Aside from the frenzy of political speculation about the choice, pundits were lukewarm on embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's selection of former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to fill the Senate seat vacated last month by President-elect Obama.
Burris became the first African-American elected to statewide office in Illinois in 1978, when he won the first of three terms as state comptroller. He was then elected attorney general in 1990 -- and also served as a vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1985-1989.
But his political career, while free from scandal, has hit a number of bumps at the polling place during the past decade and a half. Efforts to win the Democratic nomination for Illinois governor in 1994, 1998 and 2002 were unsuccessful -- with his 2002 defeat coming at the hands of Blagojevich.
Burris, now an attorney and lobbyist, was also overwhelmingly defeated in a 1995 primary bid against Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.
Just how President-elect Barack Obama will use the Web to govern remains to be seen, but a new survey shows that his supporters are ready to work for his agenda online. (Washington Post, NationalJournal.com)
Obama has tried to walk a fine line during the transition, deferring to President Bush on foreign policy but not on economic issues. (Washington Post)
Protesters opposed to Israel's recent military action in Gaza demonstrated near Obama's vacation rental home Tuesday. (Politico)
District residents angling for a full voting member of Congress and perhaps even statehood are hopeful that Obama, who co-sponsored the DC Voting Rights bill, will be their man. (Boston Globe)
The digital companies that helped Obama overpower Republican nominee John McCain in online fundraising and organizing are now trying to "cash in" on their success. (Wall Street Journal)
Obama will likely have to tackle immigration reform and review a number of controversial Bush policies early in his term. (The Hill)
Obama's election made Kenyan youth believe anything is possible, but the harsh realities of a society in which blood lines overrule merit has brought those aspirations back to earth. (Los Angeles Times)
Despite retaining Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Obama has already dismissed a third of the Bush appointees at the Pentagon. (The Hill)
Obama plans to take his pitch for an economic stimulus package on the road after Jan. 20. (Los Angeles Times)
Reloading The Senate
Embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich selected former state Attorney General Roland Burris to take Obama's seat in the Senate, despite Senate Democrats making clear that they will not seat any Blagojevich pick. (CongressDaily)
Caroline Kennedy's bid to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as New York's junior senator is being hampered by her frequent, and some argue distracting, use of the conversational filler "you know." (Washington Times)
Inauguration Conflagration
A group of atheists are suing to have "under God" and all prayers removed from the inauguration ceremony. (Washington Post)
"Have a backup plan for getting to the inauguration on Jan. 20," Dr. Gridlock advises. (Washington Post)
By DAVID HERBERT
Barack Obama's followers are ready, willing and able to continue their grassroots support for the president-elect -- and at higher rates than their Republican peers are willing to help the GOP -- according to a study released Tuesday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Obama supporters have already been active on the Web: According to the report, 27 percent of wired Obama voters (those who use the Web) have gone online to find news about the transition or used the interactive transition site change.gov.
That these users tend to be younger and more affluent is no surprise. But black voters, who traditionally have less of a presence on the Web, are going online at higher rates: 31 percent of wired black Obama voters are getting involved online, compared to 25 percent of their white counterparts. And according to Quantcast, an Internet audience measurement service, 20 percent of the visitors to change.gov are black, far surpassing Internet averages.
Meanwhile, the GOP continues to struggle to draw its faithful online, continuing their comparatively poor online fundraising and netroots support from the 2008 election. Since Nov. 4, just 9 percent of wired voters who cast their ballots for John McCain have visited Web sites related to GOP rebuilding efforts.
The report also found that not only are Democrats more politically active online than Republicans, but they expect more outreach from their candidates. Among those who use social networking sites, 37 percent of Obama voters expect to be contacted through those sites by the president-elect, while just 8 percent of McCain voters believe the GOP will contact them this way. And among users of e-mail, 34 percent of Obama supporters anticipate e-mails from the White House, while only 20 percent of McCain voters expect the Republican Party to be in touch.
McCain's defeat may contribute to this expectation gap, but that isn't the whole story, according to Aaron Smith, a researcher at the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
"Even accounting for the tendency to have lowered expectations in the aftermath of an election loss, that [difference in social media usage] speaks to some key partisan differences in how voters -- at least at the moment -- view the Internet as a political communications medium," Smith said.
Lost In Transition's guide to Obama's major selections.
Last updated: March 4, 2009.*
• Cabinet departments: Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, HHS, Homeland Security, HUD, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Treasury, Transportation, Veterans Affairs.
• Agencies and advisory posts: CEA, CIA, EPA, NEC, OMB, chief of staff, director of national intelligence, energy czar, health czar, national security adviser, President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, U.N. ambassador, U.S. trade representative, urban affairs czar.
Director of National Intelligence
Dennis Blair
Announced: Jan. 9
Blair, a retired four-star admiral who was commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, would take over a fledgling office still working on its charge of shaping up an outdated and cumbersome spy network. The Rhodes Scholar, who has a reputation as a strong manager, served as a military liaison at the CIA under President Clinton. (More Coverage)
Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change
Carol Browner
Announced: Dec. 15
Browner, a transition board member who served as President Clinton's EPA administrator, has now been tapped as the first "energy czar." While Browner's duties remain largely undefined, the purpose of the new post is apparently to coordinate the implementation of Obama's energy policy across agencies and with the private sector. (More Coverage)
Director of White House Office of Urban Affairs
Adolfo Carrión Jr.
Announced: Feb. 19
As Bronx borough president, Carrión worked to revitalize struggling areas with new development projects and assistance for small business. The results have been decidedly mixed, something his advocates attribute to the position's limited administrative authority. Carrión will have to work to avoid the same problem in this newly created position. (More Coverage)
Secretary of Energy
Steven Chu
Announced: Dec. 15
Confirmed: Jan. 20
A Nobel-winning physicist, Chu has little experience in government but a demonstrated commitment to alternative energy research from his time in academia. In his role as Energy secretary, he will have to negotiate a bevy of ideological and economic obstacles to bringing about the "new energy economy" Obama has promised. (More Coverage)
Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Announced: Dec. 1
Confirmed: Jan. 21
The former first lady and current New York senator was arguably the biggest obstacle to Obama's bid for the White House. Now Clinton is Obama's secretary of State, despite their disagreements during the primary campaign over foreign policy and concerns during the confirmation process that husband Bill Clinton's philanthropic activities could lead to conflicts of interest. (More Coverage)
Director of White House Office for Health Reform
Nancy-Ann DeParle
Announced: March 2
Obama signaled a change of course by appointing this former Clinton official for health czar, a role he had originally envisioned being filled by his HHS secretary. Before joining the Clinton OMB, DeParle served as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Human Services; more recently, she's worked for several large health care firms. (More Coverage)
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Shaun Donovan
Announced: Dec. 13
Confirmed: Jan. 22
Obama wants his new HUD secretary active in his economic rescue efforts. Donovan has experience with affordable housing, currently as New York's housing commissioner and previously as an executive at Prudential Mortgage Capital Co. He was a multifamily housing specialist in HUD under President Clinton. (More Coverage)
Secretary of Education
Arne Duncan
Announced: Dec. 16
Confirmed: Jan. 20
Duncan leaves his post as head of Chicago's public school system to serve as Education secretary. During his time in Chicago, he managed to avoid the ire of both teachers unions and school reformers. Now he'll have to shift his scope to the national level in order to refocus No Child Left Behind and address the rising costs of higher education. (More Coverage)
Chief of Staff
Rahm Emanuel
Announced: Nov. 6
In his six years in the House, Emanuel was known as equal parts brawler and tactician. He was the architect of the Democrats' 31-seat pickup in 2006 and earned mention as a future Speaker before joining his fellow Chicagoan's White House team. Emanuel is no executive branch newcomer, having served as a top aide to President Clinton. (More Coverage)
Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates
Announced: Dec. 1
One of three Republicans named to Obama's Cabinet, Gates will be the first Defense chief to stay on through a change of party in the White House. Like Obama, Gates has argued for closing the Guantanamo Bay prison facility; he has differed from candidate Obama, however, on the need for a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq. (More Coverage)
Secretary of the Treasury
Timothy F. Geithner
Announced: Nov. 24
Confirmed: Jan. 26
As president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Geithner has been involved in the government's frenzied bailout maneuvering from the start, which has been argued as both a positive and a negative. A veteran of three administrations in the Treasury, Geithner is a protege of Lawrence Summers, Obama's pick to head the National Economic Council. (More Coverage)
Attorney General
Eric Holder
Announced: Dec. 1
Confirmed: Feb. 2
Holder rose to the position of deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration. He joined the Obama team as an adviser in 2007, and in 2008 he helped pick Obama's running mate. Conservatives are wary because of his role in the Marc Rich pardon; his confirmation hearing has already been pushed back at Arlen Specter's request. (More Coverage)
