WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama yesterday designated former secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Republican congressman Jim Leach to serve as his sounding boards for foreign leaders during this weekend's economic summit.

Albright and Leach will not attend the meetings of leaders from 20 leading world economies, but will be available to "meet with and listen to our friends and allies" on Obama's behalf, said the president-elect's senior foreign policy adviser, Denis McDonough. The summit is being hosted by President George W. Bush, and Obama has been careful to note there is only one president at a time in the U.S.

The Obama camp also appointed "agency review teams" to evaluate the State, Treasury and Defense departments. These teams will make suggestions on staffing, budgets and policies.

The teams include three of his top fundraisers and three former lobbyists. Two fundraisers — Don Gips and Tom Wheeler — hold top positions in private companies and have taken leaves of absence from their jobs. Obama's camp has said there is no connection between fundraising and transition work.

Wheeler, who ran the cell phone industry's national association, lobbied on the industry's behalf, federal records show. Transition members Melody Barnes lobbied on bankruptcy and civil liberties and Tom Donilon lobbied for mortgage giant Fannie Mae.

Obama bars federal lobbyists from engaging in any lobbying while working on the transition.

Obama stayed out of the public eye in Chicago and met with Vice President-elect Joe Biden. Today, Biden and his wife, Jill, will tour the vice president's official residence at the Naval Observatory.

Neither Obama nor Biden will be at the economic summit this weekend. The group consists of 19 nations, plus the European Union.

The leaders will review what their governments have done in response to the financial crisis and talk about possible ways to proceed. No major announcements are expected.

"The effort to reform the world's financial markets is not the work of a single summit," said Dan Price, assistant to the president for international economic affairs.

The White House welcomed the news about Albright and Leach. Bush press secretary Dana Perino endorsed "fluid communication" between Obama's team and "leaders who want to establish relationships with the new president and his representatives."

Albright served as President Clinton's ambassador to the United Nations before becoming secretary of state in 1997. Leach, who endorsed Obama for the presidency, represented an Iowa district for 30 years until he was defeated in 2006.