Obama assembles transition team

CHICAGO, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama named Valerie Jarrett, a friend and adviser, to head his transition team, WLS-TV, Chicago, reported Wednesday.

Other members of his three-person team include John Podesta, a chief of staff under former President Bill Clinton, and Peter Rouse, Obama's chief of staff in the U.S. Senate, CNN reported.

Obama also began assembling his White House staff and Cabinet, ABC News reported Wednesday.

The job of chief of staff was offered to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., ABC News said. Emanuel, also a member of Clinton's administration and a political ally of Obama, hasn't immediately responded, the network said.

The president-elect also signaled he would quickly nominate a treasury secretary to help stabilize the shaky U.S. economy, ABC News said. Among those reportedly on the short list are Timothy Geithner, president of New York's Federal Reserve Bank, and Clinton treasury secretary Larry Summers.

"If people think there is a direction, a vision, a plan that we're moving forward, you can change the psychology, help the markets to settle down," Clinton's former chief of staff Mack McLarty told ABC's "Good Morning America."

Obama also was expected to quickly name secretaries of defense and state. Current Defense Secretary Bob Gates is expected to be asked to serve in Obama's administration, ABC said.

Republican Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana is believed to be on a short list for secretary of state, as are Democrats John Kerry, U.S. senator from Massachusetts, and Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico.