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The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the panel that John Kerry has led for the past four years, unanimously approved his nomination, and the full Senate was set to vote.

In an embarrassing setback for President Barack Obama, a federal appeals court panel ruled Friday that he violated the Constitution in making certain recess appointments and moved to curtail a chief executive's ability in the future to circumvent the Senate in such scenarios.

President Barack Obama has chosen longtime trusted adviser and national security expert Denis McDonough as his fifth chief of staff.

President Obama will nominate Mary Jo White, a former prosecutor and one-time director of the Nasdaq stock exchange, to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, a White House official said Thursday.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced Wednesday that he plans to step down and return to Colorado, leaving another opening in President Obama’s Cabinet.

President Obama has taken some flack for the lack of women among his early high-profile appointments to his administration as he sets up for his second term.

FoxNews.com confirms Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has resigned. In an e-mail to colleagues, Solis says she submitted her resignation letter to President Obama on Wednesday afternoon. She says she made the decision to leave after discussing it with her family and close friends.

White House chief of staff Jack Lew is President Barack Obama's expected pick to lead the Treasury Department, with an announcement possible before the end of the week.

The nomination of Chuck Hagel, which could come as early as Monday, is already encountering opposition because of his stand on Israel and his comments about an ambassador who was gay.

President Obama is expected to nominate Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator and Vietnam veteran, to be secretary of Defense, officials said, setting up a confirmation battle with lawmakers and interest groups critical of his views on Israel and Iran.