What does the new White House chief of staff tell us about the politics of the new Obama administration?

Rahm Emanuel is known for his combative style, his expletive-laced language and his deep desire for partisan victory. As an Illinois congressman and part of the House Democratic leadership, those qualities have proved helpful in extending the Democratic majority and pushing the party's agenda.

But picking the hard-charging Emanuel—Obama's first major post-election decision—seems at odds with the consensus-minded manner of an incoming president who promises to unite red and blue America.

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After all the allusions to Camelot, is it possible that there will be no Kennedy in an Obama cabinet? While some have mentioned JFK’s daughter Caroline Kennedy as a possibility for Education secretary (Between 2002-2004, she led the highly successful effort to raise private funds to improve New York public schools, and currently serves as the vice chair of the Fund for Public Schools), it’s more likely that her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could end up heading the Environmental Protection Agency. RFK Jr., a longtime environmental activist, is the president of Waterkeeper Alliance and the chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper, as well as the author of Crimes Against Nature. He also spent time in Washington between 1995-1996 fighting anti-environmental legislation.  Kennedy’s appointment would not be without controversy. In 1983, at the age of 30, he was arrested and later convicted for heroin possession. He was also arrested in 2001 for trespassing at a U.S. Naval training facility during a protest.

Others possibilities:

• Lisa Jackson, head of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection and co-chair of Obama’s transition group overseeing the EPA
• Her fellow co-chair, Robert Sussman, who served as the deputy administrator of the EPA during Clinton’s first term, and now is a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, which is headed by Obama transition co-chair John Podesta
• Kathleen McGinty, a longtime aide to Vice President Al Gore who created and chaired the White House Office of Environmental Policy during the Clinton years and went on to head Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection
• Mary Nichols, a former senior official at the EPA during the Clinton years who is currently the chair of the California Air Resources Board
• Dan Esty, Obama’s leading energy adviser, who also heads Yale’s Center for Environmental Law and Policy, as well as the university’s Center for Business and the Environment. Esty served in a series of senior positions in George H. W. Bush’s EPA and has written nine books, including Green to Gold, which details how corporations can use green policies to increase their productivity and profit.

UPDATE: In response to some of our comments re. Al Gore and the new administration: While insiders don't expect Gore to be interested in a cabinet position, there's some talk that if Obama creates a new position of Global Warming Czar or special envoy, Gore would be the obvious first choice.

By Daniel Stone

Within days of his election, Obama is expected to announce his choice to head the Department of the Treasury, undoubtedly the most high-profile and relevant post in the early months of the new administration. Among the favorites? Larry Summers, who had the position in the last two years of the Clinton administration. Summers' unique experience of having already done the job is a qualification, but it could also detract from Obama's mantra of change in Washington. Controversial comments he made as president of Harvard about women and the sciences, which led to his resignation of that post in 2005, could also make him undesirable. And there's also this note, with a handwritten portion that Summers wrote chummily to the late Ken Lay.

Tim Geithner, president of the New York Fed, is also the Washington buzz, as an Obama ally with the added experience of working with Wall Street. A source who speaks to Geithner regularly told NEWSWEEK that he has shown some interest in the position. (Of course with any cabinet post, if you say you want it, you won't get it). And at 47, Geithner would be a spot-on generational match for Obama, who's 48.

Robert Rubin, who sat at the helm of Treasury from 1995 to 1999 under Clinton has made it clear to his staff that while he thinks "Obama is great," he has no interest in leading the department again, especially with the undeniable turbulence ahead.

By Daniel Stone

Payback, the saying goes, can be, well, tough. And it could be Joe Lieberman's turn to be on the receiving end. Throughout the campaign, the Connecticut Senator prided himself on being a "Democrat for McCain," desperately trying to win over support from the left and the middle for the GOP candidate.

Now, Lieberman's support for McCain is pretty much irrelevant. But it's Lieberman's Democrat label that could also become a thing of the past. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid summonsed Lieberman to his Capitol Hill office early this afternoon to have, according to a senior Hill staffer, a "frank chat" with the senator. If the meeting goes as planned, this aide confirms to NEWSWEEK, Reid will only give Lieberman the equivalent of a legislative talking-to, demanding that he rally behind Obama, or at the very least, release a statement of support for the president-elect. But if it turns tense or combative, Reid could deny admission to the Democratic caucus, even strip away Lieberman's valuable chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. "I doubt that will happen," this aide says, "unless the meeting goes really bad."

Lieberman was part of the Democrats hope for the future once upon a time when he ran with Al Gore against Bush-Cheney in 2000. But it was the near-loss of his senate seat in 2004 that almost spelled the ultimate political defeat for Lieberman. He lost the primary to fellow Democrat Ned Lamont, but squeaked out a win by running as an independent.

As one of two senate independents (the other is Bernie Sanders of Vermont), Lieberman chose to still caucus with the Democrats. And the party needed him. With just 50 seats, the Democrats clamored over the Lieberman's affection for a prized 51 seat majority. The Republicans did too, to ensure that the Democrats didn't get it.

But when John McCain threw his hat into the ring for the White House in 2006, Lieberman swung right. He didn't only endorse McCain, he traveled with the GOP hopeful on his campaign plane and spoke at the candidate's rallies and stump speeches--often with harsh criticisms of Obama.

So as the Democrats take firm control of both houses of congress (54 seats in the senate, at last count), Lieberman might be the first to go. Must be tough to realize how few friends a guy's got in Washington.

--With Richard Wolffe