law left the money behind. One of Obama’s first educational decisions as President-elect will be his education secretary.

Here’s CNN’s list of possible contenders to head the new administration’s Department of Education:

LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND: This professor of education at Stanford University was also an education policy adviser to Obama’s presidential campaign.

JOEL KLEIN: Klein, a veteran of former President Clinton’s Justice Department and White House Counsel’s Office, is currently the Chancellor of New York City’s public school system.

TOM KEAN: This Republican former governor of New Jersey was also the president of Drew University for 15 years and a member of the federal commission that investigated the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

ARNE DUNCAN: Duncan has local ties to Obama; he’s the CEO of the public school system in Chicago, where Obama’s political career began.

Click here for additional CNN short lists for Obama’s potential cabinet.

Larry Summers looks on as his former boss, Bill Clinton, speaks. Summers, who served as treasury secretary under Clinton, is now thought to be among the contenders for the same post under President-elect Obama.

(CNN) – With the nation’s economy stuck in the grips of a financial crisis it just can’t seem to shake, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for the next head of the Treasury Department is among a handful of the most important Cabinet choices he will make. Indeed, in a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 41 percent of those surveyed said the choice for Treasury will matter most to the country’s future.

Here’s CNN’s list of possible contenders to be Obama’s treasury secretary:

LARRY SUMMERS: The former chief economist for the World Bank also previously served as Secretary of the Treasury under former President Bill Clinton.

TIMOTHY GEITHNER: As president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Geithner played a role earlier this year in the acquisition of Bear Stearns and the bailouts of AIG and Lehman Brothers.

PAUL VOLCKER: Volcker was chairman of the Federal Reserve under presidents Carter and Reagan.

ROBERT RUBIN: Like Summers, Rubin served as treasury secretary under Bill Clinton. Rubin also spent more than two decades at Goldman Sachs.

JAMIE DIMON: As president and CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase, Dimon was involved in Chase’s acquisition of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual earlier this year.

Click here for additional CNN short lists for Obama’s potential cabinet.

Who will President-elect Barack Obama pick to head the Commerce Department?

(CNN) – Cross one name off the short list of possible contenders to be the next commerce secretary in the incoming administration. Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker, who headed the unprecedented fundraising operation of President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign, told CNN Thursday she is not in the running for the key post.

Here’s CNN’s list of possible contenders to head Obama’s Commerce Department:

GOV. KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: The Kansas Democrat was a loyal backer and surrogate for Obama during the general election campaign.

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: The University of Chicago economics professor was an economic adviser to the Obama’s presidential campaign.

LEON PANETTA: The Democratic power player was Bill Clinton’s chief of staff from 1993 to 1997.

RICHARD PARSONS: The former CEO of Time Warner, CNN’s parent company, is currently Chairman of Time Warner’s Board of Directors.

DR. LAURA TYSON: The Clinton administration veteran is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley’s Hass School of Business. She is also an economic adviser to President-elect Obama.

Click here for additional CNN short lists for Obama’s potential cabinet.

Sen. Hillary Clinton has emerged as a leading contender to be the country's top diplomat in the next administration.

(CNN) – Sen. Hillary Clinton continues to top the short list of possible contenders to be the next Secretary of State under President-elect Barack Obama.

In addition to Clinton, there are several prominent Democrats and even one Republican on CNN’s list:

SEN. JOHN KERRY: The 2004 Democratic presidential nominee has served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for almost 20 years.

DR. SUSAN RICE: A veteran of Bill Clinton’s State Department, Rice was also a senior adviser to Obama’s presidential campaign.

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: The New Mexico governor was tapped by Bill Clinton to be U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., but Richardson broke with the Clintons when he decided to endorse Obama after ending his own 2008 presidential bid.

SEN. DICK LUGAR: The Republican, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, worked with Obama last year to expand a program that destroys weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union.

SAM NUNN: The former Democratic senator from Georgia currently co-chairs an effort to reduce threats from nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. While in the Senate, Nunn worked with Lugar to destroy weapons of mass destruction amassed by the former Soviet Union.

Click here for additional CNN short lists for Obama’s potential cabinet.

Penny Pritzker was national finance chairwoman for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) – Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker said Thursday that she is not a candidate for Secretary of Commerce in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama.

Pritzker said she "never submitted any information for the vetting process to begin" and that "while there were discussions, I was never formally offered the position.

"I have obligations here in Chicago that make it difficult for me to serve at this time."

Pritzker was Obama's national campaign finance chairwoman and had been mentioned as the leading candidate to become Obama's Secretary of Commerce. She is the chairwoman of TransUnion, a national credit-reporting agency.

In a written statement her office issued Thursday, she said, "I think I can best serve our nation in my current capacity: building businesses, creating jobs and working to strengthen our economy."

Pritzker noted that "it has been my great privilege to serve in the Obama campaign. I look forward to helping our new president in every way possible and am excited about the future under his leadership."

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Secretary of Defense Gates met with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team Thursday.

(CNN) - Still no word on whether Defense Secretary Robert Gates is being asked to stay on the job by the president-elect or whether he would stay if asked. But he makes CNN’s Short List of possible contenders for the cabinet position. Following Lincoln’s model, Obama is open to a bipartisan cabinet, and Gates isn’t the only Republican that makes our list:

ROBERT GATES: He had his first substantive meeting with members of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team Thursday to discuss key issues the new administration will face as it comes into office.

