Thread by @AlxThomp

NEW w/ the entire Politico newsroom: the best, most comprehensive cabinet guide you're going to find.

Treasury & Defense have only ever been lead by white men--that'll likely change.

Sherrod Brown is talking up Raphael Bostic for Treasury.

politico.com/news/2020/11/0…

some but not all of the reporters who put this together. Follow them.
@emilycadei
@theodoricmeyer
@mmcassella
@AliceOllstein
@BryanDBender
@nahaltoosi
@liz_crampton
@KatyODonnell_
@bjlefebvre
@AnthonyAdragna
@meganamccrink

if it's tldr, some highlights.
Defense: Michèle Flournoy, to lose.
Treasury: Lael Brainard the early frontrunner. Keep your eye on Bostic and Warren.
State: Rice, Blinken, and Coons. R senate hurts Rice's chances but she could still make it.

more:
DOJ: Doug Jones & Becerra. Perez allies have been floating him but he's also hurt by an R Senate.
DHS: Mayorkas the frontrunner
HHS: Lujan Grisham a frontrunner.
Transportation: Garcetti's loyalty to Joe is about to be rewarded. Transpo is likely landing spot.

Other transpo news: if it's not Garcetti for whatever reason (including some of @yashar's recent reporting), keep an eye on Rahm Emanuel, Dem officials tell us.
His handling of the 2014 Chicago police shooting of Laquan McDonald could make confirmation hearings tough.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, co-chair of the Congressional Bike Caucus, could also be in the mix.

Dem hits in the House have changed the potential cabinet. Pelosi's allies have signaled they don't want any potentially flippable special elections to come up. Safe seat D's only.

on Labor: some chatter of Perez returning if he'd accept. some lefties didn't like him at the DNC but they were big fans of his at Labor. There was a reason he was a potential Hillary VP candidate.
Julie Su and Bill Spriggs also in the mix.

a belated h/t to @billkuchman too for the photo work!

on HUD: Alvin Brown and Lance Bottoms are early frontrunners.

On education, keep an eye on Lily Eskelsen Garcia

For VA, here's what Dems will say when they're not on the record: it's a low-reward, high-risk job with bureaucratic scandals ensnaring several recent secretaries.
So young, ambitious politicians like Pete Buttigieg may try to steer away from it.

Another name in the mix for VA: Jason Kander.
He played it coy, telling us: “I’m not commenting on that subject quite yet.”
EPA: Mary Nichols and Gov. Inslee are both often mentioned. Many R Senators won't like Nichols.

on UN Ambassador, the early contender are Wendy Sherman vs. Pete Buttigieg who has been courting the DC foreign policy set in recent months.

More names will pop up, this is just where things stand.
We heard dozens of more names but this is our best reported look at where things stand now.

Have more names? Think we missed someone? [e-mail] and DM's are open.