Solis out at Labor; 3 others stay

Hilda Solis is expected torun for officein Los Angeles.
Hilda Solis is expected torun for officein Los Angeles.
Hilda Solis is expected torun for officein Los Angeles.GALLERY: Hilda Solis is expected torun for officein…
By Ken Thomas and Sam Hananel, Associated Press
Posted: January 10, 2013

WASHINGTON - The composition of President Obama's second-term cabinet became clearer Wednesday, with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis resigning and three other members of the president's team deciding to stay on amid concerns about diversity in Obama's inner circle.

Solis, a former California congresswoman, said she was departing after leading the department during the economic storms of the first term. She was the nation's first Hispanic labor secretary.

A White House official said three cabinet members - Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki - would stay on as the second term begins. It would ensure diversity among the president's leadership team - Holder is black, Sebelius is a woman, and Shinseki is of Japanese-American descent.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel changes, said the three were not an exhaustive list of which cabinet members intended to stay.

Some Democratic women have raised concerns that the "big three" jobs in the cabinet - State, Defense, and Treasury - will be taken by white men. Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has been tapped as the next secretary of state, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican, was picked to run the Pentagon, and White House chief of staff Jack Lew is expected to be named treasury secretary later this week.

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said last month that she was stepping down after nearly four years. No replacement has been named, although several names are reportedly under consideration, including Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and Jackson's deputy, Bob Perciasepe.

Obama said Solis was a "tireless champion for working families" and had been a key member of his economic team during a first term marked by efforts to rebound from the recession. She won praise from labor unions for an aggressive enforcement of wage and hour laws and job-safety regulations. Business groups criticized her as not taking a more cooperative approach.

Solis is expected to return home to California to run for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

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