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Obama to name Geithner, Summers to economic posts

 President-elect Barack Obama will announce the leaders of his economic team Monday, naming Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary and Lawrence Summers to direct the National Economic Council, transition officials said.

If confirmed by the Senate, Geithner, 47, president of the New York Federal Reserve, would be the top Cabinet official in charge of leading the administration's response to the global economic crisis. Word of his likely selection Friday helped send the Dow Jones Industrials soaring 500 points after several days of steep losses.

One top Democrat said John Podesta, a leader of Obama's transition team, had told Senate aides on Friday that Obama hoped for speedy confirmation so the new administration could get to work quickly thereafter.

Geithner (pronounced GITE-ner) served as a Treasury Department official during the Clinton administration, where he played a major role in negotiating assistance packages for South Korea and Brazil.

Summers, 53, a former treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and one-time president of Harvard University, will advise Obama from the White House. Officials said he would coordinate the federal response to the economic meltdown across several agencies, including a plan Obama announced Saturday to create or save 2.5 million jobs by rebuilding infrastructure and modernizing schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars.

During the Clinton administration, Summers helped craft the U.S. support program for Mexico during its 1995 financial crisis. He later helped lead the U.S. response to the Asian financial crisis of 1997.

Geithner and Summers were scheduled to appear with Obama at a press conference in Chicago Monday morning.

The announcement comes as Obama moves quickly to fill slots for his incoming administration. On Saturday, he named longtime spokesman Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary.

Ellen Moran will be director of communications in charge of getting Obama's message out. Her deputy in the White House will be Dan Pfeiffer, the communications director for Obama's presidential transition team.

In other positions, Obama is virtually certain to offer Congressional Budget Office chief Peter Orszag the job of directing the White House Office of Budget and Management, and Orszag is likely to accept, Democratic officials said Saturday.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton also is in line to become secretary of state, while Obama's choice for attorney general is Eric Holder. He held the No. 2 slot in the Justice Department in President Bill Clinton's administration.

Officials said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had emerged as a likely pick as commerce secretary, although he had hoped to be secretary of state. Like Clinton, he was a rival of Obama's for the Democratic presidential nomination last winter. He dropped out after the early contests, though, and soon threw his support behind the eventual winner. The officials spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the anticipated appointments.

The president-elect has largely stayed out of public view since his election on Nov. 4, preferring to work quietly with aides and Vice President-elect Joe Biden in a suite of offices in downtown Chicago.

Obama faces unusual challenges and has moved quickly in assembling his team. Former President George H.W. Bush made his first Cabinet pick the day after his election in 1988, but former President Clinton did not name any members until after Thanksgiving. President George W. Bush's transition was delayed by the contested result in Florida.

While speculation has been rampant about most top-level appointments, there has been relatively little about Obama's choice for defense secretary. His aides encouraged speculation before the election that Robert Gates, who now holds the position, would remain in office for an interim period.

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota has been chosen as secretary of health and human services and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is likely to be named as secretary of the Homeland Security Department.

Napolitano was an early supporter of candidate Obama among the ranks of Democratic governors, as was Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. Sebelius has figured prominently in recent days in speculation as possible secretary of labor.

Additionally, retired Gen. James Jones, a former Marine Corps commandant and NATO commander, was among those under consideration for national security adviser. James Steinberg, an Obama campaign aide who served in Clinton's White House, was another possibility, according to officials.

Obama has repeatedly referred to the economic crisis as the top priority for his new administration.

Geithner held posts in the Treasury Department under three administrations and five secretaries before moving to the New York Fed in 2003. He also held positions at the International Monetary Fund and was employed at the private firm of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

从资讯报道本身的价值来说，这篇报道的主题就是关于奥巴马组建新内阁的一个又一个举措，因为他需要把他的内阁职位一个个地填满

从上述资讯报道可以看出，美国联邦政府的“部”使用的是department一词，而不是更广泛地被使用的ministry这一英文单词，如Homeland Security Department就是美国在“9•11”恐怖事件之后增设的国土安全部，Justice Department就是司法部。需要特别注意的是，在美国，“部长”使用了secretary一词，而不是更常用的minister，因此，secretary of the Homeland Security Department就是国土安全部部长，而secretary of health and human services则是卫生与公众服务部部长，commerce secretary则是商务部长，secretary of labor就是劳工部长。在关于美国政府的“部”和“部长”头衔名称中，需要特别注意的是，财政部不是叫做department of finance而是department of treasury或treasury department，naming Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary就是提名蒂莫西•盖特纳出任财政部长，美国财政部的网址是www.ustreas.gov，其中的treas就是 treasury的一部分，相比之下，中国财政部的网址就是www.mof.gov.cn，其中的mof就是ministry of finance。另外需要注意的是，美国的司法部虽然叫做Justice Department，但是司法部长却并不是 Justice secretary，而是Attorney General。这里需要强调的是，国内媒体

这里顺便提一下奥巴马提名的新政府财政部长盖特纳目前担任的职务是president of the New York Federal Reserve，我国媒体称其为纽约联邦储备银行行长，似乎无甚不妥。但是，也有人产生了疑问，觉得在美国，联邦就代表着中央政府，怎么在纽约还有中央的政府机构？其实，简单地说，在美国，联邦储备