Bush Builds His Administration

W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 15, 2000 -- — As his troops move into the presidential transition offices in downtown Washington, President-elect George W. Bush is turning to his most important appointments: his Cabinet.

The Texas governor will likely start formally announcing appointments on Saturday from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, said his spokeswoman, Karen Hughes.

Bush’s best-known Cabinet member will almost certainly be retired Gen. Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Bush has made it clear he would like Powell to be secretary of state.

The president-elect also plans to meet with Democratic Louisiana Sen. John Breaux this morning, who’s said to be on the short list for energy secretary.

Bipartisan Cabinet?

Bush has indicated he will make a commitment to bipartisanship by appointing at least one Democrat to his Cabinet. Americans approve; according to a new ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll, 86 percent of Americans think Bush should appoint at least some Democrats to his cabinet.

But the seemingly generous offer to sitting Democratic Sen. Breaux could be a sucker punch for the Democratic party. The governor of Louisiana, who would appoint Breaux’s replacement, is a Republican. So Breaux’s move into the Cabinet would change the balance of the Senate from 50-50 to 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats — something the Democrats would be loathe to see.

At his news conference Thursday afternoon, Cheney said GOP efforts to reach out to congressional Democrats would have been “awkward while there was still contest under way,” but added, “those constraints are now off, and we’re able to be much more aggressive in that regard.”

Building a Cabinet

Bush is lining up more than just Powell and Breaux for his Cabinet. Bush’s campaign chairman and close adviser Don Evans is assumed to have an offer to be Cabinet secretary should he want it.

Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, a vocal supporter of Bush during the post-Election Day dispute, may be in line to become secretary of the interior, while Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, a Bush ally, may be the front-runner for the position of attorney general. Former Missouri Sen. John Ashcroft, widely respected by conservatives, has also been suggested for attorney general.

Former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats and former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge are under consideration for defense secretary, ABCNEWS political analyst George Stephanopoulos said on Good Morning America this morning.

Filling the treasury secretary slot may be more of a problem. A Washington Post report Thursday suggested that Bush would consider asking the Clinton administration’s treasury secretary, Lawrence Summers, to stay in the job.

But Summers was highly critical of Bush’s proposed tax cut during the campaign, making it unlikely that he would see eye to eye with Bush on a key policy matter.

As far as White House staff positions go, Bush tabbed former Transportation Secretary Andy Card as his future chief of staff in the days following the election. Bush also held an open-press meeting last week with foreign-policy adviser Condoleezza Rice, whom he is highly likely to pick as his Natioinal Security Adviser.

Two of Bush’s top campaign advisers also seem likely to have prominent White House roles. Spokeswoman Karen Hughes is set to become a senior White House counselor, handling press as well as policy matters, while Bush’s chief campaign strategist, Karl Rove, will likely join the White House staff as a political adviser.

Challenges From All Directions

When Bush is sworn in on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, it will mark the first time the GOP has had control of the House, Senate and the presidency since the Eisenhower administration.

But in charting a centrist course, Bush is going to face challenges from all sides — including his own party.

Conservatives have been grumbling about Bush’s overtures to the middle. In a New York Times op-ed piece today, former Republican presidential candidate and conservative pundit Gary Bauer argues that Bush should move boldly ahead on school vouchers and a partial-birth abortion ban, both plans which would infuriate Democrats.

“It is always political suicide to forsake your base and crush its hopes and dreams,” he writes. “Mr. Bush will need the continued loyalty and passionate support of millions of traditional conservative voters to weather the inevitable political firestorms of the next four years.”

And Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told Good Morning America this morning that he has the required 60 votes to break a Senate filibuster against his campaign finance reform plan, which Bush opposes.

“I promised millions of Americans that I would try to get them the government back. That means campaign finance reform,” he said. “I can’t renege on that commitment.”

From Austin to Washington

The Bush camp is literally and figuratively moving to Washington, as Bush prepares to head to the nation’s capital Monday and Cheney accepted the transition keys from General Services Administration head Thurmand Davis Thursday afternoon. The Bush camp’s transition efforts have been temporarily based in offices in McLean, Va.

From a practical standpoint, Bush will have the immediate task of filling nearly 3,000 jobs in his administration, a third of which will require Senate confirmation. From a political standpoint, Bush will face an even more daunting challenge, as he assumes the responsibilities of the Oval Office without the benefit of a clear mandate from the electorate.

Next week, the president-elect plans to meet his defeated rival, Al Gore, for the first time since the end of the campaign. Vice President-elect Dick Cheney will also meet with defeated vice-presidential candidate Joe Lieberman, and Bush will meet with the man he is now preparing to succeed, President Clinton.

Clinton spoke out on the election for the first time since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that effectively ended Gore’s campaign. The president said from London he was proud of both men.

“I don’t think that now is the time to do anything other than follow Vice President Gore’s lead,” Clinton said as he departed British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s residence Thursday morning. “I think we ought to use this opportunity to let the country come together and try to get the new administration off to a good start.”

ABCNEWS.com’s Julia Campbell, Peter Dizikes and Carter M. Yang and ABCNEWS’ John Berman and Eileen McMenamin contributed to this report.