Government Executive has a bit of speculation at to the leader of Interior under President Obama. They write:
President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Interior secretary might come down to two Western House Democrats: a three-term Hispanic lawmaker and a five-term Blue Dog backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva appears to be the leading contender, but California Rep. Mike Thompson has Pelosi in his corner...
Thompson has the backing of hunting and fishing groups, while Grijalva is favored by environmental groups. Former two-term Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber -- another finalist to head Interior -- told the Associated Press this week he would bet on Grijalva. Several other sources following the Obama transition team's deliberations also cite Grijalva -- who chairs the House Natural Resources National Parks Subcommittee -- as the likely favorite.But the importance that the Interior Department holds for Western governors, as well as his executive experience, makes Kitzhaber a sleeper pick.A fourth finalist -- Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash. -- has also been mentioned in a long list of potential nominees to be Energy secretary.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Politico (Erika Lovley) writes:
Kevin Gover, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, is the newest name in the mix for interior secretary. A lawyer, he is a member of the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. A source close to the President-elect Barack Obama's transition says several environmental groups have contacted environmental transition head Carol Browner, urging her to consider Gover for the top Interior Department post.
Gover is a former partner in the law firm Steptoe & Johnson and had been assistant interior secretary for Indian affairs under Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in the Clinton administration...
But at least one environmental expert says that Gover may be too low-profile to lead the department. Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who has been a frontrunner for the post, has already asked Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to suspend what the congressman called the department's "deeply-flawed" environmental impact review of the area...
Eileen Maxwell, a spokeswoman for Gover, said he has not heard from the transition team and doesn't expect to.
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