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator
Lisa Jackson
Announced: Dec. 15
Confirmed: Jan. 22
To helm an agency that many complain has been subservient to business interests during the Bush years, Obama has chosen the former head of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, who was both praised and criticized for seeking common ground between business and environmental groups. Jackson currently serves as chief of staff to New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. (More Coverage)
National Security Adviser
James Jones
Announced: Dec. 1
A retired four-star Marine Corps general who has served as supreme allied commander in Europe and commandant of the Marine Corps, Jones is a fitting choice for Obama's so-called team of rivals. The Republican-leaning Jones is much closer to Obama's general election opponent, John McCain, for whom he worked in the 1980s, than to anyone in the president-elect's inner circle. (More Coverage)
U.S. Trade Representative
Ron Kirk
Announced: Dec. 19
As Dallas' first black mayor, Kirk looked far beyond the city limits, leading numerous overseas trade missions and extolling the virtues of the North American Free Trade Agreement. His support for free market practices could lead this former chairman of Obama's Texas campaign into conflicts with the Cabinet's more protectionist members. (More Coverage)
Secretary of Transportation
Ray LaHood
Announced: Dec. 19
Confirmed: Jan. 22
LaHood was the second Republican and arguably biggest surprise Obama picked for his Cabinet. The longtime Illinois congressman, who declined to seek an eighth term in 2008, has little experience with transportation issues beyond a stint on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he worked on the surface transportation bill in 1998. The law is up for reauthorization this year. (More Coverage)
Secretary of Commerce
Gary Locke
Announced: Feb. 25
As Washington's governor and as a China trade specialist in private practice, Locke has made a name for himself on trade. In both capacities, he has arranged deals in China with Washington companies, and he went on 10 trade missions in office. Locke's response to a 2003 budget crunch was cuts, not taxes. In 1998, he pushed for a ballot initiative that tied the minimum wage to inflation. (More Coverage)
Secretary of Homeland Security
Janet Napolitano
Announced: Dec. 16
Confirmed: Jan. 20
As Arizona governor, Napolitano brings a state government perspective back to Homeland Security; as governor of a border state, she has made border security and managing illegal immigration signature issues. Napolitano opposed the Real ID driver's license program as governor, but she will now be in charge of administering it. (More Coverage)
Office of Management and Budget Director
Peter Orszag
Announced: Nov. 25
Confirmed: Jan. 20
Once an economic adviser in the Clinton White House, Orszag was halfway through his four-year term as director of the Congressional Budget Office when he took over at OMB. Orszag has been praised by lawmakers from both parties as an objective analyst with deep knowledge of the most pressing fiscal issues of the day. (More Coverage)
Central Intelligence Agency Director
Leon Panetta
Announced: Jan. 9
Confirmed: Feb. 19
One of the biggest surprises of the transition was the nomination of Panetta, a veteran public servant but a relative novice on intel issues. After representing California's 16th District for 16 years, Panetta joined the Clinton administration as OMB director, then as chief of staff. Since leaving government, he has founded the Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy and served as a member of the Iraq Study Group. (More Coverage)
Ambassador to the United Nations
Susan Rice
Announced: Dec. 1
Confirmed: Jan. 22
Having served in the Clinton administration on the National Security Council and as assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Rice now looks to assume the role of ambassador to the U.N. as Obama restores the post to its Clinton-era Cabinet-level status. Though she has been described as outspoken, Rice's resume does not appear to present the red flags that derailed President Bush's nomination of John Bolton. (More Coverage)
Council of Economic Advisers Chair
Christina D. Romer
Announced: Nov. 24
Romer, a well-respected academic, is known as a monetary policy expert and a Great Depression scholar; her work includes a paper titled "What Ends Recessions?" Until her nomination, she served on the National Bureau of Economic Research, which officially calls recessions. She and David Romer, her husband and frequent collaborator, informally advised Obama during the campaign. (More Coverage)
Secretary of the Interior
Ken Salazar
Announced: Dec. 17
Confirmed: Jan. 20
Salazar put on hold a promising career in the Senate to run Obama's Interior Department, where he will have to balance the demands of conservationists with increasing pressure to open more land for fossil fuel exploration. He will have to win over wary environmentalists as well as right a department demoralized by scandal in recent years. (More Coverage)
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Kathleen Sebelius
Announced: March 2
A month after former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle withdrew from consideration, Obama turned to this two-term Kansas governor. Her experience working with Republicans could help the administration reach out to GOP moderates, although she had a mixed record advancing health reforms in the statehouse. (More Coverage)
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Eric Shinseki
Announced: Dec. 7
Confirmed: Jan. 20
Along with his distinguished Army career, Shinseki's chief qualification for this job may be that he became a pariah within the Bush administration after suggesting, presciently, that postwar troop levels in Iraq would need to be much higher than Donald Rumsfeld's estimate. Obama may be hoping that the former Army chief of staff will also ruffle some feathers at the scandal-plagued VA. (More Coverage)
Secretary of Labor
Hilda Solis
Announced: Dec. 19
Confirmed: Feb. 24
Solis, who has received strong union backing, is a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, or "card check." The four-term representative supported legislation raising the federal minimum wage as a congresswoman and, before that, increasing the California minimum wage as a state senator. She worked in the Office of Hispanic Affairs in the Carter administration. (More Coverage)
National Economic Council Director
Lawrence Summers
Announced: Nov. 24
Summers served as an economic adviser to Obama during the campaign and was widely believed to be on the short list for Treasury secretary, a post he held during the Clinton administration. Summers' five years as president of Harvard University were marred by controversy after he suggested genetics might explain why there are fewer women scientists than men. He later resigned. (More Coverage)
Secretary of Agriculture
Tom Vilsack
Announced: Dec. 17
Confirmed: Jan. 20
Tom Vilsack knows from corn. During his time as governor of Iowa, he brought agribusiness to the state and strongly backed the use of farmland for ethanol production. Now that he's at Agriculture, he'll be in position to guide the administration's policy on biofuels and the farm subsidy system from an insider's perspective. (More Coverage)
President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board Chair
Paul Volcker
Announced: Nov. 26
The most veteran member of Obama's veteran economic team, Volcker is best known for his service as Federal Reserve Board chairman during the economically turbulent years of the late-Carter and early-Reagan eras. Obama hopes Volcker can summon the same magic that helped him put the brakes on stagflation in the 1980s as he helps oversee the new administration's economic recovery efforts. (More Coverage)
Some photos provided by Getty Images.
*Added nominations of Kathleen Sebelius as Health and Human Services secretary, Betty-Ann DeParle as health czar and Adolfo Carrión Jr. as urban affairs czar.
Vice President-elect Joe Biden added to his team today two experienced Hill hands, plucking one from the House and bringing the other with him from the Senate.
Alan Hoffman had been Biden's chief of staff in the Senate and will become his deputy chief of staff. Sudafi Henry, a top adviser to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., will serve as director of legislative affairs. Biden said in a statement that Henry will "lead our efforts to build strong working relationships with members of both parties, and in both the House and the Senate."
The full press release is after the jump.
Incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel resigned his House seat Monday, which will now be filled via a special election. (NationalJournal.com)
Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle got "an earful" from residents of Dublin, Ind. about the nation's health care system Monday. (New York Times)
Telecommunications companies are already scrambling to cash in on Barack Obama's interest in improving the nation's broadband infrastructure. (Wall Street Journal)
Applicants for administration jobs are linking up with special interest groups to get their resumes noticed among the more than 300,000 already submitted. (Politico)
A new poll shows that a majority of Americans believe Caroline Kennedy is qualified to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Senate (Boston Globe), though substantially fewer New Yorkers feel likewise. (NationalJournal.com)
The Hawaiian tourism industry is hoping Michelle Obama's declaration that "you can't really understand Barack until you understand Hawaii" will lure more people to the Aloha State. (Los Angeles Times)
While hitting the links in Hawaii Monday, Obama was subjected to more taunting about his dismal bowling performance during the primaries. (AP)
Stimulus Wars
GOP leaders are threatening to delay Obama's stimulus package, calling on the president-elect to move with less haste. (Washington Post)
The International Monetary Fund favors Obama's plan of targeted tax cuts over Republican calls for slashed corporate tax rates and capital gains. (Wall Street Journal)
Inauguration Conflagration
Obama's inclusion of Rick Warren in his inauguration may signal his seriousness in reaching out to an evangelical community that voted convincingly for John McCain. (Boston Globe)
Unmanageable crowds, bitter cold and poor cell phone service are just some of the hurdles inauguration attendees will face, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies warns. (New York Times)
Despite rampant layoffs, record numbers of journalists are applying for press passes to the inauguration -- so many that more than a few reporters will be left out in the cold. (Politico)
Residents of Duluth, Minnesota are helping bankroll a Tuskegee Airman's pilgrimage to DC for the inauguration. (AP)
By RICHARD COHEN
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., officially announced his resignation from Congress today to become President-elect Obama's chief of staff, seeming to close the door on any chance of making a quick return to his old job, in case he has second thoughts.