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL: The Republican did not seek re-election to the U.S. Senate in the recent election. Over the course of the Iraq war, Hagel has emerged as a critic of the Bush administration.

SEN. JACK REED: The Rhode Island Democrat serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and was mentioned as a possible running mate for Obama.

Click here for additional CNN short lists for Obama’s potential cabinet.

Gates will meet with President-elect Obama's transition team Thursday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has long said he wants to ensure a smooth transition at the Pentagon with the Obama administration, but it may be a while before some of the big secrets are revealed to the new team.

Gates will have his first substantive meeting with members of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team Thursday to discuss key issues the new administration will face as it comes into office.

But CNN has learned that the Obama transition team will not immediately be provided classified information on current military operations and plans, certain National Security Council matters, intelligence programs and future DOD budget plans for the time being, under the terms of a memo sent to senior DOD officials by Gates' top aide.

CNN has obtained a copy of the three-page memo, sent to all top department civilian and military officials November 19 by aide Robert Rangel.

It outlines what can and cannot be shared at this point with Obama's transition staff.

According to the memo, until there is "further guidance," there will be no disclosure of "sensitive information" in the following categories: "current military operations; special access programs; pre-decisional budget information; contingency operations/plans; personnel records; privileged and other legally protected information; competition sensitive information; and active National Security Council policy deliberations."

Other classified information can only be provided to transition team members who have appropriate security clearances. CNN has confirmed that at least six of the Obama transition officials have been granted interim security clearances that give them access to so-called "sensitive compartmented information."

SCI clearances are one of the highest levels of clearances in order to control access to especially sensitive information.

Meanwhile, there is still no word on whether Gates is being asked to stay on the job by the president-elect or whether he would stay if asked.

People in Kisumu, Kenya, celebrate the election of Barack Obama.

(CNN) – President-elect Barack Obama is poised to restore the United States' image in the international community, but experts say the president-elect must show the world that his actions will live up to his rhetoric.

Receiving a warm welcome is not the same as maintaining one, and Obama has a lot of work to do to improve the U.S. brand.

America's image has declined in nearly every region of the world in recent years, but Obama's victory "enables the United States to start again with a clean slate," according to John Quelch, the senior associate dean at Harvard Business School.

"Americans can actually go to dinner parties and cocktail receptions around the world today and not have to apologize for the United States the way they have had to do the last several years," he said. "The election has made life a little bit easier for Americans living and traveling abroad to hold their head up high again."

The United States' tarnished reputation has been fueled by a combination of factors, including opposition to U.S. policies like the invasion of Iraq and alleged torture and abuse of prisoners, the perception of hypocrisy, unilateralism, lack of contact with Americans and the perceived war on Islam, according to a congressional report released last summer.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - At the Pentagon they call it “burrowing”.

Political appointees– typically low level - are scrambling to hold onto their positions in the next administration by getting their job description changed from “political” to “career civil service”.

Political appointees serve at the pleasure of president, while career civil servants are hired on merit, and are supposed to be non-ideologues who serve any administration.

There have been accusations leveled at the White House that the appointees of doing so to further the Bush administration agenda, which the White House denies. But here in the halls of the Pentagon they see another motive. Already there’s some grousing from long-time Pentagon staffers who see relative newcomers angling to keep their plum jobs.

“It’s a lot of 20-something who have jobs where they get someone coffee”, harps one veteran of several transitions.

“I know two people in political jobs who are bragging they will be staying,” the staffer told CNN on condition of anonymity.

The burrowing doesn’t involve really high-level staffers, such as Assistant Secretaries of Defense. They are too high-profile to slip by.

The White House said that political appointees who want to keep their jobs need to go through a hiring process outlined by the Office of Personnel Management which makes the decision on a case-by-case basis based on the person’s merits and other applicants for the job.

The typical attempted burrower in the Pentagon is an office secretary or low-level assistant. Or even someone in a job created just for them.

Take the Pentagon’s main Public Affairs office for example. Eight years ago at the end of the Clinton Administration there were only four political appointees. Today there are more than a dozen.

And some may try to stay on, by “burrowing in.”

It’s a time honored bureaucratic tradition.

Fmr. Pres. Bill Clinton has agreed to several concessions in Hillary Clinton’s vetting for Secretary of State.

(CNN) –- A major obstacle in Hillary Clinton’s path to becoming President-elect Barack Obama’s secretary of state may be out of the way, as former President Bill Clinton has made several concessions to help move his wife’s vetting process along.

A source familiar with the discussions between Sen. Clinton and the president-elect confirms to CNN that the former president will release the names of several major donors to the Clinton Foundation as well as submitting future foundation activities and paid speeches to a strict ethics review.

In addition, the former president is offering to step down from his day-to-day responsibilities at the foundation and inform the State Department of his speaking schedule and any new sources of income.

President Clinton’s international and financial dealings with his foundation and presidential library have been a sticking point with an Obama camp worried that Sen. Clinton’s position in the cabinet could create a potential conflict of interest as the country’s top diplomat.

There are some new faces at the Pentagon.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Just when we thought it would be hard to tell the faceless bureaucrats in the Obama transition office from other the 24,000 faceless bureaucrats who already work in this building, the Pentagon Pass office made it simple.

The new arrivals have been issued “Purple” badges, which make then stick out like a sore thumb.

Most pentagon badges are white. Contractors get pink.

And the press badges are blue.

Perhaps that will help the purple badge people know to shut up when they see someone with a blue badge.

The transition team –we’ve been told - is under strict order not to talk to news reporters.

