Obama working to fill up posts in new government

CHICAGO (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama intends to name former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mary Schapiro to head the much-criticized agency and wants to install GOP Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois as transportation secretary, Democratic officials said Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, he named former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as agriculture secretary and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar to head the Interior Department.

They, like LaHood and Schapiro, will require Senate confirmation before they can take their positions in the new administration.

Additionally, officials disclosed that Dr. Gail Russeau, a Chicago neurosurgeon, is a leading contender to become surgeon general.

Schapiro, who heads a nongovernment regulatory group for securities firms, is also a former head of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and former member of the SEC.

She has been appointed to government posts by two Republicans presidents and one Democratic chief executive.

If confirmed, she would take over an agency that has been criticized for failing to detect signs of trouble on Wall Street, where enormous losses by banks have contributed heavily to the current financial crisis.

LaHood, a 14-year veteran of the House, would become the second Republican to join the Cabinet-in-the-making.

With a two-week vacation in Hawaii beckoning, Obama is stepping up the pace of his appointments.

LaHood, 63, is stepping down from his congressional seat after 14 years in Congress from the area around Peoria.

He has been at the forefront of efforts to make the floor of the House less partisan. Respected for his ability to preside, he was in the chair during most of President Bill Clinton’s impeachment a decade ago.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, whom Obama asked to remain in office, is the other Republican tapped so far for the incoming Cabinet.

Vilsack’s first task will be to help the enormous agriculture department determine how to put the new $290 billion farm law in place. The five-year law, enacted by Congress over a Bush veto earlier this year, includes plump subsidies for a wide variety of crops.

Vilsack should have better luck pushing another of Obama’s priorities — promoting renewable fuels such as corn-based ethanol. As governor of the nation’s largest corn-producing state for eight years, Vilsack was a leader on the issue and made it a central part of his short-lived campaign for president. He also has endorsed tax breaks for the ethanol industry.

Obama has yet to announce his choices for the Labor Department, senior intelligence positions or the Office of U.S. Trade Representative.