Critics blast foreign policy transition
Obama's aides defend the process, which they point out is taking place amid two wars and a climate of crisis.
Democratic foreign policy hands say that a senior Marine general's public frustration with Obama's top aides is a symptom of a national security transition that has been historically speedy—and at times opaque, chaotic, and deeply frustrating for some of Obama's supporters and would-be aides.
Retired General Anthony Zinni told Foreign Policy that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor James Jones had both indicated to him that he would be Ambassador to Iraq, and that Vice President Joe Biden "called and congratulated me" on getting the job.
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Justice Ginsburg has surgery for cancer
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the only woman on the Supreme Court, had surgery Thursday for early stage pancreatic cancer, the Supreme Court announced.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has undergone two bouts of cancer since she joined the court in 1993.
Ginsburg, 75, is at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the court said in a news release. It said she will likely remain there for seven to 10 days, according to her attending surgeon, Dr. Murray Brennan.
"Justice Ginsburg had no symptoms prior to the incidental discovery of the lesion during a routine annual checkup in late January at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland," the court said.
A CAT scan "revealed a small tumor, approximately one centimeter across, in the center of the pancreas," it added.
House set to vote again on digital TV delay
The House is set to vote again Wednesday on postponing the country's transition to digital TV until June and the White House is optimistic the bill will pass.
The switch from analog to digital had been set for this month, but a postponement has been in the works because millions of people -- many of them poor, disabled and elderly -- have been unprepared to make the switch.
A delay from February 17 to June 12 had passed in the Senate but was stopped by House Republicans last week.
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Obama sets executive pay limits
Pledging to take "the air out of golden parachutes," President Obama announced Wednesday that executives of companies receiving federal bailout money will have their pay capped at $500,000 under a revised financial compensation plan.
Last year's "shameful" handout of $18 billion in Wall Street bonuses "is exactly the kind of disregard for the costs and consequences of their actions that brought about this crisis: a culture of narrow self-interest and short-term gain at the expense of everything else," Obama said to reporters at the White House.
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Senate wrangles over stimulus bill
Clinton demands Hamas stop rocket fire
The Senate on Tuesday continued wrangling over amendments to the $885 billion economic stimulus plan.
Ten Republican senators met in Florida GOP Sen. Mel Martinez's office Tuesday morning to discuss a stimulus measure that is broader than their leadership is proposing, but narrower than the Democrats' plan.
CNN was the only news organization outside the meeting.
Afterward, Martinez told CNN the details are still being debated and finalized, but they are looking at a ballpark figure of $500 billion, including the cost of tax cuts, infrastructure and military spending, and provisions to address the housing crisis.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday demanded Hamas stop rocket fire into Israel and said she will send the Obama administration's Mideast envoy back to the region within weeks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she will send Mideast envoy George Mitchell back to the region within weeks.
Israel and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007, declared separate, tentative ceasefires two weeks ago after more than three weeks of fighting. But, Clinton noted, "There were rockets yesterday, there were rockets this morning. It is difficult to ask any nation to do anything other than defend itself in the wake of that kind of consistent attack."
House passes expansion of children's health program
Congressional Democrats flexed their new political muscle Wednesday as the House of Representatives passed legislation expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program by more than $32 billion over five years.
Obama will ban earmarks from stimulus bill
Members of Congress won't be allowed to slip earmarks into the economic recovery package Congress will soon take up, President-elect Barack Obama said Tuesday.
Richardson exits Cabinet due to probe
New Mexico Gov. Bill
Richardson announced Sunday afternoon that he is
withdrawing as President-elect Barack Obama’s
nominee for secretary of Commerce because of
unanswered questions about a federal grand jury
investigation back home.
"I have concluded that the ongoing investigation
also would have forced an untenable delay in the
confirmation process," Richardson said in an
e-mailed statement issued by the transition.
Obama accepted the withdrawal with regret,
saying in an accompanying statement that he
looks forward to Richardson's "future service to
our country and in my administration."
Richardson said he had told Obama that "eager to
serve in the future in any way he deems useful."
GOP to Dems: Slow down on stimulus bill
Top congressional Republicans cautioned Democrats not to rush through a massive stimulus package that lawmakers hope to send to President-elect Barack Obama shortly after he takes office next month.