Emanuel's office made the announcement in an e-mail that included the text of an automated call to his constituents on Chicago's North Side, and in a letter, dated Jan. 2, to embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D).
In his message to constituents, Emanuel said that in the interim, "both the Washington DC and Chicago offices will be open, and staff will be available to assist you with any casework issues." The statement also provided a telephone number in Chicago for constituents to contact with questions or concerns about legislation or dealings with federal agencies. Under House rules, the Clerk of the House routinely takes control of a House office once there is a vacancy.
The letter to Blagojevich routinely reviewed Emanuel's three terms in Congress and referred to his hopes for his new job: "As I go to work every day in the incoming Obama Administration, I will keep in mind the stories of the working families and senior citizens who I met during the past six years in grocery stores, schools and churches across the Fifth District." The letter appeared to make no reference to the governor's current legal problems, nor to Emanuel's much-discussed recent conversations with him.
Although Obama resigned from the Senate in mid-November, other members of his administration have retained their seats in Congress. Vice President-elect Joe Biden is expected to resign his Senate seat prior to the Jan. 20 inauguration, and Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner has appointed his temporary successor, Ted Kaufman. Other announced members of Obama's Cabinet from Capitol Hill are not expected to resign until the Senate confirms them to their new office. They are: Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton, Interior Secretary-designate Ken Salazar, and Labor Secretary-designate Hilda Solis.
As incoming chief of staff, Emanuel does not face Senate confirmation. And he has been working actively in his new job since Obama officially named him on Nov. 7. The announcement makes it unlikely that Emanuel will be sworn in as a member of the 111th Congress, which formally convenes next week. But by ambiguously describing the future operation of his congressional office, and by not explicitly stating that he will not join the 111th Congress, Emanuel may have left himself some wiggle room.
Doctors suggest that Barack Obama start trying to kick his cigarette habit before moving into the White House, since it takes smokers an average of 8 to 10 attempts to quit. (New York Times)
Obama has said little about the Gaza crisis, invoking his well-worn refrain that "there is only one president at a time." (New York Times)
Despite the economic downturn and a new stimulus in the works, Obama will stick by his pledge to cut middle-class taxes, aides say. (Los Angeles Times)
Attorney General-designate Eric Holder's confirmation hearing promises to be "bruising," with GOP senators expected to go after him on his involvement in the Marc Rich pardon and the Elian Gonzalez case. (Boston Globe)
Mark Penn, Hillary Rodham Clinton's former campaign strategist, has severed his business ties with the Pakistan People's Party, removing another possible hurdle to her Senate confirmation. (Politico)
Big Labor spent millions getting Obama elected but may not see its agenda advanced in the near future, with "card check" legislation still unlikely to break through Congress anytime soon. (Washington Times)
Local vendors concerned about lack of proximity to the action on Jan. 20 protested outside the offices of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs this morning. (Washington Post)
Inauguration revelers will congregate on the National Mall Jan. 20, most not realizing that it was once the site of slave markets. (Boston Globe)
While the Kennedys and Johnsons were involved in revitalizing DC, recent history offers the Obamas few examples of first families enmeshed in city life. (NationalJournal.com - video)
All Axelrod, All The Time
Obama's top adviser, David Axelrod, vowed Sunday that he would not follow the lead of predecessor Karl Rove. (The Hill)
Obama's stimulus package will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $675 billion to $775 billion, Axelrod told "Face The Nation" Sunday. (New York Times)
Family Matters
Despite the press' strong track record of leaving the first family's youngest members alone, the temptation to snap photos of Malia and Sasha may be too great. (AP)
The first family's weekend outing for shave ices "caused a stir" in Hawaii. (Reuters)
As Jan. 20 draws closer, so too does the chance that new Obama family members will start to "come out of the woodwork." (Politico)
As a new, tech-savvy president prepares to take the reins in Washington, federal IT contractors are positioning themselves to be a part of the action. Microsoft Federal, for instance, has established the temporary post of "chief transition officer" to help the company forge a working relationship with the incoming administration.
Nextgov's Allan Holmes spoke recently with Microsoft's new "CTO," Carolyn Brubaker, about what this new position entails -- and about the potential role of President-elect Obama's yet-to-be-named chief technology officer.
Nextgov: What have you heard about what the role of the chief technology officer might be?
Brubaker: We're not quite sure what that's going to look like now, but from some of the information we are getting it looks like it's going to be an external adviser, someone who's really advising on national technology issues, with the primary goal of citizen outreach and engagement. That's a big objective of President-elect Obama's.They have an intense group of leaders who are looking at technology. We have received some inquiries, and from what I can tell they're just not only looking at technology, they're looking at reforming the process.
Nextgov: Are you saying the CTO will be more involved in using social networking technologies to engage the public rather than getting into the weeds of government to use IT to improve operations?
Brubaker: From some of the thoughts that have been shared [with us], it seems like that's probably the way it will be shaped. The CTO would really focus on citizen engagement and participation in government. I speculate that there will be a fairly structured group [in the Office of Management and Budget] that's really going to pay close attention to the inner workings of government and use technology to guide that. The CTO will really have more of a national perspective on goals.
The full interview is available at Nextgov. Lost In Transition has previously discussed the new CTO position with Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and Google's Vinton Cerf.
President-elect Barack Obama attended a memorial service for his grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham, in Hawaii on Tuesday, scattering her ashes at the same cliffs where he left flowers for his mother this year. (AP)
An Obama transition team report released yesterday said neither the president-elect nor members of his staff had inappropriate contact with embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. (The Hill)
The recent hubbub over shirtless shots of Obama could be the latest example of a president trying to redirect the national conversation with his appearance. (Washington Times)
Transition team member Sonal Shah's ties to a controversial Hindu nationalist organization are deeper than she has indicated, according to members of the group and e-mails suggesting her activity. (NationalJournal.com)
The administration may look to combat obesity as part of food assistance programs, though some anti-hunger advocates say the plan "smacks of paternalism." (Washington Post)
New York Gov. David Paterson is perturbed that Caroline Kennedy and her handlers are acting like the Senate seat is already hers. (New York Times)
Obama's next climate czar, Carol Browner, made sure she didn't leave a digital paper trail during her first stint in the White House, refusing to use e-mail and later erasing her computer's hard drive. (Washington Times)
Stimulus Wrangling
Vice President-elect Joe Biden has promised that there will be no earmarks in the $775 billion stimulus package. (Boston Globe)
Obama is debating whether to divert billions in his forthcoming stimulus package from traditional infrastructure projects to "green-collar" jobs. (Washington Post)
"Zoos, the bicycle industry and advocates of beach replenishment" are among the disparate interests lobbying for a share of the stimulus package. (AP)
Inauguration Conflagration
The Obamas will appear at 10 official inaugural balls on Jan. 20, the Presidential Inaugural Committee has announced. (Washington Post)
Meanwhile, party planners are going into overdrive to organize a slew of unofficial Jan. 20 balls and parties to celebrate the new president. (USA Today)
Even though their man (and woman) didn't win, GOP staffers are gearing up to join the festivities Jan. 20. (Politico)
By MARY GILBERT
President-elect Barack Obama addressed a troubled nation on Christmas Eve, acknowledging the challenges that many Americans are facing this holiday season while promising to carry a sense of "common purpose" into the first days of his new administration.
Obama opened his radio/YouTube address by thanking the "brave men and women" serving overseas, as well as the families who will have to celebrate without them this year. "Their extraordinary and selfless sacrifice is an inspiration to us all, and part of the unbroken line of heroism that has made our freedom and prosperity possible for over two centuries," Obama said, promising to keep the troops in his prayers and asking all Americans to "continue to offer them our full support."
The President-elect also sympathized with those "struggling" to stay afloat as the economy continues to sink. "Now, more than ever, we must rededicate ourselves to the notion that we share a common destiny as Americans; that I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper," he said, making a biblical reference he has returned to often in his speeches. Obama vowed that this spirit of service to one another "will guide my administration in the New Year" and predicted that, if Americans work together to come up with "new ideas and new innovation," the country will move forward into better times.
Finally, Obama drew a historical parallel to the Christmas 232 years ago when George Washington and his men crossed the Delaware River, winning a surprise victory against the British and giving "new hope to the cause of independence." The lesson that Americans have carried forth since 1776 -- and which particularly applies today as we face an uphill climb to get the country back on the right track, he says -- is "that hope endures, and that a new birth of peace is always possible."
By GAUTHAM NAGESH, Government Executive
Obama transition team member Sonal Shah's involvement with a controversial Hindu group was greater than she indicated in a recent statement, according to members of the organization.
A series of e-mails obtained by Nextgov suggest that Shah was an active member of the Vishva Hindu Parishad of America during the late 1990s and contributed to strategic discussions regarding the group's public image. Two VHP of America officials also confirmed that Shah served on the organization's governing council in the 1990s.