Obama's staff picks have critics questioning his call for change.

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) - Barack Obama pledged to bring "fundamental change to Washington" as he campaigned for the White House, but as the president-elect fills out his administration, critics say they're just seeing more of the same.

More than half of the people named to Obama's transition or staff posts have ties to former president Bill Clinton's administration.

The Clinton-heavy team has caused some Republicans to question Obama's call for change.

"I think several individuals are very frustrated to think that President-elect Obama may just cut and paste from some of the Democratic operatives from the Clinton administration and put them into his White House," said Leslie Sanchez, a Republican strategist and CNN contributor.

Republicans aren't the only ones who want Obama to branch out. Robert Kuttner, a liberal and author of "Obama's Challenge" says the President-elect should broaden his recruiting efforts.

"It's not as if the only competent people who ever served in government or who are capable of serving in government are veterans of the Clinton administration, so he's got to be careful how many Clintonistas he appoints to top level government posts," he said.

Before Clinton, however, Democrats had not been in the White House since Jimmy Carter, and most of those in his administration are too old to serve again under Obama.

Lanny Davis, President Clinton's former special council, lobbied publicly for Obama to choose Sen. Hillary Clinton as his running mate during the campaign. Despite what critics say, Davis says real change is about policy, not people.

"What this conversation is about is laughable if you ask people in America what they care about. They care about the economy, jobs, education, health care. They don't care about whether somebody who fills a particular box is from a prior administration," he said.

The Obama transition team said in a statement that they are dedicated to building a well-rounded administration.

"President-elect Obama is committed to putting together a competent team that is diverse in many ways, including experience. Serving in high level positions, whether in government, in the private sector or in public service, is seen as a positive," spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

Among the so-called "Clintonistas" is the former president's wife, who is widely considered the frontrunner to be the next secretary of state.

Obama last week asked Sen. Clinton if she would consider taking on the post, multiple sources told CNN. Her response is expected this week.

Observers say President Clinton could pose an obstacle to his wife becoming secretary of state, given his extensive international business dealings and global foundation.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the former president has offered to release information related to any future charitable and business activities, citing Democrats with knowledge of the discussions. That move could smooth Sen. Clinton's path to the new job.

Obama's latest selection - Eric Holder - also has ties to Clinton. The newly tapped attorney general served in the Clinton administration as deputy attorney general to Janet Reno.

Rahm Emanuel, the incoming White House chief of staff, is a former top aide to President Clinton.

And Peter Orszag, the head of the Congressional Budget Office, was picked to head Obama's Office of Management and Budget, a top Democratic source told CNN Tuesday. Orszag worked at the Clinton White House as special assistant to the president at the National Economic Council and served on the Council of Economic Advisers.

There has been little word, however, regarding the way the president-elect's transition team is going about business in the Pentagon, but that is because they are under strict orders not to talk to the news media, according to a senior Pentagon official who has been interacting with the transition team.

The reason is because there still is no signed Memorandum of Understanding, an agreement between the Bush administration and President-elect Obama's transition team that spells out who is allowed access to classified information and what degree of classified information that are allowed to see,
sources say. Once that is done, Pentagon officials expect the pace of transition planning to pick up.

– CNN's Jessica Yellin and Jamie McIntyre contributed to this report.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden attend a rally in front of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The comparisons are eerily similar.

Both Abraham Lincoln and President-elect Barack Obama were not from Illinois but became two of the state's top politicians.

They were both criticized for being too inexperienced to become president of the United States.

Both were raised by women other than their mothers (Lincoln by his stepmother and Obama by his grandmother) and later visited the women before their respective inaugurations. Both women died before the respective inauguration days.

Lincoln, a Republican, and Obama, a Democrat, will be noted as relatively young presidents: Lincoln was 51 when he took office. Obama will be 47.

The two tall and lanky politicians also wrote best-selling books before becoming president.

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It is still unknown who will replace Obama in the Senate.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President-Elect Barack Obama resigned from the Senate earlier this week setting off a mad scramble to fill the two remaining years of his six-year term representing Illinois.

More than half a dozen people ranging from state lawmakers to current congressmen have been mentioned as potential successors to Obama. But it will not be the future commander-in-chief who will choose the next Illinois senator. Instead, that power rests in the hands of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a fellow Democrat. Blagojevich has maintained his decision will not be made in haste, and he wants “to ensure that Obama’s successor will understand and fight for the needs of average Illinoisans.”

There is no clear successor in the wings and in the old school politics that shape the Illinois and Chicago landscape, Blagojevich will likely weigh several factors as he makes this decision notwithstanding his own possible re-election in 2010.

Candidates likely being considered for the open Senate seat:

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis
Illinois Dept. of Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth
U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.
Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr.
Illinois Attorney Gen. Lisa Madigan
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky

Money donated to support Obama's campaign can't be used for the transition or the inauguration so President-elect Obama is still fundraising.

(CNN) - After raising a staggering amount of money for the general election, President-elect Barack Obama must now rake in more cash for his transition and inauguration.

There is about $9.74 million of taxpayer funds available to pay for the transition, but experts say that's not enough.

To make up the difference, past presidents have turned to private money and corporate cash.

Obama's transition team, however, is taking pains to keep lobbyists out of his transition and forgo corporate cash.

John Podesta, the co-chair of Obama's transition team, has vowed to make this "the most open and transparent transition in history," but Obama has not explicitly outlined his intentions for the inauguration.

