Obama to tap California rep, ex-Dallas mayor for Cabinet

The president-elect attributed the economic woes to bad oversight.

CHICAGO (AP) — Nearing completion of his Cabinet, President-elect Barack Obama has selected California Rep. Hilda Solis as his labor secretary and former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk as U.S. trade representative, officials said Thursday.

Obama planned to formally announce those selections as early as today along with that of Republican Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois for transportation secretary, and, perhaps others.

Democratic officials also said Dennis Blair, a retired admiral and the former head of U.S. Pacific Command, is a leading contender to become director of national intelligence.

On Thursday, Obama named three veteran regulators to help clean up financial debacles. Amid a year-old recession that’s still deepening, Obama blamed much of the nation’s economic troubles on government regulators who “dropped the ball,” and he called for a return to ethics and tough enforcement.

The officials who talked about the selections spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss positions that had not yet been announced.

Solis, a Democratic congresswoman who is the daughter of Mexican and Nicaraguan immigrants, has focused on immigration and environment issues while in the House. Kirk, a partner in the Dallas office of the Houston-based powerhouse law and lobbying firm Vinson & Elkins, was the first black elected mayor of Dallas.

Obama is trying to get most of his major appointments out of the way before heading to Hawaii for a holiday vacation, and has held a news conference each day this week to unveil top positions. He has yet to announce senior intelligence positions, and numerous sub-Cabinet posts remain unfilled.

Standing before reporters Thursday, Obama named Securities and Exchange Commission veteran Mary Schapiro as chairwoman of that agency, former Treasury official Gary Gensler to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and law professor Daniel Tarullo to fill an empty Federal Reserve seat. All three will need to be confirmed by the Senate next year.

In making the announcements, Obama pointed to Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff, under investigation in an alleged $50 billion fraud, and said the scandal underscored the need for tougher regulators. The scandal “has reminded us yet again of how badly reform is needed,” he said.

The president-elect said his new team will help put in place new rules that will help “crack down on the culture of greed and scheming.”