VHP is an international Hindu organization that is part of Sangh Parivar, the Indian nationalist movement organized around Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism. VHP has been condemned by the nonprofit group Human Rights Watch and the State Department for its role in the 2002 violence in the northwestern state of Gujarat that killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims.
Shah, an executive with Google who previously worked for the Treasury Department and Goldman Sachs, was appointed to President-elect Barack Obama's transition team in November and later named to be part of a three-person team to write technology policy.
In a recent statement sent to National Journal, Shah called the allegations "attacks" and said her association with the VHP of America involved work on earthquake relief in 2001. She added that if she could have anticipated the group's silence "in the face of its Indian counterpart's complicity in the events of Gujarat in 2002" she "would have not associated with the VHP of America."
But in e-mail messages sent to the VHP of America's listserv in May 1998, Shah participated in discussions regarding the group's public image. At one point she made reference to the Indian branch of the VHP, or VHP Bharat, as a model: "Why don't we focus on improving the lives of its citizens, etc. That's where VHP Bharat's strength is -- people remember that." The e-mails also refer to a "long talk" between Shah and VHP of America official Vijay Pallod, in which Pallod called Shah part of the organization's "new generation." Shah did not respond to requests for comment at the time this article was posted.
VHP of India first rose to international prominence in December 1992 by leading the demolition of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya. The incident sparked riots and communal violence throughout the country.
Shah has been under fire since she was first named to Obama's transition team, but questions about her ties to the VHP of America surfaced much earlier. Trinity College professor Vijay Prashad, who wrote an article on the Web site CounterPunch questioning her appointment to the transition team, first asked Shah about her links to Sangh groups in 2004. Prashad said Shah's reaction to the questions both then and now have been dismissive.
"On the merits of the story she tells about her own involvement, there are certainly unanswered questions," said Prashad. "The questions are about the depth of her involvement and they speak not to any kind of anti-Muslim feelings but a lack of judgment. These statements strike me as opportunistic."
Despite Shah's statement renouncing the VHP, the issue has remained a hot topic in the Indian press. On Dec. 5, a group of more than 60 U.S. academics, many working in South Asian-related fields, sent a letter to Obama expressing their concern over Shah's appointment and the increasing influence of Hindu nationalism in America.
Prashad also pointed to a 2004 speech by Shah at a Sangh-related event, where according to the organization's Web site, Shah "exposed the hypocrisy of the Western way of life, highlighting its wasteful ways and compared them to the simpler but more genuine life in India. She mentioned how Indians would sacrifice whatever they had for their guests, but we in the West cannot even sacrifice a little time for them."
Shah's brother, Anand Shah, said during an interview earlier in December that as children growing up in Houston, he and his sister had limited knowledge of Indian politics and did not understand the entire context surrounding the VHP. He said they viewed the VHP as an "innocuous organization" and that it is "very different now."
"The choices we made were the best choices we could at the time. Had I known all the things I know now, there's a whole lot of things I wouldn't have done," said Anand Shah. He added that his sister speaks at numerous conferences to promote her nonprofit Indicorps, which arranges for American students to volunteer in India.
Prashad expressed skepticism at the Shah family's claims of ignorance regarding the VHP because Shah's father, Ramesh Shah, is known as a leader of the American wing of several Sangh Parivar organizations. Prashad also noted Sonal Shah's involvement in the VHP was well after the events of Ayodhya, which attracted international scrutiny.
"She is a smart person," said Prashad, referencing Shah's time at Treasury working on the Asian financial crisis. "Given all that, I find it unbelievable that these things are a surprise. She was on the governing council of the VHP-A while in the Treasury Department. It just doesn't sound credible."
The VHP of America issued a statement denying any role in the Gujarat violence and said it was independent of the eponymous Indian organization. But a spokesman said the two groups share similar goals and noted the VHP-A's Web site, listed as one of its goals to "establish VHP as the voice of Hindus everywhere and represent Hindu organizations and institutions on matters of Hindu interests."
President-elect Barack Obama penciled more names into his national security roster today, formally tapping James B. Steinberg and Jacob Lew as deputy secretaries of State, Thomas E. Donilon as deputy national security adviser and Antony "Tony" Blinken as national security adviser to Vice President-elect Joe Biden.
Steinberg and Lew will report to Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton, and it won't be their first tour of duty with a Clinton: Steinberg served as a deputy national security adviser to President Clinton from 1996 to 2000, and Lew worked as the director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1998 to 2001.
The appointments were announced less than an hour before the transition team released a long-awaited report on its contact with embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The full press release is available after the jump.
Surprise! "The American health care system is broken" is the message emanating from more than 4,200 house parties organized to advise President-elect Barack Obama on how to reform the system. (New York Times)
The Pentagon and security officials are already prepping Obama's transition team with a flood of information about the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. (Los Angeles Times)
Obama is set to release an internal report at 4:30 p.m. today that is expected to say his team had no inappropriate contact with embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. (New York Times)
Obama will be sworn in on the same Bible as Abraham Lincoln, adding yet another wrinkle to the parallels between the 16th and 44th presidents. (New York Times)
Al Franken is nursing a slim lead over Sen. Norm Coleman in the Minnesota Senate race recount. A Franken victory would move Senate Democrats one step closer to the magic 60-vote mark and perhaps even more leeway in pushing through their legislative agenda. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Could incoming Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's book The Plan: Big Ideas for America, which proposes a 10 percent flat tax for the middle class and universal public service for 18- to 25-year-olds, influence White House thinking in the next four years? (Washington Times)
D.C. residents hope Obama will be more involved in rejuvenating the city than the White House's current occupant, who locals complain treated the city like "a photo op." (Washington Post)
Obama has tapped Elizabeth Sears Smith for deputy Cabinet secretary and Cassandra Butts as his deputy White House counsel. (Roll Call -- subscription)
Photos of a shirtless president-elect on a Hawaiian beach -- snapped by a Los Angeles-based paparazzo -- have taken the Internet by storm. (Politico)
New Yorkers aren't yet sold on Caroline Kennedy as a Senate replacement for Hillary Rodham Clinton. (NationalJournal.com)
Obama's "green dream team" is gearing up to push climate change legislation, with one environmental advocate arguing that "if this team can't advance strong national policy on global warming, then no one can." (Reuters)
Cashing In And Cashing Out
A T-shirt featuring a "Chicago-style" Obama in a pimp hat is raising eyebrows on the D.C. street vendor circuit. (Washington Post)
Hawaiians are cashing in on the president-elect's brand, from Obama bus tours to Obama ice cream. (Politico)
Clinton has formally written off the $13 million she lent her failed presidential campaign. (New York Times)
By DAVID HERBERT
Caroline Kennedy isn't gaining much traction among New Yorkers in her bid for Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate seat, according to a Quinnipiac Institute poll released today. She's also getting some stiff competition from another member of a political dynasty: Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo. But in a one-vote race, New Yorkers believe by a 2-1 margin that Gov. David Paterson will tap Kennedy to represent the Empire State.
Kennedy was an early supporter of President-elect Barack Obama, hitting the campaign trail for him during the primaries and general election and serving as a co-chair on his vice presidential search committee.
Lost In Transition's running timeline of the Obama administration's staff announcements.
Asterisks mark Cabinet-level positions.
Last updated: Feb. 26, 2009
Feb. 26
Feb. 24
Feb. 20
Feb. 19
Feb. 11
Feb. 9
Feb. 6
Feb. 3
Feb. 2
Jan. 30
Jan. 29
Jan. 28
Jan. 27
Jan. 23
Jan. 22
Jan. 19
Jan. 16
Jan. 15
Jan. 14
Jan. 9
Jan. 8
Jan. 7
Jan. 5
Dec. 30
Dec. 23
Dec. 20
Dec. 19
Dec. 18
Dec. 17
Dec. 16
Dec. 15
Dec. 13
Dec. 11
Dec. 7
Dec. 5
Dec. 3
Dec. 2
Dec. 1
Continue reading The In Crowd: Obama's Appointments And Nominations.
Today's Poolitzer Prize, awarded semi-regularly to pool reports of unusual wit, detail or news value, goes to a pair of dispatches from the New York Times' Jeff Zeleny, who covered the president-elect's golf outing in Kailua, Hawaii.
Among Zeleny's insights: Barack Obama has a strong drive, he enjoys a good spam musubi, and he has no compunction about plying reporters with beer.
