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FILLING RANKS AT STATE

James Steinberg Says He'll Be Clinton Deputy

James B. Steinberg, a veteran Democratic foreign policy thinker and top adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, told colleagues Monday night that he expects to be nominated as deputy secretary of state on Tuesday.

In a letter to students and faculty at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in Austin, where he serves as dean, Steinberg said that if confirmed, "it will be a great privilege to serve with President Obama, Secretary of State-designate Clinton and the entire national security team at this time of great challenge but also of great opportunity for the United States and the world."

Steinberg's long-anticipated nomination would represent the first concrete step by Obama and Clinton to begin filling in the senior positions at the State Department. Since her nomination last month, Clinton has been busy interviewing potential job candidates and thinking about how to structure the department. She has also met with senior officials in the Bush administration to discuss key problems that she would inherit, such as the efforts by Iran and North Korea to develop nuclear weapons programs.

Steinberg served in the administration of Clinton's husband, in various positions at the State Department and then as deputy national security adviser. He has been a key foreign policy adviser to Obama during the general election campaign and during the transition. He is the author of numerous books and articles about foreign policy, including most recently a treatise on the problems that can confront a new administration in its first few months.

-- Michael Abramowitz

TIES TO BLAGOJEVICH

Obama to Release Internal Report

Aides to President-elect Barack Obama plans to release an internal report Tuesday detailing his staff's contacts with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), who is accused of essentially attempting to sell Obama's U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder.

Democratic sources said the report will show that Chief of Staff-designate Rahm Emanuel contacted members of Blagojevich's staff about the Senate appointment, leading the governor to think that Emanuel was pushing Obama's friend Valerie Jarrett for the seat.

The report is unlikely to produce any surprises when it is released by the transition office this morning. Obama remains on vacation in Hawaii this week, and aides said he is unlikely to offer any comment on the report.