The transition team said an announcement will be made next week on how the event will be funded.

The Obama team will have to balance how to raise enough money without contradicting Obama's tough talk during the campaign against lobbyists.

"I really do hope Obama sticks by his principles and does not accept corporate money, does not accept money from lobbyists, and places a very, very low ceiling on the amount of money he'd accept from individuals to pay for his inauguration," said Craig Holman, a legislative representative for Public Citizen.

Public Citizen is a national nonprofit organization that says it advocates for consumer interests in Congress and openness and democratic accountability in government.

The group says companies sometimes contribute cash to the inauguration in order to buy influence.

President Bush raised a record $42.8 million for his second inauguration, and according to Public Citizen, more than 90 percent of donations to that ceremony were from executives or corporations.

Bush limited corporate donations to $250,000 each in order to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

Obama could decide to accept corporate donations for the inauguration, but may impose tighter limits.

"I think past presidents have had to raise lots of private money to do these things. And I think he's actually got a good resource base of donors that are willing and probably will give money for both the transition effort, but also the inaugural campaign as well," said David Lewis, a professor of political science at Vanderbilt University and author of "The Politics of Presidential Appointments."

Even without corporate cash, the Obama fundraising machine has been a force. Nearly half of the record $639 million that his campaign raised during the primaries and general election came in the form of donations of $200 or less.

As of mid-October, the Obama campaign had spent about $594 million, but any money left over from the general election cannot go toward the transition.

The president-elect could return that money to contributors, donate it to charity, form a political action committee or contribute to other candidates, PACs or party committees, as long as he stayed within the federal contribution limits.

Obama could also hold on to the money and use it for a future federal campaign, like a re-election bid.

The public will get a better idea of exactly how much cash is on hand when the next reports are filed with the Federal Election Commission on December 4.

Condoleezza Rice met with members of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team Monday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Members of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team met with key officials in the Defense and State Departments Monday, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Rice met with Tom Donilon and Wendy Sherman, Obama's State Department transition team leaders, and promised a smooth hand-over, according to State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood.

In the half hour meeting, held at Rice's request, Rice "expressed her desire to work closely with the team on a smooth and professional transition," Wood said.

Across the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia, Obama's Defense Department transition team leaders, John White and Michele Flournoy, made office calls to four senior officials and requested more meetings for later this week, senior Pentagon officials said.

White and Flournoy met with Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel David Chu, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition John Young and Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence James Clapper, according to senior Pentagon officials.

Flournoy also met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff's transition head, Kenneth F. McKenzie, while 17 members of the Obama transition staff came into the Pentagon Monday to fill out paperwork and get access badges, according to Pentagon officials.

On Friday, White and Flournoy met with Defense Secretary Robert Gates' transition head, Robert Rangel. The meeting lasted about 90 minutes, according to Pentagon officials.

Both Friday and Monday's meetings have been described by Pentagon officials as courtesy calls prior to the coming work between the offices.

Sherman and Donilon also first arrived at the State Department transition offices on Friday and met with the three top State Department officials working on the transition.

State Department officials said that two other transition team members also arrived Monday. Gayle Smith, a former Clinton official on Africa and Aaron Williams, a former U.S. Agency for International Development official who is currently a development executive, will be handling the transition for USAID.

More than a dozen more Obama transition officials are expected to arrive at the State Department in the coming days, the officials said.

Ron Klain will be Vice-President-elect Joe Biden's chief of staff according to a Democratic source.

(CNN) – Ron Klain, former chief of staff for Vice President Al Gore, has agreed to serve in the same post under Vice President-elect Joe Biden, a Democratic source involved in the transition tells CNN.

Klain also served as general counsel of Gore's Florida recount effort, and was recently portrayed by Kevin Spacey in an HBO movie about the event. Reached by CNN, Klain would not confirm or deny reports he had accepted the position, but the Democratic source said it was a "done deal."

Klain previously worked with Biden when he served as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the early 1990's. At that time, Biden was chairman of the committee.

Klain is a graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Law School.

– CNN's Suzanne Malveaux and Martina Stewart contributed to this report

Bush reflected on his presidency Tuesday.

(CNN) - As his presidency nears its end, a reflective President Bush suggested Tuesday he regrets some of his more blunt statements on the war on terror over the last eight years.

"I regret saying some things I shouldn't have said," Bush told CNN's Heidi Collins Twhen asked to reflect on his regrets over his two terms as president. "Like 'Dead or Alive' and 'Bring 'em on.' My wife reminded me that, hey, as president of the United States be careful what you say."

The interview, aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid in New York City, came after the president addressed a Veterans Day Ceremony.

Shortly after the attacks of September 11, the president said of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden: "I want justice. There's an old poster out West that said, 'Wanted, dead or alive.' " Bush was also criticized in 2003 for his answer addressing insurgents in Iraq.

"There are some who feel like that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is bring them on," he said then.

The president said he wishes he had not spoken in front of a "Mission Accomplished" banner he declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003. The now-infamous moment occurred aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln only a month after U.S. troops in Iraq were deployed.

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NEW YORK (CNN) - Both the White House and a senior aide to President-elect Obama on Tuesday emphatically denied there had been any attempt on the part of President Bush - while meeting with Obama on Monday - to link a federal bailout of the struggling auto industry or a second stimulus package to passage of a Colombia free trade deal.

Those two financial packages are favored by many Democrats, including Obama, while the free trade deal remains a top priority for the outgoing administration.

