PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama has chosen former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and former Republican congressman Jim Leach to meet world leaders on his behalf at this weekend's global economic summit in Washington.
Mr Obama will not attend the summit in deference to President George Bush and he will not meet any foreign visitors on its periphery.
"This weekend's summit is an important opportunity to hear from the leaders of many of the world's largest economies," said Denis McDonough, Mr Obama's senior foreign policy advisor.
"President Bush should be commended for calling the summit. There is one president at a time in the United States, so the president-elect has asked secretary Albright and congressman Leach, an experienced and bipartisan team, to be available to meet with and listen to our friends and allies on his behalf."
Mr Obama's team yesterday dismissed a news report that former senator Sam Nunn would have a formal role in the transition, adding that former secretary of state Warren Christopher would have no role whatsoever.
The Associated Press had reported that Mr Nunn, a conservative Democrat from Georgia, would oversee the transition in the Pentagon. Liberals were outraged by the report because of Mr Nunn's strident opposition to allowing gays to serve openly in the US military and because he sits on the board of a major defence contractor that sold critical infrastructure equipment to Iran.
As a senator, Mr Nunn led the fight against President Bill Clinton's attempt to allow openly gay men and women serve in the military, and admitted to removing two congressional aides for being gay.
"Senator Sam Nunn will play an informal senior adviser role throughout the defence transition process. His expertise and the respect he has earned will be invaluable to ensure a smooth transition," said transition spokesperson Stephanie Cutter.
"Secretary Christopher is deeply respected in the United States and throughout the international community. However, he is not playing a role in the transition process. There's a lot of disinformation out there. We're working hard to put the agency review teams together and expect they'll be announced this week and inside the agencies by the end of the week."
Mr Obama's team this week announced rules banning registered lobbyists from raising money for the transition or working for the new administration in areas on which they represented clients during the past 12 months.
The rules do not, however, prevent campaign fundraisers helping with the transition and a number of Mr Obama's advisory board members raised huge sums for his campaign.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Valerie Jarrett, a transition co-chairwoman, raised between $100,000 and $200,000 for Mr Obama and two advisory board members, Julius Genachowski and Donald Gips, each raised at least $500,000 for the campaign.
Meanwhile, Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin said yesterday that a woman would be good for the her party's ticket in 2012. The Alaska governor, who was attending the Republican Governors Association meeting in Miami, was asked about speculation about her as the future of the party.
"I don't think it's me personally, I think it's what I represent," she said.
"I would be happy to get to do whatever is asked of me to help progress this nation."
In his first interview since the election, John McCain joked about how he is coping with defeat.
"I've been sleeping like a baby," he told late-night talk show host Jay Leno. "Sleep two hours, wake up and cry, sleep two hours, wake up and cry."