The Wall Street Journal, citing an unnamed administration source, reported the Obama administration has settled on three possible candidates to be the next commerce secretary.
According to The Journal, one of the hopefuls currently serves in the administration, while the other two come from the business world.
That has the Journal speculating that Locke’s replacement could be U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, the former mayor of Dallas, whose name has been floated ever since President Barack Obama nominated Locke to be the next ambassador to China in early March.
Per the Journal, White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley has been leading the search, with top advisers Valerie Jarrett and David Plouffe also adding input.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports that Timothy Roemer, U.S. envoy to India, is also in the running. Roemer, a former U.S. representative from Indiana, also served on the 9/11 commission and was an early backer of Obama’s presidential run.
The Wall Street Journal reports a decision will be coming soon, per administration sources.