The winning pool reports, edited only for clarity, after the jump:
President-elect Barack Obama has shattered previous transition records for appointing a Cabinet and other advisers. (Wall Street Journal)
More than 330,000 applicants are angling for perhaps 3,000 to 4,000 jobs in the Obama administration, far outpacing application figures during previous transition periods. (USA Today)
After falling just shy of the 60 votes needed for a filibuster-proof majority, Senate Democrats and Obama will likely find themselves courting Maine's moderate GOP senators to help pass an aggressive legislative agenda. (Boston Globe)
The Army will need $40 billion to fund a planned addition of 74,200 troops, according to a report for the transition team. (Army Times)
In the heart of oil country, there's been no Obama honeymoon. (Los Angeles Times)
D.C. hairdressers are already vying for the chance to style Michelle Obama's hair. (AP)
Obama will release the results of an internal investigation Tuesday that is expected to show that his staff had no "inappropriate" contact with embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. (AP)
In yet another indication that action on climate change will be at the forefront of his environmental agenda, Obama tapped John Holdren, an energy and climate specialist, as the new White House science adviser. (Reuters)
If William White, the director of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York, is chosen as secretary of the Navy, he would be the first openly gay chief of a military branch. (The Advocate)
Vice President-elect Joe Biden will lead a task force on increasing education opportunities and economic security for middle-class and working families. (New York Times)
Vice President Cheney delivered a stinging rebuke Sunday of Biden's criticisms that Cheney has wrongly expanded his office's powers. (New York Times)
Inauguration Conflagration
About 225 former Tuskegee Airmen have accepted inauguration invitations, though failing health and logistical problems may prevent many from attending. (New York Times)
D.C. officials are downplaying their initial estimate that the Inauguration Day crowd could reach 4 million to 5 million spectators, saying the likely number of revelers will be about half that figure. (Washington Post)
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the first openly gay member of Congress, said conservative evangelist Rick Warren's public statements about the LGBT community have been "deeply offensive and unfair" and that he should not play a role in the inauguration. (Washington Post)
By TOM MADIGAN
President-elect Barack Obama announced his science team Saturday, telling viewers and listeners in his weekly address about the importance of "free and open inquiry" and "listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it's inconvenient -- especially when it's inconvenient."
Obama's nominee for science adviser is John Holdren, director of the Science, Technology and Public Policy program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Holdren, a physicist known for his work on global warming, is "one of the most passionate and persistent voices of our time about the growing threat of climate change," Obama said.
Holdren was also picked to chair the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology along with Harold Varmus and Eric Lander. Varmus, director of the National Institutes of Health under President Clinton, becomes the second Nobel Prize-winning scientist picked for Obama's team, joining Energy nominee Steven Chu. Lander, founding director of the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, was a leader in the effort to map the human genome.
Jane Lubchenco, a marine biologist and climate change specialist at Oregon State University, is Obama's nominee for administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Obama also said that in the new year, he would discuss how to "engage leaders in the technology community and harness technology and innovation to create jobs, enhance America's competitiveness and advance our national priorities." Google executive and Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf discussed the prospects for those goals and more in a recent interview with NationalJournal.com.
By DAVID HERBERT
The prospect of offshore-drilling supporter Ken Salazar heading up Interior and alleged New Jersey SuperFund bungler Lisa Jackson leading the Environmental Protection Agency may have some greens choking on their arugula.
But not all environmentalists are despairing just yet -- including Jackie Savitz, who directs anti-pollution campaigns for the ocean conservation nonprofit Oceana.
"I don't think we were expecting Obama to pick all slam dunks for us, or necessarily any slam dunks for us," Savitz said. "But having a government that focuses on real science and recognizes that science is an important factor in making decisions is going to be such a huge change for us."
As for Salazar, Savitz said she hopes that with lower gases prices and a new president, the Interior Secretary-designate will "take a fresh look" at the offshore drilling moratorium, which he supported repealing this summer.
Savitz and Dr. Jeffrey Short, a former fisheries researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and an expert on climate change and ocean acidification, will be featured in an upcoming NationalJournal.com Insider Interview. Visit the archives page for more Insider Interviews.
By KEVIN FRIEDL
Barack Obama rounded out his Cabinet-level nominations in Chicago this afternoon, naming California Rep. Hilda Solis (D) as his choice for Labor secretary, Illinois Rep. Ray LaHood (R) as his Transportation secretary pick and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk as his nominee for U.S. trade representative.
The president-elect's choices bring a Latina, a second Republican and a Southerner into his Cabinet. He also named Karen Mills, an economist and adviser to his transition team, to head the Small Business Administration.
Taking place in the wake of President Bush's announcement about the auto bailout, on a Friday afternoon and after the superstar picks Obama has already announced, this round of nominations had a somewhat perfunctory feel, and reporters' questions focused more on the state of the economy than on Obama's team itself.
"This is not an optimal situation, but what we're going to have to do is make the best decision we can with the hand we're dealt," Obama said in response to a question about his stimulus plan. Repairing the economy, he said, involves focusing "single-mindedly on job creation, increasing demand, getting the economy back on track, fixing our financial markets."
"That is going to cost a significant amount of money on the front end," he acknowledged, adding that deficit spending was nevertheless necessary to stimulate the economy. "Then we'll have laid that groundwork for long-term economic growth."
"We're going to have to be bold," Obama said.
Solis is known in the House as a close ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi as well as a strong union supporter, and her selection was cheered by organized labor even before the choice became official.
LaHood's reception by transportation interest groups was more reserved. Patrick Forrey, president of the air trafiic controllers union, released a statement saying only that he was "looking forward to sitting down with Secretary-designee LaHood as soon as possible" -- hardly a ringing endorsement.
Barack Obama's selection of Mary Schapiro to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission has garnered mixed reviews from pundits.
By BRITTANY R. BALLENSTEDT, Government Executive
Federal managers on Thursday urged President-elect Barack Obama to consider alternatives to a reform proposal that would reduce the number of mid-level managers in government.
"An arbitrary cut of managers based upon an across-the-board ratio for all of federal service is not [emphasis in original] the answer," wrote the Government Managers Coalition in a Dec. 17 letter to John Podesta, co-chair of the Obama-Biden transition team. "Instead, we encourage you to think about the long-term impact that qualified managers have on the ability of an agency to meet mission critical goals." The coalition is made up of five federal executive and management professional associations that represent more than 200,000 government managers.
The group pointed to the attempts of former incoming administrations to create a more effective government by focusing on what they often view "as a bloated federal workforce." The Clinton administration, for example, designed the National Performance Review, which called for increasing the ratio of one manager to every seven employees to one manager for every 15 rank-and-file workers. NPR also resulted in the reduction of 377,000 federal jobs, the coalition noted.
"In reaching President Clinton's reduction goals, agencies eliminated thousands of management positions without any measurement of the effectiveness of the effort and undoubtedly have had a direct impact on the increasing backlog of cases at the Social Security Administration and Veterans' Affairs," the letter said.
Obama announced his government reform plan at a campaign appearance in September, pledging to fire managers of poor-performing programs and to appoint a White House "SWAT team" made up of government professionals to review programs for waste and efficiency.
Continue reading Government Managers Balk At Obama Proposal.
President-elect Obama this morning released the following statement applauding President Bush's announced loan to U.S. automakers:
"Today's actions are a necessary step to help avoid a collapse in our auto industry that would have devastating consequences for our economy and our workers. With the short-term assistance provided by this package, the auto companies must bring all their stakeholders together -- including labor, dealers, creditors and suppliers -- to make the hard choices necessary to achieve long-term viability. The auto companies must not squander this chance to reform bad management practices and begin the long-term restructuring that is absolutely required to save this critical industry and the millions of American jobs that depend on it."
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, issued a statement as well, although he took a quite different stance on the bailout:
"The action today is disappointing news for autoworkers and taxpayers, who deserve better -- particularly from their Congress, which essentially punted on this difficult issue and is gearing up to move radical environmental legislation next year that will wreak havoc on American jobs. The no-bailout restructuring plan House Republicans put forth this month, which relied on private funds rather than taxpayer funds, was the responsible way for Washington to respond to the troubles in the American auto industry."By declining to take the responsible approach, Washington has failed both autoworkers and taxpayers. The use of TARP funds is also regrettable, the latest in a growing list of TARP money uses that were not discussed with or envisioned by Congress when the program was authorized. Now that billions in taxpayer funds are being put at risk, it is more essential than ever that our Democratic counterparts back away from threats to impose extreme environmental mandates on the auto industry that will jeopardize millions of American jobs."
By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
President-elect Obama's transition team will work through the Christmas and New Year's holidays to name many sub-Cabinet-level appointees as quickly as possible, a mid-level transition official said this week in informal conversation. President-elect Obama wants the lower-level officials in place as early as possible after the Jan. 20 inauguration so that they -- rather than civil servants -- can supervise the spending of the economic stimulus package, the official said. In some departments, the stimulus may mean a massive infusion of money, he noted.
The official also said that those seeking jobs in the administration should not relax over the holidays, but continue their efforts, including attempts to get high-level recommendations. If hopefuls do not continue to push for their appointments, the jobs may go to other people by the time the holidays are over, he added. He also advised one job-seeker to apply for several positions but note his top preference, and to be flexible about what job he gets because of the number of applications for each position.
