1. INTERIOR:
Is it right place, wrong time for secretary candidate with gold-plated resume?
Few candidates to replace Ken Salazar as Interior secretary have spent more time on resource management than Salazar's deputy, David Hayes. Hayes has toiled behind the scenes on nearly every major Interior Department policy over the past four years -- from Arctic drilling to solar panels in the desert. He did the same during the Clinton administration, where he was counselor and deputy to Secretary Bruce Babbitt. But while Hayes' name has been prominently floated as a potential successor to Salazar -- who plans to leave by March -- Beltway oddsmakers see him as a long shot given pressures on President Obama to diversify his Cabinet after selecting white men to lead the State, Defense and Treasury departments and the CIA.