11:27am: And the show's over, folks, less than an hour after it began. Check back for more full coverage later this afternoon about reaction to the team released today.
11:26am: "I believe that 16 months is the right time frame" for orchestrating America's departure from Iraq, Obama says when asked about the future of one of his more high-profile campaign promises. His next word after that phrase? "But..."
11:24am: Obama hugs Clinton close, with praise for her "core values" but few details about how negotiations between the two camps played out. The press gives a terse chuckle when the president-elect acknowledges that the nation was hoping for a more "juicy" account.
11:18am: Obama answers that query by looking forward to "a vigorous debate" while stating in no uncertain terms that he'll be the decider, as George W Bush may have put it. The second question he fields is a doozy two-parter that begins with the freedom of India to launch strikes against insurgent groups in neighbouring Pakistan and closes with the foreign-policy disagreements previously elucidated among members of his team (Clinton in particular).
11:15am: The first question to Obama is whether his much-discussed "team of rivals" can avoid being an over-competitive team of frenemies, as Maureen Dowd famously put it.
11:13am: Here's Carl Levin, the Senate armed services chief who will not have to re-consider the Gates nomination: "President-elect Obama has selected a rock solid national security team. Continuing Robert M. Gates in the position of Secretary of Defense is an excellent and unique choice. It reflects President-elect Obama's perspective that quality is a non-partisan characteristic. Secretary Gates' courageous actions in restoring a measure of accountability in the Pentagon is a critical component of the change that President-elect Obama was chosen to bring about. His retention as Secretary of Defense also underlines Secretary Gates' recognition of the limits of military power and that America's greatest source of power is the values for which it is willing to fight."
11:12am: After Vice president-elect Biden hands the baton to Obama, he reiterates somber condolences to the Mumbai victims before taking his first question from the media. Meanwhile, the plaudits are trickling in from Congress. John Kerry, who was reputedly aiming for the state department post, is as gracious as can be: "[M]y friend and colleague Hillary Clinton will bring her years of experience and her remarkable intellect to the effort to restore our alliances and advance the President's agenda in the world. As the incoming Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I look forward to working with my distinguished colleague Sen. Richard Lugar to ensure a swift and fair confirmation process and working closely with the new Administration."
11:02am: Speaking of the Clinton administration, here's the former president himself congratulating his spouse on her nomination today:
"She is the right person for the job of helping to restore America's image abroad, end the war in Iraq, advance peace and increase our security, by building a future for our children with more partners and fewer adversaries, one of shared responsibilities and opportunities. She has already earned the respect of foreign leaders and diplomats through her work to promote human rights and the empowerment of women through access to education, healthcare and economic opportunity. And Americans know, from her leadership in the Senate on national security, that she will always put the security, values and the interests of our people first. In her service to the people of New York and our nation, Hillary has demonstrated the knowledge, passion, resilience, and capacity to learn that our country needs at this critical time. She loves being a Senator from New York, but as she has in all the thirty-seven years I've known her, she answered the call to serve. I commend President-Elect Obama for asking her to be a part of a great national security team. America will be well-served."
11:01am: Holder, the attorney general nominee, is now up to the microphone. He describes his mission with the crucial caveat of "should I be confirmed..." This is an especially sensitive point given that Republicans in the Senate plan to grill Holder on his involvement with the controversial Clinton-era pardon of Democratic donor Marc Rich.
10:59am: Gates is up next, describing himself as "deeply honoured" by Obama's entreaty that he stay on at the Pentagon, although early word in Washington had Gates champing at the bit to return to civilian life.
10:56am: Clinton is the first to speak on her own behalf, thanking New Yorkers for sending her to the US Senate and offering a slightly odd nod to the variety of languages in which her home-state constituents "speak their minds".
10:54am: A handy introduction to Susan Rice's Darfur advocacy, via the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
10:52am: "We need the UN to be more effective as a venue for collective action," Obama says as he turns to introducing Susan Rice. One area crying out for collective action -- the conflict in Darfur -- is almost sure to become her focus at the Secretariat.
10:50am: Obama is directly addressing any sceptics of his decision to keep on Robert Gates at the Pentagon, noting that the holdover defence secretary's mission will be to "responsibly end" the Iraq war. For a good liberal argument in favour of sticking with Gates, check out Fred Kaplan in Slate today.
10:43am: It's T-minus 10 minutes and counting until the president-elect takes the stage to name his national security team, which appears likely to include the nation's two top law enforcement officials as well as Obama's choices to lead American foreign policy next year. For those consumed by the Hillary drama of the past few days, here's a rundown of who else is headed to share the spotlight:
Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general under Bill Clinton, is tipped to officially become the top banana at the US justice department.
Janet Napolitano, now the well-liked governor of Arizona, is en route to the department of homeland security, where she will be asked to bring some border-state expertise to the country's immigration dilemma.
James Jones, a three-year veteran of the Nato command post and former head of the US marines, is coming out of military retirement to become the national security adviser, elevating the post to the higher echelon it occupied during Henry Kissinger's tenure.
Susan Rice, who was just 32 years old when she ascended to deputy secretary of state for African affairs under Clinton, is Obama's new UN ambassador.
9:53am: President-elect Barack Obama is set to announce his national security team during a press conference in Chicago.
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