Cheney, Biden Spar In TV Appearances
Vice President Cheney and his successor, Joseph R. Biden Jr., exchanged insults yesterday in a pair of unusually critical television interviews, laying bare apparent animosity between the two as Cheney prepares to hand over power next month
Clinton campaign debt now at $6.4 million
Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton had $6.4 million in presidential campaign debt at the end of November, according to a report filed Saturday with the Federal Election Commission.
Bristol Palin's boyfriend's mom arrested in drug case
Sherry Johnston, whose son is having a baby with the daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was arrested Thursday on drug charges, Alaska State Police said.
White House consulted with Obama team on auto rescue plans
The White House consulted with President-elect Barack Obama on the $13.4 billion loan package for automakers that President Bush announced Friday, both sides said.
W. Mark Felt, 'Deep Throat' of Watergate, dead at 95
W. Mark Felt, who leaked information to reporters under the moniker, "Deep Throat," about the Watergate break-in, died Thursday at the age of 95, sources told CNN.
Commentary: Respect Obama's choice of Rick Warren
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CNN) -- If controversies were sitcoms, the ruckus over Barack Obama's decision to have the invocation at his inaugural ceremony given by Rick Warren -- bestselling author and pastor of the 20,000-member Saddleback Church in Southern California -- would be the "Seinfeld" of the bunch. After all, it's about nothing.
Why Becerra turned down Obama
An aide to Rep. Xavier Becerra and a Democratic leadership aide both say a key reason he turned down the job of U.S.
Trade Representative is because trade is simply not a top priority for the country right now, and Becerra felt that he would be better off staying in the House where he can deal with a broader range of issues such as health care and immigration.
Obama adds another Republican to Cabinet
President-elect Barack Obama has picked GOP Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois to be his nominee for transportation secretary, two sources told CNN on Wednesday.
Commentary: If Clinton could do it, why not Kennedy?
When Hillary Clinton announced in November 1999 that she was running for the U.S. Senate to replace the legendary Sen. Patrick Moynihan, she had never cast a single vote as an elected officeholder. She had never put forth an agenda the voters could use to decide whether she was the best candidate.
Her resume?
First lady. Lawyer. Advocate for health care and children's issues.
That's it.
Pressure's on for New York governor to pick female senator
With Sen. Hillary Clinton's expected appointment as secretary of state, women are at risk of seeing a decrease in their representation in the Senate -- and some are putting pressure on New York Gov. David Paterson to make sure that does not happen.
McCain: I can't promise to support Palin for president
(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain said Sunday he would not necessarily support his former running mate if she chose to run for president.
Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin embrace after election results were in November 4.
Speaking to ABC's "This Week," McCain was asked whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin could count on his support.
"I can't say something like that. We've got some great other young governors. I think you're going to see the governors assume a greater leadership role in our Republican Party," he said.
Greene: Will Chicago ever be ready for reform?
CHICAGO, Illinois -- These days, you have to wonder whether Barack Obama would like to retract those two words he ad-libbed at the very beginning of his victory speech in Grant Park -- the two words that didn't appear in his prepared text.
Those two words seemed so innocuous at the time:
"Hello, Chicago!"
Jesse Jackson Jr.: 'I want my name back'
CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. said Friday that he was fighting to get "my name back" after he was identified as "Senate Candidate 5" in a criminal complaint against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Wall St. bailout targeted for Big 3
Bush, in flip, eyes $700B bailout to rescue GM, Chrysler.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Bush administration said Friday that it will consider using the money set aside to help banks and Wall Street to rescue the auto industry.
The statement -- a change in the administration's long-held position -- might be the last best chance to keep troubled automakers General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler LLC out of bankruptcy.
The defeat of a $14 billion bailout plan in the Senate late Thursday left the administration little choice but to tap the $700 billion bailout approved by Congress in October, the Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP, according to White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.
Jesse Jackson Jr.: The Trouble with Being Candidate 5
On Friday, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is scheduled to explain to federal prosecutors his efforts to win President-elect Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat. Jackson, 43, is among the most high-profile characters swept up so far in this week's scandal involving Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and charges that he tried to sell Obama's place in the U.S. Senate, which the governor has the right to fill by appointment.
