Should Barack Obama secure a second term as president, sources close to the administration say, the earliest changes he will make in his Cabinet will be in the positions of secretary of state and attorney general.
With Hillary Clinton making it clear she will leave Foggy Bottom regardless of the election outcome, rumblings are growing that a re-elected Obama will turn to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) as her successor.
Under fire from Congress for numerous inconsistencies over the Fast and Furious operation, Attorney General Eric Holder is also likely to bail before a second Obama term begins.
The most-often mentioned replacement for him at the Justice Department is Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Manhattan.
Famed for his pursuit of 72 hedge fund executives for insider trading and for securing the conviction of former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta on four counts of insider trading, Bharara was formerly chief counsel to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
