Appointments Watch: Will DoD get Coats?

Defense

Ex-Indiana GOP Sen. Dan Coats "emerged as the leading candidate" for DoD Secretary yesterday when he met with Bush over lunch," reported The Washington Post.

Campaign sources "said Coats had edged out" Pennsylvania GOP Gov. Tom Ridge. The Erie [Pa.] Times-News reported that "for the second time in six months," Ridge "has placed a phone call to Dick Cheney privately withdrawing from consideration for a high-level Bush appointment while publicly still being very much in the headlines." Ridge spokesperson Tim Reeves "declined to characterize" Ridge's Dec. 6 phone call with Cheney as a "withdrawal," but as a "reaffirmation" of his July 25 statement that Ridge would complete his second term as governor, which ends in two years.

Health and Human Services

Wisconsin GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson was expected to travel to Washington Tuesday to meet with President-elect Bush or Vice President-elect Dick Cheney to discuss a possible appointment to the Cabinet, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Two sources "who spoke with Thompson over the weekend, but who asked not to be identified," said that Thompson "must decide soon--within days--whether he will join" the Bush administration, the paper reported. One source contended that Thompson was "mulling an offer" to become Secretary of Health and Human Services. Thompson has also been "linked" to other Cabinet slots, such as Transportation.

Justice

The Washington Times reports that Oklahoma GOP Gov. Frank Keating and Montana GOP Gov. Marc Racicot are the "leading contenders" to become Attorney General, with "many Republicans leaning" to Keating as the "odds-on favorite."

One career DoJ official contended: "The new administration is looking to someone they trust, and it believes that Keating and Racicot fit that bill, although Keating may have the background they need and Racicot may be better suited to head the Interior Department."

Keating spokesperson Dan Mahoney "confirmed" Keating's interest, but added that "no offers have been made or discussions held about the job."

Racicot spokesperson Mary Jo Fox noted that her boss has not said if he is headed to Washington, but added that he has "both the background and experience" to do the job. Fox: "The governor was a successful attorney general and special prosecutor, personally handling 90 cases including 56 murders during which he only lost three.... I don't have any information if he would accept an offer, although I don't believe any have yet been made."

Treasury

Alcoa chair and Rand Corp. chair Paul O'Neill "has emerged" as Bush's "most likely choice" as Treasury Secretary, according to The New York Times, but he is "not a marquee name on Wall Street or on Capitol Hill." However, O'Neill does have a "broad resume" that includes a "long stint" at the Office of Management and Budget and service on an "array of government commissions."

Fred Barnes of The Fox News Channel said of O'Neill: "There's one guy who's heard of him and that's why his name is there: Dick Cheney. Remember, he was in Washington in the Ford administration. Cheney knows him well."

Agriculture

The Washington Post reported that Bush met with ex-California Secretary of Food and Agriculture Ann Veneman on Monday. MSNBC's O'Donnell said Veneman "is the highest ranking woman ever to serve in the [USDA].... Many insiders are saying that since she served under President Bush... as a deputy director [at USDA] that she is a top pick for Agriculture Secretary."

Transportation

Utah Transportation Executive Director Tom Warne "has been contacted by the Bush team" about the Transportation Secretary job, according to a report in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

Utah GOP Gov. Mike Leavitt spokesperson Vicki Varela maintained that Warne "remains one of the top candidates for the job." Varela: "We know he's being looked at. ... His name is on the short list for the top position in [the Department of] Transportation."

Housing and Urban Development

The Orlando Sentinel reports that "when the sun sets" Tuesday, Orange County chair Mel Martinez "will have finished interviewing for a Cabinet position" as HUD Secretary.

Martinez, a "Cuban-born refugee who helped lead Bush's crucial campaign in Florida, appears to be on a very short list of candidates for the job."

One GOP consultant from Washington told the paper that the "fact that Martinez is meeting with Bush officials is significant because the President-elect's team is short of time and keeping interviews to a minimum."

"If the President of the United States calls you and asks you to serve on his Cabinet, there are very few Americans who wouldn't consider it," Martinez said.

Environmental Protection Agency

The Newark Star-Ledger reports that according to sources "familiar with the selection process," New Jersey GOP Gov. Christie Whitman met with Bush's transition team Monday in Washington and "departed the front-runner" for EPA administrator. While no formal offer was made, it "could come before the week is out."

Sources maintained that Whitman's "first choice" would be United Nations ambassador, but that the Bush team "is more interested in persuading her" to lead the EPA.