Sen. Hillary Clinton is likely to be nominated for secretary of state after the Nov. 27 U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, according to an aide to President-elect Barack Obama.

Clinton told confidants she has decided to accept the post, the New York Times reported on its Web site.

Potential hurdles related to financial disclosures by Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, have been worked out, said the Obama aide, who asked not to be named.

The New York Democrat would be Obama's highest-ranking Cabinet officer — the secretary of state is fourth in the line of presidential succession. Backers say the popularity of both Hillary and Bill Clinton overseas would be a boon to the U.S.'s global reputation.

"She can have enormous impact in the world," said lobbyist Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic strategist who supported Clinton, 61, during the primaries.

Clinton traveled to Chicago last week to meet with Obama about the Cabinet position. The process had been complicated by concerns that Bill Clinton's private business interests with foreign governments and companies could create conflicts for his wife if she were nominated.

Bill Clinton sent Obama's transition team a list of more than 200,000 donors to his foundation, according to a Democrat familiar with the process.

"I'll do whatever they want," the former president told reporters in New York earlier this week.

Another former primary rival who met with Obama in Chicago was New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. The former energy secretary and United Nations ambassador under Bill Clinton is a contender for Commerce secretary, the Washington Post reported on its Web site Friday, citing an unidentified Democratic official.

Richardson endorsed Obama after ending his own bid for the Democratic nomination.

Clinton, who would become the third woman to hold the secretary of state post, frequently sparred with Obama on the campaign trail about foreign policy. She ran a television advertisement dubbed "3 a.m.," in which she questioned whether Obama, with less than one full term as senator from Illinois, was experienced enough to handle a national crisis.

Still, she and Obama, 47, agree on many of the biggest issues of the day. Both favor negotiating to halt North Korea's nuclear program, pressuring Russia on democracy, working with China while pressing for human rights and keeping the embargo on Cuba while allowing family visits. Both have also repeatedly criticized President George W. Bush for the way he handled diplomatic relations with the rest of the world.