Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Representative Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat and former Clinton administration official, has accepted President-elect Barack Obama's offer to become White House chief of staff, a Democratic aide and a congressional colleague said.

The appointment is the first by Obama as he assembles his administration and works with a team that will guide his transition the take over the government on Jan. 20.

Emanuel, 48, brings both White House and congressional experience to a key administration job. During the transition he will be instrumental in organizing staff and weighing in on other appointments.

The No. 4 ranking Democrat in the House, Emanuel told reporters earlier in Chicago that he had ``a lot to weigh'' given family considerations and his role in Congress.

``This is a personal choice about what my wife and I have to do for our family as much as what I want to do for my career,'' Emanuel said.

The president-elect, 47, met for six hours yesterday in Chicago with his top advisers and named loyalists and former Clinton administration officials to guide the transfer of power. Obama has gotten intelligence briefings from the Bush administration, which also has approved security clearances for members of his transition team.

Obama plans to meet with his economic advisers tomorrow afternoon and speak with reporters afterward, an aide said.

Transition Team

The work of building the next administration will be overseen by John Podesta, onetime chief of staff to former President Bill Clinton, Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett, chief executive officer of Chicago real estate developer Habitat Co., and Pete Rouse, Obama's Senate chief of staff.

Along with a staff of transition officials, Obama named an advisory board to help with transition planning. It includes Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, an early supporter, and former Clinton administration officials Carol Browner, William Daley and Federico Pena and

He named as the transition's chief spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter, the communications director for Massachusetts Senator John Kerry during his 2004 presidential race and Michelle Obama's chief of staff during the campaign. Dan Pfeiffer will be communications director after serving in that role during the campaign.

Chris Lu, who served as Obama's Senate legislative director, will be executive director of the transition.

Washington Headquarters

Obama's team took the keys to a 120,000-square-foot office in downtown Washington set up by the General Services Administration, which manages government property. The space is enough to accommodate 500 people.

The transition group plans to make Washington the main location for its work. However the president-elect and his two top confidantes, Jarrett and chief strategist David Axelrod, will be in Chicago. Emanuel would work in both cities.

President George W. Bush urged his staff today to help ensure the Obama team ``hits the ground running'' and show ``decency and professionalism'' during the transition.

``Ensuring that this transition is as smooth as possible is a priority for the rest of my presidency,'' he told Cabinet members and executive staff at the White House.

The White House chief of staff is ``a crucial position'' because that person plays a pivotal role in organizing the administration, said John Burke, a University of Vermont political scientist who has written books about presidential changeovers.

Economic Appointments

Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University, said Obama has a special challenge in mapping out a transition and naming Cabinet officials because of turmoil in financial markets and economic uncertainty among the public.

``It heightens pressure on Obama's transition to make sure that the Obama economic team is above reproach, highly skilled and reassuring regarding their understanding of how the economy works and what needs to be done,'' Light said.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair should play a role in Obama's administration. Frank has advocated giving Bair, a Republican, greater responsibility in managing the government's response to the mortgage and foreclosure crisis.

``I think very highly of her,'' Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said yesterday in a telephone interview from New York. ``I think she should play a role.''

Treasury

The two leading contenders for Treasury secretary continue to be Lawrence Summers, who held the post in Clinton's Cabinet, and Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve bank.

One former Clinton administration official has taken himself out of the running for an appointment.

Obama is ``terrific,'' Robert Rubin, Treasury secretary from 1995 to 1999 and an adviser to Obama during the campaign, said in an interview today. ``But I've spoken with him and told him I'm not interested in going back into government.''

Rubin, who advised Obama on economic issues during the presidential campaign, said he told the president-elect he would consider taking on special projects.

Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle and Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius are possible contenders for secretary of Health and Human Services, according to people in contact with the president-elect's health-care advisers.

Medical Costs

Obama has promised to cut medical costs and make affordable insurance available to everyone, and the chief of the department may play a key role in overhauling the health-care system.

Daschle's book, ``Critical: What We Can Do about the Health Care Crisis,'' calls for an independent agency similar to the Federal Reserve Board to oversee the U.S. health system.

In 2003, Sebelius was the first state insurance commissioner to reject a proposed conversion of a nonprofit Blue Cross Blue Shield into a for-profit company, slowing the pace of such conversions nationally.

``I am honored and humbled to be mentioned in this way,'' Sebelius said in an e-mailed statement. ``I'll be honored to contribute in whatever way I can.''

Daschle didn't respond to a request for comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Tackett in Washington at mtackett@bloomberg.net; Julianna Goldman in Chicago at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 6, 2008 13:17 EST