US President-elect Mr George W. Bush, compelled by the withdrawal of Ms Linda Chavez, is today trying to find a replacement and fill three more jobs as he focuses again on military matters.
Mr Bush arrived in Washington on Tuesday evening, saying he was "saddened" by Ms Chavez's decision to decline the offer of the post of Labour Secretary after she was heavily criticised for housing an illegal alien. He said the search for a new nominee for labour secretary would now begin.
Joined by Vice President-elect Mr Dick Cheney and members of his national security team, Mr Bush will meet Defence Secretary William Cohen, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Henry Shelton and other top military officials today.
"It's going to be a wide-ranging discussion," said spokesman Mr Dan Bartlett.
Today’s talks at the Pentagon, which will include Mr Bush's pick for national security adviser, Ms Condoleezza Rice, follow meetings with congressional defense leaders in Austin on Monday.
Republican senator Mr John Warner of Virginia told reporters after those meetings that the president was working hard to make defence the same level of consideration as education and the economy after many years of neglect.
Mr Bush, who takes over the White House in just 10 days, has called for $20 billion more to be spent on research to accelerate the adoption of new weapons, raise military pay and deploy a national missile defence system as soon as possible.
The president-elect will also hold personnel meetings, and could announce appointments to top unfilled positions in his administration, aides said. He has yet to fill the posts of trade representative, CIA director and U.N. ambassador.
Mr Bush - whose father, former president George Bush, was once head of the CIA - was to receive a briefing by the intelligence agency later on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, opposition is also mounting to Mr Bush's picks for attorney general, former Missouri Sen. John Ashcroft; interior secretary, Ms Gale Norton; and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, New Jersey Governor Ms Christine Todd Whitman.
Reuters