US president-elect Barack Obama was turning his attention back to the country's economic crisis yesterday at a meeting with state governors, a day after introducing a strong-willed national security team headed by former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bush administration holdover Robert Gates.

With the announcements Monday, Obama has finished naming the highest profile members of his administration seven weeks before taking office.

Obama was meeting in Philadelphia yesterday with the nation's governors who are seeking at least $40 billion to help pay for health care for the poor and disabled and even more for infrastructure projects like road and bridge repair.