High-level sub-Cabinet jobs such as deputy secretaries of departments and undersecretaries generally require Senate confirmation, and those appointees must go through the confirmation process after the Cabinet secretaries of their departments are confirmed. But there are also thousands of powerful but lower-level jobs that do not require Senate confirmation.
By LISA CARUSO
Transportation leaders from across the ideological spectrum were taken aback by the surprise news, which first leaked out Wednesday, that President-elect Obama plans to name retiring Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., as his nominee for Transportation secretary.
Although Obama was not expected to make the announcement until today, already the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the airline industry trade group and some leading transportation labor unions have weighed in with hopeful praise of the nominee, who before Wednesday was not on anyone's short list -- or wish list -- for secretary.
But with just two more slots to fill, Obama still had only one Republican in his Cabinet, and LaHood's reputation for bipartisanship and close ties to home-state colleagues Obama and incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, with whom he served in the House, appear to have carried the day over more experienced potential picks like former Deputy Secretary of Transportation Mortimer Downey and former FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, both Democrats.
First elected to Congress in 1994, LaHood spent his first six years on the Hill as a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, serving on the panel for the 1998 reauthorization of the surface transportation bill (dubbed TEA-21). If confirmed, he will lead the administration's effort to renew the law, which was last reauthorized in 2005 as SAFETEA-LU, next year.
Liberal, environmental and labor groups will spend $5 million lobbying Congress for an economic stimulus package for new jobs, middle-class tax cuts and infrastructure spending. (Washington Times)
Under fire from gay rights activists for selecting Christian evangelist Rick Warren for his invocation, President-elect Obama defended the pick, saying, "It is important for America to come together, even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues." (Washington Post)
Conservative evangelicals remain worried about Obama on issues ranging from regulation of the airwaves to the selection of left-leaning Supreme Court justices. (Los Angeles Times)
American military commanders in Iraq have outlined a troop withdrawal plan that doesn't quite square with what Obama has pledged. (Los Angeles Times)
Obama called for a "shift in ethics on Wall Street" while introducing his financial regulators. (NationalJournal.com)
Roads, rail, mass transit -- or something entirely different? Obama will face competing pressures for how to spend the expected $50 billion in transportation funds next year. (Boston Globe)
Vinton Cerf, the "father of the Internet," said the incoming chief technology officer could help create jobs through his or her work. (NationalJournal.com)
Federal agencies are preparing to increase transparency and collaboration under the next administration, including more "public reporting of spending" through sites like USAspending.gov. (Federal Computer Week)
President Clinton released the names of 200,000 donors to his presidential library, revealing money from governments in the Middle East and business titans from Canada, Nigeria, India and Ukraine. (New York Times)
Stocking The Cabinet
Obama is expected to choose Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., for his Labor secretary and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk for U.S. trade representative, though the nominees disagree over free trade. (New York Times)
Obama is set to tap retired Adm. Dennis C. Blair to become the nation's third director of national intelligence. (Washington Post)
By picking so many sitting Democratic senators and representatives for top administration positions, Obama has opened the door for the GOP to make up some ground in Congress. (USA Today)
Obama's top science advisers are strong advocates for action on climate change. (Washington Post)
Grading The Picks
Solis is the home run unions and labor advocates were looking for, with AFL-CIO President John Sweeney saying his group is "thrilled." (Politico)
But Big Labor is less happy with Kirk as U.S. trade representative. (CongressDaily -- subscription)
After Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., turned down an offer to become the new U.S. trade representative this week, former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk has moved to the top of the rumored short list for the job. But CongressDaily's Peter Cohn reports today that labor groups may be unreceptive to this choice.
"We don't see a whole lot of evidence that Ron Kirk is interested in going in a new, substantive direction on trade," said one labor official, pointing to favorable statements the prospective nominee has made about the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The full story is available to subscribers here.
By KASIE HUNT, CongressDaily
Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., is widely reported to be President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for Labor secretary, a labor official said today. Solis, 51, was elected to Congress in 2000 from a heavily Democratic district that includes part of Los Angeles.
Before that, she served as President Carter's director of Office of Hispanic Affairs and spent six years in the California state House and Senate. She has a strong background on union issues, having worked to unionize farm workers in California and co-sponsoring "card check" legislation that would allow workers to form unions by signing authorization cards.
No confirmation has yet emerged from the transition team, but that didn't stop labor advoactes and members of Congress from weighing in on the reports.
"Hilda Solis is a very strong champion of working families and will be an outstanding secretary of Labor," said House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller, D-Calif. Labor leaders were also pleased by the pick. "The new secretary of Labor is terrific. We are incredibly enthusiastic about her," said Anna Burger, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union and chairwoman of the union political federation Change to Win. "We have a department of Labor that is built for the 19th century, not the 21st century, and I think Hilda Solis will be terrific at changing this."
Solis' profile in the Almanac of American Politics describes a Pelosi loyalist who has worked closely with organized labor in the past.
Solis has been among the most liberal members of the House and rarely casts a conservative vote. In the minority, she was a tenacious defender of her community. She fought proposals to weaken worker safety regulations and complained that the Nielsen television ratings undercounted Latinos.She showed her good standing with Nancy Pelosi by gaining a highly-sought seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and has been active on its Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee -- a good fit with her career work. Solis has scored some legislative successes. She was among the early sponsors of the bill to give citizenship eligibility to immigrants who have served a year in the military, which George W. Bush signed in November 2003; previous law required three years of service.
She enacted a bill for the Interior Department to restore the water flow of the San Gabriel River and study ways to create more green space and urban recreation areas. She enacted another bill to name a post office in Duarte for Francisco Martinez Flores, a Marine who was among the first casualties in the Iraq war. As a Pelosi loyalist, she has been active in leadership circles and was named to the select committee on global warming; she has cosponsored legislation that sets greenhouse gas emission targets.
By AMY HARDER
Michael Chertoff has helmed one of government's most controversial, criticized and crucial departments for nearly four years. Speaking to a small audience at Georgetown University's Riggs Library this morning, the outgoing secretary of Homeland Security offered a word of advice for his successor, Janet Napolitano, and reflected back on his time in the department.
"Nobody would have predicted that, following September 11, that there would have been no successful attack on American soil the following seven years," Chertoff said in his opening remarks. "I don't think that's an accident." His language echoed a similar argument put forth by President Bush on Wednesday, when he said "it's not a matter of luck" the country had avoided another attack.
Chertoff commended the transition efforts of both the incoming and outgoing teams, calling this the most "dedicated and effective transition" in the country's history. But he emphasized that a "lot of work" is ahead for the department, and for President-elect Obama's incoming administration overall.
"The threat of terrorism and extremist ideologies have not abated, vividly underscored last month in Mumbai," Chertoff said early in his speech. "This reminds us that this threat has not evaporated and we cannot turn the page on this."
While stressing the importance of looking ahead, Chertoff also said that the "past is prologue, and to understand what we must do we must understand where we've come from." To that end, he credited Bush and the policies he put in place, like passing the PATRIOT Act and establishing DHS, for helping prevent further attacks.
"If I learned anything these past eight years," Chertoff said, "it's that swift, strong, unequivocal action is the absolute first requirement" when responding to any type of incident.
While DHS holds an event like this every year, Chertoff said he wanted to take a different approach this time, recounting details from his years in the Bush administration and thanking his fellow employees of DHS. He took time to reflect on some of his experiences, including spending a night on an iceberg with the Coast Guard and riding horses in Arizona with Border Patrol agents. "I would also like to tell my successor," Chertoff said, "that a special treat is in store for her."
At various times throughout his nearly hour-long speech, the outgoing secretary implicitly defended his department, more or less acknowledging the widespread criticism it has received since its founding in March 2003. Disagreeing with critics who have claimed the PATRIOT Act was a "midnight deal," swiftly and discreetly passed in Congress, Chertoff called the legislation "well-thought out and a very, very thoroughly discussed package of measures."
Continue reading Chertoff Offers Advice To Incoming DHS Secretary.
(Credit: STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)
Computer science pioneer Vinton Cerf, commonly referred to as the "father of the Internet" and currently Google's chief Internet evangelist, isn't sure exactly what Barack Obama's proposed chief technology officer position would entail. But he recently told NationalJournal.com that a national CTO could do a lot to stoke the country's economic engine.
Cerf, an Obama donor who is reported to be on the short list for the first-of-its-kind position, said that the transition team has not approached him about joining the administration. But regardless of who is offered the CTO position, he said, "if the job is of the sort that I imagine and hope it might be, I'd certainly want to be supportive of the party in that role."
He says there is great potential for the CTO to create jobs through investments in American infrastructure -- including infrastructure that supports information technology and energy, particularly electrical power grids and tools that manage energy consumption. He said that fulfilling such a task would be hard, "but I also think this is an amazing opportunity, given our current economic situation."
Read more about Cerf's hopes for the CTO position on Monday in an Insider Interview with NationalJournal.com's Theresa Poulson.
Talking heads discuss Barack Obama's selection of Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar to lead the Interior department.
