Changes expected to Obama's team

President Obama is around for another four years, but some members of his team won't be.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and, probably, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are expected to leave their posts soon.

The timing of a Geithner announcement is up for question, given negotiations over the "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and budget cuts that would kick in next year without a debt-reduction agreement between the White House and Congress.

Other administration officials are also expected to leave, as is common for a second term.

From Bloomberg News:

"The Commerce Department is headed by an acting secretary, Rebecca Blank, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the oldest Cabinet member at 74, hasn't indicated whether he will stay on. Many of the positions that will have to be filled are subject to Senate confirmation. ...

"The leading candidates to succeed Clinton may be Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, officials said. Tom Donilon, Obama's national security adviser, is a long-shot choice, they said. Rice was a finalist for the World Bank presidency last spring. Obama picked then-Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim, keeping Rice available for other positions in his second term, officials said. ...

"One of the top potential candidates for the Treasury job is White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew, the officials said. A onetime aide to former Speaker Tip O'Neill who served as OMB director for Obama and former President Bill Clinton, Lew would bring a deep understanding of the tax and spending issues that could be at the center of the administration's negotiations with Congress in a second term."