Full story

Obama and President Bush wave to reporters as they head into the Oval Office on Monday.

(CNN) – At their private Oval Office meeting on Monday, President-elect Barack Obama urged President Bush to support billions of dollars in aid for the struggling auto industry during the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress, according to three officials briefed on the meeting.

The officials said Bush privately expressed skepticism about taxpayer money for automakers on the heels of a string of government bailouts for other industries, and the president also urged Obama to help push through a free trade pact with Colombia – a key legacy item for the outgoing administration that is facing stiff resistance from Democrats on Capitol Hill.

But a senior Bush administration official seemed to downplay suggestions that Bush was offering a quid pro quo by saying the White House still believes the trade deal “deserves to pass on its own merits” without being linked to anything else.

The officials familiar with the meeting said Obama made the case that dramatic action needs to be taken this year – rather than after he is sworn into office – because the Big Three U.S. automakers are bleeding cash at an alarming rate.

One of the officials noted that about one in ten jobs in America are tied to the auto industry, and if one of the companies goes bankrupt it could have a massive spillover effect into the credit industry and other sectors. “The numbers are so staggering,” said the official. “It’s a huge piece of the financial fabric of the country.”

The senior Bush administration official said the White House is “open to ideas from Congress to accelerate funds they’ve already appropriated” to help the auto industry.

But the administration official said support would come “as long as funding will continue to go to viable firms and with strong taxpayer protections” linked to the auto industry aid.

An official in the auto industry told CNN that bringing the Colombian pact into the negotiations could be a poison pill that prevents passage of an auto industry package. But a senior Democratic aide suggested Congress may be willing to call Bush’s bluff and try to pass an auto industry aid package without the trade deal.

The senior aide said Democrats do not believe “this president wants to add the demise of GM to his legacy list.”

President-elect Barack Obama may overturn many of the executive orders that President Bush implemented.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President-elect Barack Obama could reverse some of President Bush's most controversial executive orders, including restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, shortly after taking office in January.

Two other executive orders from Bush - one dealing with a so-called "gag" order on international aid organizations regarding abortion, the other with oil and gas drilling on federal lands - also are receiving increased scrutiny.

Obama's transition team is reviewing hundreds of Bush's executive orders, according to John Podesta, Obama's transition co-chair.

New presidents often use executive orders to put their stamp on Washington quickly. Unlike laws, which require months to complete and the consent of Congress, presidents can use their executive authority to order federal agencies to implement current policies.

"Much of what a president does, he really has to do with the Congress - for example, budgeting, legislation on policy - but executive actions are ones where the president can act alone," said Martha Kumar of the White House Transition Project, a nonpartisan group established to help new presidential administrations.

Full story

CNN=Politics Daily is The Best Political Podcast from The Best Political Team.

(CNN)—President-elect Barack Obama is back in Chicago Tuesday after meeting with President Bush. In the latest installment of CNN=Politics Daily, White House correspondent Ed Henry has the latest on the Obama transition details and how the meeting went.

Plus: Gun sales have spiked across the country since Obama’s victory November 4. Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena explains why some rifle owners fear Obama will be too strict with gun laws.

Meanwhile: The Constitution says little about the duties of a vice president. CNN’s Alina Cho reports on what Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s role will be in the Obama administration.

Finally: Even though their move-in date is still months away, the President-elect and his family are wasting no time preparing for the move. CNN’s Randi Kay explains what awaits them in Washington.

Click here to subscribe to CNN=Politics Daily.

First lady Laura Bush visits with Michelle Obama on Monday during the Obamas' visit to the White House.

(CNN)—While President-elect Barack Obama met with President Bush Monday, Mrs. Obama met with head White House Usher Adm. Stephen W. Rochon to discuss how she wants things to operate when they move in in January.

Sources say they discussed everything from how to request meals, what they like to eat, and how formal a presence she wants the White House Staff to have.

An aide says the Obamas are pretty informal, but would not divulge specific requests at the time.

President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama meet in the Oval Office on Monday.

(CNN) – President-elect Barack Obama was taking time out from piecing together his leadership team Tuesday to honor the country's fallen veterans.

Obama planned to lay a wreath in Chicago, Illinois, while Vice President-elect Joe Biden was giving a speech at a Veterans Day event in New Castle, Delaware.

John Podesta, the co-chair of the Obama-Biden transition team, was expected to provide an update on the presidential transition Tuesday afternoon.

No Cabinet appointments were expected this week, but Obama's transition team could make some key staff announcements as early as Tuesday.

With the transition process under way, President Bush welcomed the president-elect to the White House on Monday.

The two had a "relaxed" and "friendly" meeting, a White House spokesman said.

Full story

President Bush and Laura Bush welcome Barack and Michelle Obama to the White House on Monday.

(CNN) – President Bush and first lady Laura Bush welcomed President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, to the White House on Monday afternoon.

Bush and Obama held a private meeting in the Oval Office, while the first lady gave the incoming first lady a tour of the residence.

The president and president-elect walked together along the colonnade by the Rose Garden before entering the Oval Office together. They briefly waved to reporters along the way.

Obama and Bush were not expected to speak on camera following their meeting.

An aide to Obama said they were "going to let the pictures speak for themselves."

The two met in the Oval Office for just over an hour. When President George H.W. Bush hosted President-elect Bill Clinton after the 1992 election, the two talked for nearly two hours.

Monday's meeting was a historic formality, but it was also a time for serious talks. It marked the first time that Obama has visited the Oval Office.

