UPDATE: White House Unveils More Nominations For Government Posts

The White House announced Wednesday that President Barack Obama intends to nominate eight individuals to fill openings at six federal agencies. All are subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Robert Beers, a career civil servant, is Obama's intended undersecretary for National Protection and Programs in the Homeland Security Department. Beers previously served in the White House and State Department as an adviser on counter-terrorism.

The administration intends to name Mary Smith, a partner at Schoeman, Updike, Kaufman & Scharf LLP, to be an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's tax division. Smith previously was senior litigation counsel at Tyco International Inc. (TYC); an attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; and was the highest-ranking Native American in the Clinton White House, where she was associate counsel and associate director of policy planning.

Obama intends to name Jane Oates as assistant secretary in the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration. Oates currently is executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education and a senior policy adviser to Gov. Jon Corzine. She previously was a senior policy adviser on education and labor issues to Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.

Peter Rogoff, whom Obama intends to nominate as the Transportation Department's Federal Transit Administration administrator, has spent 22 years as a congressional staffer, including 14 years as Democratic staff director for the Senate Transportation Committee.

In addition, Obama announced his intention to nominate Charles Hurley to head the Transportation Department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Hurley, the chief executive of Mothers Against Drunk Driving since 2005, previously worked for the National Safety Council and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The White House also announced that Obama intends to name Jeffrey Feltman, a career foreign service officer, to serve as the State Department's assistant secretary for near eastern affairs.

At the Defense Department, Obama plans to name Robert Work as undersecretary of the Navy and tap Charles Blanchard to be general counsel of the Air Force.

 
-By Judith Burns, Dow Jones Newswires, 202-862-6692; [e-mail]