Senate Democratic leaders are prepared to give Hillary Clinton a still-undefined leadership role there if she does not become Barack Obama’s Secretary of State, Democratic officials close to the situation said on Thursday.

The discussions about an enhanced position for Hillary are factoring into her deliberations over joining the Cabinet, officials said. Hillary is wrestling with whether to abandon her independence to become the nation’s top diplomat or remain in a chamber where lack of seniority limits her influence.

She was asked to join the Senate Democratic leadership, and party leaders began trying to figure out a way to accommodate her without dislodging any of the current leaders, Democratic officials said. The conversations, they added, preceded Obama’s approach to her about becoming secretary of state and are on the table if she turns the job down.

Although advisers to Obama have said he has not made a formal offer, most Democrats believe the decision is hers to make, and friends said on Thursday that she was wavering. One friend said Hillary decided late on Wednesday to say no, reasoning that she would have more freedom in the Senate. By midday Thursday, the friend said, she was “back in the indecisive column again”. By the end of the day, another associate said she could accept by Friday.

At the end of a confused day, a transition official reached out to reporters on Thursday night to say that the President-elect’s team believed things were on track with Hillary and that her nomination could be announced after Thanksgiving.

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