BY JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin said he expects his committee to swiftly confirm fellow Iowa Democrat Tom Vilsack as Agriculture secretary, but other congressional leaders were a little more restrained in their praise and farm leaders were mixed on the former governor.
"Tom Vilsack has a strong record in Iowa on building opportunities in renewable energy, conservation, food and nutrition, experience that will serve him well as secretary of Agriculture," Harkin said. "With our economy in a downturn, Tom Vilsack knows how to bring change that will rebuild rural economies and keep them vibrant. As someone who has been a supporter of Tom Vilsack from the time he ran for governor to the time he ran for president, I believe he will be a strong Secretary of Agriculture and I expect a swift confirmation by the Senate Agriculture Committee."
President-elect Barack Obama and Vilsack may, however, have some fence-mending to do with the Iowa senators. Both Harkin and Republican Charles Grassley noted in early news releases that they had heard about the nomination from news reports, not from the Obama transition office. "This comes as a surprise since about three weeks ago Governor Vilsack stated that he was not in contention for the job, but it sure isn't a surprise because of his qualifications," Grassley said. "As governor of Iowa, he has a firsthand look at the role of agriculture in our global economy. I'm happy for him, happy for Iowa, and this is welcome news for agriculture."
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., who had earlier said that he would prefer someone more experienced with Washington than a governor, congratulated Vilsack and called him "a strong advocate who understands the changing landscape of our nation's rural economy." On Nov. 5, Peterson told Reuters that Obama should nominate for Agriculture secretary "somebody who understands agriculture, who has knowledge of agriculture." Peterson added, "I'm not big on governors and so forth."
Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said he was looking forward to working with Vilsack, but also said, "With the selection of Governor Vilsack, Iowa agriculture will be well represented in both the legislative and executive branches." Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., who opposed the farm bill, said, "I am optimistic about this appointment -- Tom Vilsack has a strong commitment to land and water conservation policy, and has indicated a desire to reform USDA agriculture payments, including a tighter cap on commodity subsidies."
Continue reading Harkin Expects Quick Confirmation For Vilsack.
By KEVIN FRIEDL
In his fourth press conference in as many days, President-elect Obama this morning rolled out three of his top financial regulators, including his nomination of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority CEO Mary Schapiro as chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The announcement took place in the shadow of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme, a scandal Obama referred to repeatedly in his remarks.
Speaking to reporters at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, Obama introduced Schapiro along with Gary Gensler, his nominee to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Daniel Tarullo, his choice for one of the two open spots on the Federal Reserve Board. Gensler served in the Treasury Department under Bill Clinton and, more recently, advised Hillary Rodham Clinton during her White house bid. Tarullo advised Obama on economic issues during the campaign and is the latest of several appointees to come from the Center for American Progress.
Praising his picks to oversee the country's shattered financial industry, Obama said they would help strengthen the county's regulatory apparatus, and he promised a "21st-century regulatory framework" that would foster "openness, accountability and transparency." He criticized the lack of regulation that he said had contributed to the country's current economic problems, saying the government had been "asleep at the switch."
But Obama also called for a "shift in ethics on Wall Street." "We can have the best regulators in the world, but everyone from CEOs to shareholders to investors are going to have to be asking themselves, not only is this profitable... but is it right?" he said.
When asked by one reporter whether the second half of the $700 billion bailout package should be released to help the Big Three automakers stay afloat, Obama effectively dodged the question, saying only that "Main Street can't afford" a collapse of the financial system.
Asked about his invitation of evangelical pastor Rick Warren, whose views on social issues are opposed by gay rights groups, to participate in the inauguration, Obama reached back for an old campaign chestnut about Americans needing to be able to "disagree without being disagreeable." He also reaffirmed his disagreements with Warren, calling himself "a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans."
By ELIZABETH NEWELL, Government Executive
(Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., newly appointed leader of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, on Wednesday urged President-elect Barack Obama to return the Small Business Administration to the Cabinet-level status it had under President Clinton.
Landrieu, who will replace Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as leader of the committee, said in a Dec. 17 letter to Obama that SBA's "role was inadvisably diminished in recent years."
"If empowered by a return to proper rank, the SBA administrator can be a more effective champion for our small businesses," she wrote.
Landrieu, who also is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, noted that both funding and staffing for SBA were cut dramatically during the Bush administration. Her letter cited outgoing chairman Kerry's calculation that the agency's funding was slashed by $499.5 million, or 26 percent, since 2001.
"I am committed to working with your administration to end this downward trend," Landrieu told Obama. "For this agency to truly realize its mission -- particularly in supporting our small businesses through the current economic crisis -- SBA needs funding increases to carry out its lending, technical assistance and entrepreneurship programs."
President Bush is preparing a luncheon for all five living presidents -- former, current and elect -- for Jan. 7. (Washington Post)
President-elect Obama and many members of his inner circle are part of the Baby Boom sub-group "Generation Jones" -- Boomers born between 1954 and 1964. (Los Angeles Times)
As it has been for previous first families, changing the decor of the White House will be a political minefield for the Obamas. (New York Times)
Grading The Picks
Interior Secretary-designate Ken Salazar is not a slam-dunk pick for the greens, who are worried about his ties to the ranching and mining industries. (Time)
Farmers, agribusiness and consumer interests are ecstatic over the choice of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) to lead the Department of Agriculture. (NationalJournal.com)
Vilsack collected more than $42,000 in farm subsidies from 2000 to 2006 and advised clients of his lobbying firm on agribusiness. (Politico)
The Name Game
Obama is preparing to tap Securities and Exchange Commission veteran Mary Schapiro to lead the embattled agency. (Wall Street Journal)
Obama will select Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., for Transportation secretary, adding a Republican to a centrist Cabinet that had nonetheless lacked any GOP faces beyond Defense Secretary Robert Gates. (Chicago Tribune)
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., who became the highest-profile candidate to turn down a job offer from Obama, argued that with the focus on job creation and economic recovery, the U.S. trade representative post will have less importance in the new administration. (Los Angeles Times)
Lobbying groups for the drug industry are pressuring Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle to pick a Food and Drug Administration chief who is "familiar with the industry." (Wall Street Journal)
Inauguration Conflagration
The military will be on high alert during the inauguration, dispatching more air patrols and deploying chemical attack experts and medical units. (Los Angeles Times)
NASA has been asked to march in the Jan. 20 inaugural parade, an invitation that might signal a softening of tensions between Obama and the space agency. (NationalJournal.com)
Gay activists are upset about Obama's invitation of conservative evangelist Rick Warren's to deliver the inauguration invocation. (New York Times)
Local vendors will get first dibs on the 716 prime downtown vending spots for the inauguration. (Washington Post)
Chief speechwriter Jon Favreau, 27, is writing Obama's Inauguration Day address around "the idea that America was founded on certain ideals that we need to take back." (Washington Post)
By DAVID HERBERT
(Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The Presidential Inaugural Committee announced Wednesday that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will participate in the Jan. 20 inaugural parade.
The announcement, which comes just days after the Orlando Sentinel reported icy relations between the transition team and the space agency, could signal a thawing of sorts. NASA says it needs billions more in funding to smooth the transition to a new generation of space shuttles, but so far President-elect Obama has equivocated on the multibillion-dollar price tag.
"The inclusion of NASA in the inaugural parade speaks volumes about President-elect Obama's long-standing admiration and appreciation of America's space program," said Shin Inouye, a spokesman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee. "These astronauts represent the best of our country, and their accomplishments continue to inspire Americans of all ages."
The Endeavor crew, which spent 16 days in space last month installing new equipment on the International Space Station, will march in the parade. Joining the crew will be a small pressurized lunar rover like the one that will be used when NASA hopes to return to the moon in 2020.
This won't the first inaugural parade for NASA, Inouye said. President Bush had a model NASA shuttle from Houston in his 2001 parade, and Jimmy Carter's 1977 celebration included a NASA float. The Apollo 8 astronauts and members of their NASA team attended Richard Nixon's 1969 inauguration. His parade also included a full-size model of the lunar landing craft.
By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
Groups representing farm, agribusiness and consumer interests, joined by lawmakers, praised President-elect Obama's selection today of former Iowa Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack to be Agriculture secretary, calling him a centrist who could represent all agriculture concerns.
At a news conference in Chicago, where Obama also officially introduced Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., as his designated Interior secretary, Vilsack said his first priority would be to improve profitability for farmers and expand opportunities in rural America while encouraging sustainable agricultural practices.
Vilsack avoided the issue of trade but said he would work with other federal departments on climate change, indicating support for legislation and international treaties that many farm leaders fear will force changes in U.S. agricultural production methods. Vilsack said he would put "nutrition at the center of all food assistance programs," an indication he will get involved in a congressional battle next year over reauthorization of children's nutrition programs. Nutrition advocates want those programs to address child obesity and related diseases. Meat, dairy and sugar interests are likely to fight changes that would reduce federal and school purchases of their products.
