Napolitano Not Ruling Out AG Appointment

Created: November 13, 2008 13:37 | Last updated: July 31, 2020 00:00

After Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, widely rumored to be the front-runner for the attorney general post in President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet, spoke at a Subcommittee on Health hearing this morning, I asked her if she was committed to serving out her term as governor, which ends in 2010, or if she would consider a cabinet appointment.

She responded haltingly:

You know, right now, I have a great job, and that’s — I’m not looking for a new job, and that’s as far as I go.

Not exactly a decisive response, but also not a denial.

By contrast, politicians who are not interested in cabinet posts have been unequivocal in their denials. Take a look at today’s statements by Andy Stern, a potential labor secretary, and Al Gore, mentioned as a possible “climate czar”:

Stern: “It’s highly unlikely I would be asked, and I wouldn’t be interested if I was.”

Napolitano is currently serving as an adviser to Obama’s transition team, and she told me that the transition is going “very well.” The team is working on creating “some broad policy for the transition” and “making sure that teams have been set up to properly review the agencies and have materials ready both for the president- and vice-president-elect and for incoming cabinet members, once they’re selected.”

No word yet on whether she’ll be among them.