Obama nominations to watch for after Thanksgiving

We hope President-elect Obama is able to get some rest this Thanksgiving weekend (we assume that will be out of the question Thursday, what with 60 guests in his Chicago home and all), because next week he will go into high gear with a slew of expected cabinet announcements.

After rolling out his economic team this week, word is that Obama next plans to announce key members of his national security and foreign policy team. The big name in the mix is, of course, Sen. Hillary Clinton, who by all accounts is a go for secretary of state.

News also broke this week that Obama plans to retain Robert Gates as defense secretary, with ABC News calling it a "done deal." It's an unprecedented move, as the New York Times points out:

Although Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Gerald R. Ford made no change at the top of the Pentagon when they took office, no president has kept a defense secretary from a predecessor in another party, Donald Ritchie, a Senate historian, said.

 

Politico's Mike Allen has more details about what to expect from next week's planned announcement, including the scoop on Obama's pick for national security adviser:

Retired Marine Gen. James Jones, former Marine commandant and commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Europe, will be named national security adviser ... The national security adviser heads the National Security Council, which is the part of the White House structure that deals with foreign policy, and varies in influence from presidency to presidency. Jones insisted on – and got – a commanding role.

 

AP has more about Jones.

Meanwhile, although "Obama's potential national security team looks like an all-star lineup," as CNN's Barbara Starr writes, Obama continues to face questions about whether "his campaign mantra of 'Change We Can Believe In' is being undermined by his decision to fill his administration with familiar faces," as the Washington Post puts it.

Obama addressed the issue in his Wednesday press conference:

"What we are going to do is combine experience with fresh thinking. But understand where the -- the vision for change comes from first and foremost. It comes from me. That's my job, is to provide a vision in terms of where we are going and to make sure, then, that my team is implementing it..."

"But what I don't want to do is to somehow suggest that because you served in the last Democratic administration that you're somehow barred from serving again, because we need people who are going to be able to hit the ground running."

 

Indeed, more familiar faces are in the running for other top spots, including Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano for secretary of homeland security -- an appointment that would make John McCain happy. NBC's First Read explains.

Finally, Obama likely will bring in yet another former rival as commerce secretary: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination. As Politico's Mike Allen reports it's a "consolation prize" for Richardson, formerly energy secretary and UN ambassador under Pres. Clinton. Richardson was hoping his foreign policy experience would win him the secretary of state post.

Curious about where other nominations stand? NBC's First Read has the complete more-names-than-you-probably-care-to-know list.