The issue may be more apparent than real, according to Gingrich, retired Army General Barry McCaffrey and former Pentagon official Anthony Cordesman.

McCaffrey and Cordesman noted that Gates inherited from his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, many of the people now in senior policy and management posts.

"When he came in, he basically didn't bring anyone, so I don't think he'd have a problem doing that again,"' McCaffrey said in an interview. "Gates has demonstrated that he can work with the team you issue him."

Cordesman, who served as director of intelligence assessment at the Pentagon, said Gates is likely to be more concerned with policy than personnel.

"Gates is a professional, not a partisan political figure,"' said Cordesman, now an analyst at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies. "He's worked through transitions and with different administrations."

Cordesman said some current appointees, such as Undersecretary for Policy Eric Edelman, have made known they are leaving when the new administration takes office. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Edelman, like all political appointees, is planning to hand in his resignation. Edelman is close to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Gingrich said the one issue that might prevent Gates from continuing would be Iraq. If Obama is determined to stick to his campaign position of withdrawing all U.S. combat forces within 16 months, that would be a problem, because Gates and the senior uniformed military officers oppose a strict timetable, Gingrich said.

The Iraqi government negotiated an accord with the Bush administration that allows U.S. forces to stay until 2011.

"They would have to sit down and hammer it out, but they are both serious, professional people,"' said Gingrich, speaking of Obama and Gates. "If President-elect Obama would like it to happen, I think it can be worked out."'

Aides to both Gates and Obama have kept alive the prospect that Gates may remain, saying both men are open to it. Gates hasn't commented since Obama was elected on Nov. 4.

"I have nothing new to say on that subject," he said at a Nov. 12 news conference.

Since becoming secretary, Gates has rebuilt relationships with members of Congress and uniformed officers that frayed under Rumsfeld.

Gates's support among lawmakers of both parties, as well as his steady management of the sprawling department, would make him attractive to Obama, says Thomas Wilkerson, a former Marine major general and Pentagon official.

"He's managing a situation of the nation at war on two fronts with threats on other fronts, and he's managing it better than it's ever been managed during the current president's tenure,"' said Wilkerson, who served as an aide to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "He's righted the department."

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