Thursday, December 18, 2008

Kirk picked for US Trade Rep and Mills for SBA

Expect announcement tomorrow.

President-elect Obama will choose former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk for U.S. trade representative, a senior Democrat close to the transition team confirms.

Kirk was the first African American mayor in Dallas, giving up his post in 2002 to run an unsuccessful campaign for the Senate seat, eventually won by John Cornyn.

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos reports that Obama will likely pick venture capitalist Karen Gordon Mills to head the Small Business Administration.

Mills is president of the MMP Group, a private equity investor and advising firm, and also chair of the Governor's Council on Competitiveness.

Both these announcements will come at a 2:15 pm ET press conference in Chicago tomorrow, the fifth in five days Obama has had as he works hard to fill out vacant positions in his administration before leaving for vacation Saturday.

He is also expected to announce Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary Friday.

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