Transition: Richardson at Commerce

The Washington Post writes up today’s expected announcement of Bill Richardson as Commerce secretary. “The job will add to an already lengthy Washington résumé for Richardson that includes stints as secretary of energy and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during President Bill Clinton's administration, as well as nearly two decades as a congressman representing New Mexico. He left the nation's capital in 2002 to run for governor of New Mexico and was reelected with 69 percent of the vote four years later… He is the first Hispanic to be selected for Obama's Cabinet. Should Richardson be confirmed as commerce secretary, New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish (D) would take over as the state's chief executive until Richardson's term runs out in two years.” Defense Secretary Robert Gates held a press conference yesterday, and he displayed the reasons why Obama kept him at his post. "Saying that his tenure would be ‘open-ended,’ Gates promised during a Pentagon news conference that he would not be ... (link)