Full story

President-elect Obama's transition team has begun pondering what to do with Guantanamo inmates.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President-elect Obama's transition team has begun examining what to do with suspected terrorists at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which Obama has pledged to close, an aide said Monday.

Denis McDonough, a senior adviser to the incoming Democrat, told CNN no decisions have been made about what to do with the roughly 250 inmates there, "and there is no process in place to make that decision until his national security and legal teams are assembled."

But officials close to the Obama team said Monday that the incoming administration is pondering whether to try some of the Guantanamo Bay inmates in existing federal courts; set up a special national security court to deal with cases involving the most sensitive intelligence information; or release others.

The scenario would eliminate the military commissions set up by the Bush administration to prosecute some of the top al Qaeda figures now held at the facility, such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - the lead plotter of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

The commissions have been delayed for years by legal challenges, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled an earlier version of them unconstitutional in 2006.

In a full-page ad in The New York Times on Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union urged Obama to close the prison camp on his first day in office, "with the stroke of a pen."

But in an October 31 interview with CNN, Obama said only that he would close the facility "as quickly as we can do prudently."

"I am not going to give a time certain because I think what we have to do is evaluate all those who are still being held in Gitmo," he said. "We have to put in place appropriate plans to make sure they are tried, convicted and punished to the full extent of the law, and that's going to require, I think, a
review of the existing cases, which I have not had the opportunity to do."

President-elect Barack Obama has put forth an aggressive agenda for his administration, supporters say.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The transition team for President-elect Barack Obama has indicated it plans to hit the ground running with what could be big changes for the country.

But that massive agenda has Republicans - and some Democrats - wary of moving too fast.

Democrats are eyeing an ambitious agenda with plans to take on the economy, health care, energy and education - issues that are all intertwined, according to a leader of Obama's transition team.

"So these are all core, if you will, economic questions, and they need to be tackled together, and I think he'll have a program and a strategy to move aggressively across all those fronts," John Podesta said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition."

A similar message is coming from Rep. James Clyburn, one of Obama's chief allies in Congress.

Full story

President-elect Barack Obama will meet President Bush on Monday afternoon in the White House.

(CNN) - President-elect Barack Obama will set foot inside the Oval Office for the first time Monday as he meets with President Bush to talk about the problems his incoming administration will face.

The meeting between president and president-elect is a historic formality, but it's also a time for serious talks.

The two are expected to discuss "a broad range of issues," focusing on the economy, according to a leader of Obama's transition team.

"It's clear that we need to stabilize the economy, to deal with the financial meltdown that's now spreading across the rest of the economy. The auto industry is really, really back on its heels," transition team leader John Podesta said.

Podesta told CNN's "Late Edition" that Obama will push Congress to enact "at least part" of an economic package before he takes office in January, but said the problems Americans face need short- and long-term approaches.

The president and president-elect also are expected to talk about national security and the war in Iraq.

Full story

Dennis Madsen is planning to drive from Atlanta to Washington so his son, Adlai, can see the inauguration.

(CNN) - It may be freezing in Washington in January, but the city is a red-hot destination for people around the country and the world eager to see President-elect Barack Obama sworn into office.

he nation's capital is preparing for a massive influx of visitors on Inauguration Day - January 20, 2009 - and the surrounding period of festivities, galas and celebrations.

"We've had a tremendous amount of interest from travelers who want to be here for the big historic moment," said Rebecca Pawlowski, director of communications for Destination DC, Washington's official convention and tourism corporation.

"It's certainly safe to say [crowds will be bigger compared to] the last inauguration, just because whenever there's a change in administration and whenever there's a change of party, it always fuels a little more interest."

Some Americans began making their travel plans well before the election, excited by the possibility of seeing the first African-American become president of the United States.

Full story

Obama named Rahm Emanuel chief of staff Thursday.

(CNN) – Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a top House Democrat, has agreed to be Barack Obama's chief of staff, Obama announced Thursday.

"No one I know is better at getting things done than Rahm Emanuel," Obama said in a statement announcing the appointment.

Emanuel responded, also in a written statement, "I'm leaving a job I love to join your White House for one simple reason - I want to do everything I can to help deliver the change America needs."

Emanuel, a former top aide to President Bill Clinton, choked up earlier in the day as he said how glad he was his parents are alive to see him have the choice of becoming chief of staff for the first African-American president.

Related: Emanuel expected to bring 'tough minded' approach to White House

Emanuel, 48, was elected to Congress in 2002 after having been a top aide to President Bill Clinton.

He later helped the Democrats wrest majority control of the House from the Republicans in 2006, when he ran the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Obama and Emanuel are both from Chicago.

The Republican leader in the House criticized the choice of Emanuel - who has a reputation as a tough political infighter - even before it was confirmed.

"This is an ironic choice for a president-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil, and govern from the center," Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a written statement.

The chief of staff oversees and coordinates activities and communication among various departments of an administration.

Obama is also expected to announce his press secretary pick as early as Thursday afternoon, and observers believe it will be Robert Gibbs, the communications director for his presidential campaign.

Gibbs said the report that he has been offered the job is "ahead of itself."

Obama will hold a news conference Friday, his first since winning the election Tuesday, an Obama transition official said.

He may announce key administrative appointments, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity when discussing Obama's plans. Obama also is expected to take questions from reporters, the official said.

Also announced Thursday was that Obama and his wife, Michelle, will visit the White House on Monday.

Bush and Obama will meet in the Oval Office, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, while Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Obama will meet in and tour the private residence.

