US President-elect Obama on track to nominate Clinton as top diplomat

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is on track to nominate his former rival, New York Democratic Sen. Clinton as secretary of state after the Nov. 27 Thanksgiving holiday, a Democratic official told Reuters. Â

 

Clinton moved closer to taking the job after her husband, former President Bill Clinton, offered to allow ethics reviews of future business and charitable activities should she be picked by Obama as the country's top diplomat.

 

Bill Clinton and the Obama team have also worked out financial disclosure issues involving the former president, the official said.

 

The nomination would be a remarkable union between the former first lady who was an early favorite to win the presidency and the first-term senator who upset her in the primary and cruised to a general election victory.

 

Such a high-profile seat in the Cabinet for Clinton also would be another achievement for the most accomplished former first lady in U.S. history, who has been the first presidential spouse to serve in the Senate and run for the White House herself.

 

Some fellow Democrats and government insiders have questioned whether Clinton is too independent and politically ambitious to be an effective secretary of state.

 

But a senior Obama adviser said the president-elect has been enthusiastic about naming Clinton as secretary of state from the start, believing she would bring instant stature and credibility to U.S. diplomatic relations and that the advantages to her serving far outweighed potential downsides.

 

The advisers who explained Obama’s plans and thinking did so on a condition of anonymity because he was not ready to formally announce his plans.

 

But transition aides told The Associated Press that the two camps have worked out financial disclosure issues involving Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, and the complicated international funding of his foundation that operates in more than 40 countries.

 

The aides said Obama and Hillary Clinton have had substantive conversations about the secretary of state job.

 

Clinton has been mulling the post for several days, but the comments from the transition aides suggested that Obama’s team does not feel she is inclined to turn it down. Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines would not comment, except to say that anything about Cabinet appointments is for Obama’s transition team to address.

 

Clinton would have to surrender her Senate seat, which she has held for eight years, to take the job.