Ex-Sen. Harris Wofford (D-PA) has emerged as a "leading candidate" for Labor Secretary. Wofford, who currently heads Clinton's AmeriCorps program, "has been vetted and approved by the AFL- CIO." Wofford: "I'm absolutely not campaigning for this job. Night and day, I'm doing the job I have right now -- my long- standing addiction to national service. I don't want to respond to questions about a new job." Labor Wage and Hour Division administrator Maria Echaveste "was described as not having the stature or 'political oomph' to match Wofford." Wofford's chances "might be enhanced" if a woman is named to another Cabinet post, like Albright at State (Goldstein, PHILA. INQUIRER, 12/5).
LABOR: HOTLINE sources say WH dir. of public liaison Alexis Herman has dropped from serious consideration as Labor Sec., leaving Wofford as the AFL-CIO's choice; Echaveste; and a new name: Rep. Esteban Torres (D-CA). Although Torres has a strong labor voting record in Congress, he voted for NAFTA (12/5). CNN's Blitzer said Herman "seems a very strong candidate to become Labor Secretary." Bob Novak said House Dems "really wonder about" her. "They don't think she's up to the job, they're not going to say anything publicly but it's not going over well" ("IP," CNN, 12/4).
ENERGY: Retiring Sen. Bennett Johnston's (D-LA) name appears on some lists for Energy Sec. but "signals from Johnston's office downplay his chances and his interest." Also, Sen. John Breaux (D-LA) suggests, "If the president would like to have a Republican in the Cabinet, I suggest Henson Moore for energy secretary." Moore, who served as Dep. Energy Sec. under Bush, lost to Breaux in the '86 Senate race (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 12/5). Also high on the Energy list is Rep. Bill Richardson (D-NM), who has stated his preference for Commerce Sec. and is also talked about for UN Amb. (HOTLINE sources, 12/5).
TRANSPORTATION: CNN's Blitzer reported Chicagoan Bill Daley "appears to be the almost certain" for Trans. Sec. (12/4). Federal Highway Administrator Rodney Slater "may end up staying where he is." If Slater is not offered Trans., he would "likely be offered" a top WH post, but sources "close to him" said he would probably rather stay at the helm of the FHA where he could use his "power of the purse strings" to the benefit of his home state of AR which could not hurt a "politically savvy up-and- comer who is widely mentioned as a possible" '98 Senate cand., should Dale Bumpers (D) decide to retire (Kiely, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE, 12/5).
Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN) gets promoted for the post by "industry experts," though he "is not a top contender" (Reeves, Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 12/5).
HUD: WH aides said Seattle Mayor Norm Rice (D) is the "most likely" candidate to succeed Henry Cisneros as HUD Sec., but no decision has been made. Rice is scheduled to be at the WH today to discuss the post (Hanson, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 12/5).
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