A Senate seat would have been a perfect way for Jackson to further distinguish himself from his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, 67, who ran for the Democratic nomination for President in the 1980s. Congressman Jackson, however, is now fighting to make sure his political ambitions, if not his career, survive this tangle with controversy and alleged corruption.
Clinton's future paycheck cut
(CNN) — Hillary Clinton's pay check has officially been cut. Congress voted Wednesday night to reduce the Secretary of State's salary back to its pre-2007 level of $186,000 to conform to a clause in the constitution stipulating a member of congress cannot be appointed to a government job if the position's salary has increased during the lawmaker's current term.
Joe 'The Plumber' 'appalled' with McCain
(CNN) – With the dust still settling from the 2008 presidential race, one of its biggest celebrities lashed out Tuesday at the man who made him famous. Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher, the Ohio voter who challenged President-elect Barack Obama on his tax plan and later became a hero of John McCain's presidential bid, said Tuesday he felt "appalled" at some of his interactions with the Arizona senator, and soon felt the need to ditch his campaign.
Bush jokes of 'forced retirement' with Harper
LIMA (AFP) - US President George W. Bush jokingly told Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Saturday that he was going into "forced retirement" when Barack Obama takes over the White House in two months.
Obama makes pick for energy chief, sources say
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama is likely to name Steven Chu, a physicist who runs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as his energy secretary, three Democratic officials close to the transition said.
Mayors want funds to fix their cities
(CNN) -- Mayors across the country are calling on President-elect Barack Obama to invest in their cities when he takes office in order to get the economy back on track.
Clinton's nomination popular, but is it constitutional?
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Polls show that Americans overwhelmingly approve of Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, but will the founding fathers veto this popular addition to Barack Obama's "team of rivals"?
Most approve of Obama's Cabinet picks, poll shows
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new national poll suggests that Americans think President-elect Barack Obama's getting it right when it comes to his Cabinet picks, especially Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates.
Clinton wants to be part of Obama's 'exciting adventure'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton decided to join her one-time rival's team because she wanted to be part of the "greatest adventure of our century," she said Monday after President-elect Barack Obama named her as his nominee for secretary of state.
After 26 Days, Biden Speaks
CHICAGO – Amid questions about his influence in the Obama transition and the potential for him to be overshadowed by Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, Vice President-elect Joe Biden spoke publicly on Monday for the first time since the election 26 days ago.
Borger: Obama chooses experience over politics
(CNN) -- No doubt about it, the lineup is impressive. Choose any cliché: All-stars, A-Team, The Best and the Brightest and, of course -- this season's favorite --Team of Rivals.
Obama Plans to Retain Gates at Defense Department
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has decided to keep Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in his post, a show of bipartisan continuity in a time of war that will be the first time a Pentagon chief has been carried over from a president of a different party, Democrats close to the transition said Tuesday.
The Internet and the Death of Rovian Politics
Age has finally become an issue for John McCain. But the problem isn't the candidate's 72 years; it's the antediluvian approach of his campaign. McCain is running a textbook Rovian race: fear-based, smear-based, anything goes. But it isn't working. The glitch in the well-oiled machine? The Internet.
President Pardons 14, Commutes Sentences of Two Others
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Who might receive the ultimate in White House holiday gifts — a presidential grant of clemency — is one of the hottest Washington guessing games today.
Palin to campaign for incumbent in Georgia Senate race
(CNN) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is returning to the campaign trail next week to lend her support to Saxby Chambliss, the freshman senator who is fighting to keep his seat in Georgia.
Sesno: 6 lessons for President-elect Obama
(CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama deserves extra credit for looking back even as he looks ahead. Knowing that he's about to take the helm of this floundering ship of state, he's sought some inspiration from captains who've navigated these waters before.
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Richardson Expected to be Commerce Secretary, Sources say
(CNN) — Two Democrats close to the transition tell CNN that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is now expected to be nominated as Secretary of Commerce by President-elect Barack Obama, pending the final vetting process.
Obama Girls Will Go To Sidwell Friends
Continuing a tradition among Washington's power elite, President-elect Barack Obama and his wife have decided to send their kids to Sidwell Friends School. Michelle Obama confirmed yesterday that Malia and Sasha, the incoming first daughters, will enroll at the pricey private school when the family moves into the White House in January.
Dems to Big Three: 'Get act together'