Obama was considering who will be on his transition team long before Tuesday's election declared him the nation's leader, and several Republicans were on the short list.

Obama is thinking about bringing GOP Sen. Richard Lugar and retiring Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel on board, according to sources close to the president-elect.

Hagel, R-Nebraska, is a Vietnam War veteran and fierce critic of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war.

Lugar, R-Indiana, is minority leader of the Foreign Relations Committee and worked with Obama last year to expand a program aimed at destroying weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union.

Also, the sources say Obama is considering adding Robert Gates - Bush's defense secretary - to his national security team.

It is common for presidential candidates to begin setting up a transition team before they are elected. The 10 weeks between the election and the inauguration are not enough time to assemble a team to lead the country.

CNN senior political analyst Gloria Borger said that it's important to take steps quickly to set the right tone, pointing to President Clinton, who waited weeks to fill Cabinet positions and announced many of his top staffers just five days before he was sworn in.

"Everything you do early on in a presidency gets magnified. You don't want to make the same mistakes that Bill Clinton made," she said.

John Podesta, a former chief of staff under Clinton, is among those leading Obama's transition team. Valerie Jarrett, one of Obama's top advisers, and Peter Rouse, Obama's Senate chief of staff, are also involved in the effort.

Filling out his economic team is a top priority for Obama as he begins to implement a strategy to quell the economic crisis.

"This is one of the first times that I can remember that the secretary of the treasury is going to be almost as important as the secretary of state," said CNN senior political analyst David Gergen, who served in the Reagan and Clinton administrations.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Thursday that he looks forward to a "smooth" transition.

"I congratulate Sen. Obama on the election and look forward to working with his team to ensure that there is a smooth and effective transition. A methodical and orderly transition is in the best interests of the financial markets and Treasury is committed to making sure that the incoming team can hit
the ground running in January," he said in a written statement.

Names circulating for the secretary of the treasury position include Timothy Geithner, Lawrence Summers and Paul Volcker, among others.

Geithner helped deal with Wall Street's financial meltdown earlier this year, overseeing the acquisition of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase and the bailouts of AIG and Lehman Brothers. He was appointed president of the New York Federal Reserve in November 2003.

Summers was appointed treasury secretary in July 1999 and served as the chief economist of the World Bank from 1991 through 1993. Before his career in government, he taught economics at Harvard.

Volcker is a former chairman of the Federal Reserve, serving under Presidents Carter and Reagan. He also worked in the private sector as an investment banker and headed the investigation into the United Nations' oil-for-food program for Iraq.

The White House is holding an economic summit November 15. Obama could delay naming his economic team to avoid interfering with the G-20 summit.

Obama's national security team is another priority as the country fights wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It could also be an area where he goes outside his party for an appointee.

Hagel and Gates are both being considered.

Gates has served in Bush's Cabinet for almost two years. He worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for 27 years, serving as its director from 1991 through 1993. He also served as deputy national security adviser under President George H. W. Bush.

"What Barack Obama has to do in the transition time is set the tone," Borger said. "If he reaches out to Republicans in the Cabinet - if he decided to keep Bob Gates at Defense - that's really, really important."

A source tells Candy Crowley that David Axelrod will be named Senior Adviser to the President-elect.

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) – A source with the Obama Transition team tells CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley that a plan to name David Axelrod a Senior Adviser to the incoming President is "in the works."

Axelrod was the Obama presidential campaign's chief strategist, and a top adviser to Obama during his run for the Senate in 2004.

Obama and Biden will meet with a team of economic advisers Friday.

(CNN) - President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden will meet with their Transition Economic Advisory Board in Chicago Friday, followed by the pair's first official press conference since winning the White House, the transition team announced Thursday.

The members of the advisory board - which include former Treasry Secretaries Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin, former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, and billionaire businessman Warren Buffett - are listed after the jump.

(List released by the Obama campaign Thursday):

–David Bonior (Member House of Representatives 1977-2003)

–Warren Buffett (Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway)-will participate via speakerphone

–Roel Campos (former SEC Commissioner)

–William Daley (Chairman of the Midwest, JP Morgan Chase; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Commerce, 1997-2000)

–William Donaldson (Former Chairman of the SEC 2003-2005)

–Roger Ferguson (President and CEO, TIAA-CREF and former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve)

–Jennifer Granholm (Governor, State of Michigan)

–Anne Mulcahy (Chairman and CEO, Xerox)

–Richard Parsons (Chairman of the Board, Time Warner)

–Penny Pritzker (CEO, Classic Residence by Hyatt)

–Robert Reich (University of California, Berkeley; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Labor, 1993-1997)

–Robert Rubin (Chairman and Director of the Executive Committee, Citigroup; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Treasury, 1995-1999)

–Eric Schmidt (Chairman and CEO, Google)

–Lawrence Summers (Harvard University; Managing Director, D.E. Shaw; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Treasury, 1999-2001)

–Laura Tyson (Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley; Former Chairman, National Economic Council, 1995-1996; Former Chairman, President’s Council of Economic Advisors, 1993-1995)

–Antonio Villaraigosa (Mayor, City of Los Angeles)

–Paul Volcker (Former Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve 1979-1987)

The Pentagon is preparing for a war-time transition.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – As administration transition teams around Washington crank into high gear, Pentagon officials are insisting that the complicated transfer of power from the Bush administration to the Obama administration - the first during a time of war since Vietnam - will go smoothly.

