Aide: Obama will only 'scratch the surface' of hiring by January 20

The executive director of President-elect Barack Obama's transition, Chris Lu, told supporters on a conference call this afternoon that the transition will "really only scratch the surface as of January 20," and will still be filling administration jobs this spring and summer -- although "there are not that many jobs" for the thousands of hopefuls.

Lu spoke on a conference call arranged for fundraisers and other supporters by the transition, and offered insight into the pace of transition and some of the behind-the-scenes preparations, including plans for some swift policy changes when Obama comes into office.

The transition has "started developing executive orders that the pres elect is considering –not only ones the President-elect will sign after January 20, but also ones we will want to repeal," he said.

Lu, Obama's former Senate chief of staff and a law school classmate, took questions from supporters interested in administration jobs, among others. Lu praised the speed and quality of the transition.

"With 15 days left to go, we’re on our way to having the smoothest transitions in presidential history," he said, giving some credit to the Bush Administration which has "gone to extraordinary lengths" to ensure a smooth process, he said.

"We’ve named, we thought, every member of the Cabinet,– we’re now one short," Lu said, referring to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, whose replacement as Commerce Secretary will be named "very quickly," he said.

Lu told job seekers to "be patient" and that resumes will only be accepted on the transition website.

"There are about 364,000 people who have applied right now for maybe 7,000 political jobs in the administration," he said. "There are not that many jobs."

Saying that Obama is now focused on cabinet and sub-cabinet positions, he said "we will really only scratch the surface as of January 20."

"It will take us well into the spring if not early summer, to fill positions," he said.