First 100 Days of Barack Obama's Presidency - Administration and Cabinet

Administration and Cabinet

The Obama Cabinet
Office	Name	Term
President	Barack Obama	2009–present
Vice President	Joe Biden	2009–present
Secretary of State	Hillary Clinton	2009–2013
	John Kerry	2013–present
Secretary of Treasury	Timothy Geithner	2009–2013
	Jack Lew	2013–present
Secretary of Defense	Robert Gates*	2006–2011
	Leon Panetta	2011–2013
	Chuck Hagel	2013–present
Attorney General	Eric Holder	2009–present
Secretary of the Interior	Ken Salazar	2009–2013
	Sally Jewell	2013–present
Secretary of Agriculture	Tom Vilsack	2009–present
Secretary of Commerce	Gary Locke	2009–2011
	John Bryson	2011–2012
	Penny Pritzker	2013–present
Secretary of Labor	Hilda Solis	2009–2013
	Seth Harris**	2013–present
Secretary of Health and Human Services	Kathleen Sebelius	2009–present
Secretary of Education	Arne Duncan	2009–present
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Shaun Donovan	2009–present
Secretary of Transportation	Ray LaHood	2009–2013
	Anthony Foxx	2013–present
Secretary of Energy	Steven Chu	2009–2013
	Ernest Moniz	2013–present
Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Eric Shinseki	2009–present
Secretary of Homeland Security	Janet Napolitano	2009–present
Chief of Staff	Rahm Emanuel	2009–2010
	William Daley	2011–2012
	Jack Lew	2012–2013
	Denis McDonough	2013–present
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency	Lisa Jackson	2009–2013
	Bob Perciasepe**	2013–present
Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Peter Orszag	2009–2010
	Jack Lew	2010–2012
	Sylvia Mathews Burwell	2013–present
Ambassador to the United Nations	Susan Rice	2009–2013
	Rosemary DiCarlo**	2013–present
United States Trade Representative	Ron Kirk	2009–2013
	Michael Froman	2013–present
*Retained from previous administration **Acting ***Elevated to cabinet-level in January 2012

Twenty-two members of the Obama administration are either in the United States Cabinet (15) or are in positions considered to be Cabinet-level (7) and must be confirmed by the current Senate. The members of the Cabinet are the heads of the fifteen major departments (State, Defense, Justice, etc.), and the seven cabinet-level positions are the Vice President, White House Chief of Staff, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador to the United Nations, and Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Since Robert Gates was a member of the previous administration, his letter of resignation (a formality at the end of a President's term) was simply not accepted, and he did not need confirmation. On January 19, 2009, Senate Democratic leaders requested fifteen of the twenty-two positions to be ratified by unanimous consent, and seven gained unanimous confirmation by voice vote the next day: Ken Salazar, Steven Chu, Arne Duncan, Peter Orszag, Eric Shinseki, Tom Vilsack, and Janet Napolitano. On January 21, Obama presided over the swearing in of the seven unanimous nominees. Later that day, the Senate confirmed Hillary Clinton by a 94–2 vote. On January 22, several more confirmations were approved unanimously: Susan E. Rice, Ray LaHood, Lisa P. Jackson, and Shaun Donovan. On January 26, the Senate confirmed Timothy Geithner by a 60–34 margin, and Holder was confirmed on February 2 by a 75–21 margin. Of the 31 nominations that Obama has made to senior posts only 17 were approved in January.

Left to right: Salazar, Vilsack, Duncan, and Chu were unanimous Inauguration Day confirmations.

At the conclusion of Obama's first week as President, Hilda Solis, Tom Daschle, Ron Kirk, and Eric Holder had yet to be confirmed, and there had been no second appointment for Secretary of Commerce. Republicans were also delaying Solis's confirmation due to a perceived lack of transparency. Holder was later confirmed by a vote of 75–21 on February 2, and on February 3, Obama announced Senator Judd Gregg as his second nomination for Secretary of Commerce, since Bill Richardson had withdrawn amid a grand jury investigation into a state contract awarded to his political donors. Daschle withdrew later that day amid controversy over his failure to pay income taxes and potential conflicts of interest related to the speaking fees he accepted from health care interests. On February 12, Judd Gregg withdrew his nomination as Secretary of Commerce, citing "irresolvable conflicts" with President Obama and his staff over how to conduct the 2010 census and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. On February 24, Solis was confirmed by a 80–17 vote.

The same day rumours abounded that former Democratic two-term Washington governor Gary Locke would be named as the third Obama Commerce Secretary nominee. Locke was formally nominated on February 26, and was confirmed on March 24 by voice vote.

Left to right: Shinseki and Napolitano were Inauguration Day unanimous confirmations. LaHood and Donovan were confirmed unanimously two days later.

On March 2, Obama introduced Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius as his second choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services. He also introduced Nancy-Ann DeParle as head of the new White House Office of Health Reform, which he suggested would work closely with the Department of Health and Human Services. Ron Kirk was confirmed on March 18 by a 92–5 vote in the Senate., and by the end of March, Sebelius was the only remaining Cabinet member yet to be confirmed.

By comparison, Bill Clinton only had one outstanding Cabinet confirmation at the end of his first day in office and George W. Bush had all but one approved before February 1, 2001. Ronald Reagan had twelve of thirteen Cabinet members confirmed before February 1, and Jimmy Carter had all eleven of his confirmed. George H. W. Bush only had seven of thirteen confirmed by this time. Whereas his predecessors had to trade favours for contentious approvals such as Zoe Baird (Clinton), John Tower (G.H.W. Bush), or John Ashcroft (G.W. Bush), Obama has largely focused on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a proposed economic stimulus package totalling nearly $1 trillion.