Teams in both Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' office, as well as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, have been working on the transition for months now, according to Pentagon officials.

"We are preparing to make this as smooth a transition as we can," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said earlier this week.

While officials say the transition is in good hands, little is being said about what discussions will occur between the Pentagon teams and President-elect Barack Obama's transition teams when they begin showing up within days or weeks.

"There is a recognition that given that we are a nation at war, that energy and effort [should] be sufficiently placed to ensure that we don't drop any balls, because national security and supporting our fielded forces that are engaged in combat is of paramount importance to this country," Whitman explained.

Robert Rangel, special assistant to Gates and the deputy secretary of defense, is in charge of the transition process in the Pentagon while Marine Brig. Gen. Frank McKenzie, who reports to Rangel, is leading the effort for the Joint Staff.

Last month, Gates issued guidelines for the transition, stressing that the department must maintain its continuity of operations during the handover, and must ensure efficient and effective transition between the outgoing political leaders and the incoming administration, according to Whitman.

The Pentagon has opened new offices for Obama's transition staff. The non-descript offices are just down the hall from the secretary of defense's office and have been readied with computers, phones and filing cabinets.

The offices remain empty until staff is designated by Obama's team and cleared through the White House.

"The initial contact point for the Obama transition team will be through the White House and there will be a discussion on the way forward on the transition and what will happen out of that will be a memorandum of understanding that says 'these people will be working with the Defense Department' so we know who has been sanctioned and designated by the president-elect," Whitman said.

Obama and Bush are set to meet in the White House.

(CNN) – President-elect Barack Obama and President Bush are set to meet in the White House on Monday, a get-together both men say they are looking forward to.

“Michelle and I look forward to meeting with President Bush and the First Lady on Monday to begin the process of a smooth, effective transition," Obama said in a statement. "I thank him for reaching out in the spirit of bipartisanship that will be required to meet the many challenges we face as a nation."

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said the two men will sit down in the Oval Office.

"The President and Mrs. Bush look forward to welcoming President-elect and Mrs. Obama to the White House on Monday afternoon. The Bushes will greet the Obamas, and then the President will visit with the President-elect in the Oval Office," she said. "Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Obama will meet in and tour the Private Residence. We understand that the Obama children will not be accompanying them on this visit, but we very much look forward to meeting them."

Vice President-elect Biden said Thursday that he has not spoken to Sen. McCain since the election but also said he was still friends with McCain.

GEORGETOWN, Delaware (CNN) – As he headed back to Delaware to ceremonially “bury the hatchet” Thursday as part of a state tradition, Vice President-elect Joe Biden told reporters that John McCain was “still my friend.”

He also said that he and President-elect Obama had begun meeting daily to “flesh out the transition” – and did not deny speculation that Sen. John Kerry could be under consideration for a position in the new administration.

Last week, Biden had told reporters he was not sure if the friendship could be saved. “I don’t know, I hope [the friendship] is intact, John and I have not had a chance to speak,” Biden said. “I hope [it’s] intact because I still admire him, I still like him. ... I believe when this is over, win or lose, John and I are likely to be around in one form or another, in one job or another, and I hope, my hope is we can work together.”

The Delaware native said he hasn’t spoken to McCain – his friend of over three decades – since the Democratic ticket’s victory. Asked what he’d say to McCain and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin if they were on hand, Biden seemed to reach out to his Senate colleague, but did not seem as eager to make peace with the Arizona senator’s running mate.

“I’d say John, we’re still friends,” he said, adding “I don’t know Sarah Palin. I’m not being a wiseguy, you know, it’s over. I mean, I think it’s pretty remarkable, for the all the ups and downs, [a] pretty remarkable run for her. I mean, here’s a woman who is out of Wasilla as a mayor and then governor for two years. I think it’s pretty remarkable, pretty remarkable.

“But John’s still my friend. I say, John, I need you. We need you. This is an opportunity. We really mean what we said.... Barack and I met yesterday, and we’ll be meeting every day for a while until we flesh out this cabinet and everybody else. But we really mean it. We’ve got to reach out, man. You can’t get from here to there with just Democrats, you can’t do it. And I, and I’m…well anyway, when I talk to John, that is, that’s my, that’s what I’m going to tell him.”

Biden returned to Delaware on Thursday to participate in the state’s tradition of Returns Day, the Thursday after Election Day when state party officials literally bury a hatchet while the winning and losing candidates ride in carriages together in a parade.

On the flight from Chicago, he regaled a small group of reporters with stories about the day and discussed the transition.

“There’s a sense of excitement about it because yesterday we really did, five of us in a room, seven of us in a room, really actually beginning to put together a government,” said Biden, who said he and Obama planned to meet every day. “We’ve thought a lot about it but it was the first time - he’s as superstitious as I was - and the first time we actually started talking about names and places and organizations and it’s…there’s a sense of we both know it’s going to be a very difficult road.

“...I think the world is looking to us - not Barack and me - looking to America in the same way the public’s looking to us. They sense there’s a need for immediate help, immediate help for people drowning,” said Biden. “Not a new form of our government but a new international architecture.

“We need some really good thinking and what I’m excited about is there’s an awful lot of talented people out there, an awful lot of talented people who are ready, who are thinking this way,” he added. “Thinking around the curve rather than just beginning to try to catch up.”

Asked if Sen. John Kerry - whose name has been floated for Secretary of State - is one of those people, Biden agreed but didn’t reveal anything more. “Senator Kerry’s one of those guys, sure.”