Continue reading Diverse Array Of Groups Pleased With Vilsack.
President-elect Barack Obama's selection of Arne Duncan as Education secretary earned praise from pundits like Bill Bennett, who held the post under Ronald Reagan. But not everyone was convinced of Duncan's potential to carry out reforms.
By DAVID HERBERT
President-elect Obama announced the selection of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) to lead the Agriculture Department and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., to head up the Interior Department at a press conference this morning.
Obama stressed that in addition to safeguarding the environment, both departments will play a central role in domestic energy production.
"Our wide open spaces are not only a blessing to be enjoyed, they are the foundation of a brighter future," he said. "How we harness our natural resources -- from the farmlands of Iowa to the springs of Colorado -- will speak not only to our quality of life, but to our economic growth and our energy future."
Salazar and Vilsack aren't quite a slam dunk for the green wing of the party. Salazar has been a fierce opponent of oil-shale exploration, but he was also part of a bipartisan coalition of senators who signed onto a plan that would have expanded offshore drilling opportunities. Vilsack has been a staunch supporter of biofuels, which have serious skeptics in the environmental community, and has been a close friend of the agribusiness community as well.
Still, Obama said business interests will be one of the stakeholders -- not the stakeholder -- in decisions about conservation and agriculture.
"It's time for a new kind of leadership in Washington that's committed to using our lands in a responsible way to benefit all our families," he said. "It means ensuring that the policies being shaped at the Departments of Agriculture and Interior are designed to serve not big agribusiness or Washington influence-peddlers, but family farmers and the American people."
Salazar, who arrived at the press conference in his trademark cowboy hat and bolo tie, will take over an Interior Department that was rocked by charges of sexual misconduct, drug use and graft earlier this year. Salazar is the former attorney general of Colorado.
Vilsack also adds a new wrinkle to Obama's "team of rivals." As a short-lived candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination, the former governor becomes Obama's fourth primary opponent in the administration, joining Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Commerce Secretary-designate Bill Richardson. After dropping out of the race in February 2007, Vilsack endorsed Clinton in the primaries.
By HUMBERTO SANCHEZ, CongressDaily
Leaders of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition said Tuesday that they have high hopes the Obama administration will join their fight to ultimately balance the budget by supporting legislation that would make the House's pay/go rule a law.
"We have had communications with the Obama administration and are encouraged by their commitment to fiscal responsibility over the long term, understanding that we have an economy that we have to revive here first," Rep. Baron Hill, D-Ind., said on a conference call today.
Hill, the group's co-chairman for policy, added the Obama team has indicated it favors "statutory pay/go," which would make the House budget rule a law and therefore more difficult to circumvent. Pay/go requires that any tax cut or entitlement spending increase be offset so the deficit does not increase.
Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., the group's co-chairman for communications, said on the call that a well-written statutory pay/go bill would make it simpler to effectively allocate federal dollars. Without statutory pay/go, "you get into micromanagement of trying to find money every time you have a bill," Melancon said. "We are hoping we can devise a pay/go... that will work over a long period of time as well as for the short term; or else every bill becomes laborious."
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., on Tuesday night confirmed his intention to remain in Congress rather than serve as President-elect Obama's U.S. trade representative.
In a statement, the eight-term lawmaker said that while he was honored to be considered by Obama, he would prefer to continue serving his Los Angeles-area district. "I am grateful for that privilege and now see a rare opportunity to push across the goal line much of the unfinished business of America," said Becerra, who will serve as vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus and as a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee in the 111th Congress.
Becerra said while working with Obama would be "the opportunity of a lifetime," he will nonetheless get that opportunity, just at the other end of Pennsylvania Ave. Becerra's decision ends a budding race to replace him as Caucus vice chairman, with a field that included Reps. Kendrick Meek of Florida, Joseph Crowley of New York, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio and Joe Baca of California and possibly others.
For Agriculture secretary, President-elect Obama will tap former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who briefly ran for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and vigorously supported Hillary Rodham Clinton's candidacy. (Des Moines Register)
The Bush administration is preparing "more than a dozen contingency plans" that could help guide Obama through disastrous scenarios soon after taking office. (New York Times)
Obama's "charm offensive" against Republican congressmen seems to be working. (The Hill)
Betty Currie, the personal secretary who went to bat for former President Bill Clinton in five grand jury hearings related to the Monica Lewinsky investigation, is now working for the Obama transition team. (New York Times)
Obama is likely to undo a range of abortion and reproductive-health measures. (Wall Street Journal)
The e-government agenda Obama touts is already on the march at the Commerce Department. (NationalJournal.com)
Obama has been using his e-mail list to tap supporters for more cash, leading to early signs of donor fatigue. (Politico)
Despite early complaints from the Latino community that it was not properly represented in Obama's Cabinet, the transition team argues that Obama's senior leadership actually has the largest number of Hispanics in history. (Politico)
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., has removed his name from contention for the U.S. trade representative post, complaining to the Spanish-language press that trade didn't seem like it would be "priority number one, and it might not be number two or three." (Politico)
Assessing The Nominees
Commerce Secretary-designate Bill Richardson's nomination may be headed for trouble after a federal grand jury began investigating allegations of pay-to-play politics in New Mexico. (AP)
Plenty of drilling issues face Interior Secretary-designate Ken Salazar, who, as a Colorado senator, opposed oil-shale exploration but supported offshore drilling. (Wall Street Journal)
Special Interests Strike Back
A green activist group is blasting Obama's infrastructure plans, which are designed to jump-start the economy by building more roads, as likely to result in "more pollution and more dependence on oil." (Washington Times)
Obama is being bombarded by special interest group demands, from card-check legislation to health care to making federal workplaces smoke-free. (USA Today)
Early childhood education advocates are "atremble" with anticipation over Obama's interest in funding childcare and preschool. (New York Times)
Inauguration Conflagration
Worried that it might be too heavy a strain on the city's budget, Los Angeles County will send 112 sheriff's deputies to the inauguration, fewer than the 500 the county sheriff originally requested. (Los Angeles Times)
The D.C. City Council voted to shave an hour off inauguration nightlife laws, making last-call in the city 4 a.m. from Jan. 17 to Jan. 21. (New York Times)
By AMY HARDER
Chicago public schools CEO Arne Duncan, who was announced as secretary of Education-designate this morning, is already receiving plaudits from all sides of the education debate.
"Duncan has shown a genuine commitment to what we see as the essential priorities for an incoming education secretary," American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said in a statement today. "There may be times when we will differ, but we believe we will agree fully that America's students and teachers need an education secretary committed to focusing on real solutions for closing the achievement gap and providing every child with a rigorous, well-rounded education." Weingarten also cited Duncan's work with the Chicago Teachers' Union to implement reform programs into the city's schools. "We look forward to being a partner in that collaborative process on a national scale," she concluded.
D.C.'s own public schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee, who has clashed with Weingarten and the AFT over teachers' contracts, also praised the choice. In a statement sent to NationalJournal.com, Rhee said the appointment shows that President-elect Obama plans to make improving public education one of his top priorities. Arne has "been a successful leader of an urban public school district" and therefore "understands the challenges public education faces and he will run the department from the vantage point of ensuring that we see results at the ground level," Rhee said in the statement.
Hear more about what Rhee had to say about the Democratic Party's education agenda in NationalJournal.com's Insider Interviews.
Today's Poolitzer Prize, awarded semi-regularly to pool reports of unusual wit, detail or news value, goes to a dispatch from the New York Times' Helene Cooper, who covered the president-elect as he spoke with schoolchildren at the Dodge Renaissance Academy this morning after announcing his pick for Education secretary.
When one of the children -- betraying a preternatural concern for the issues -- asked him about Iraq, President-elect Obama responded by repeating his pledge to remove "troops" in the next year and a half. Despite his early initiative, the young cub reporter failed to ask a follow-up on just how many troops would be withdrawn how soon.
The winning pool report, edited only for clarity, is below:
After the press conference at Dodge Academy, President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden went upstairs for a 15 minute meeting with a group of 1st-4th graders -- about a dozen.After a few minutes of chit-chat in which he asked the kids what they were studying -- (when one child said "decimals," Mr. Obama replied, "Decimals! Wow, Joe doesn't even know his decimals!") Then he told the kids he was opening the floor to questions, and proceeded to take more than double the number of questions than he took at his press conference. Plus the kids got to raise their hands and ask.
He may even have made news. One child ask him about Iraq and he said he plans to have troops home in a year and a half.
Other questions:
What are you gonna do as president?
A -- Make sure all kids get a good education.In 2009 are you going to the White House?
A -- After replying yes, Mr. Obama volunteered that he's getting a dog for Malia and Sasha, and added: "I want to make sure my daughters take care of this dog, and if they do their business, and you've got some poop, you don't just leave it there."Will you go to other countries?
A -- Mr. Obama said yes, adding that he even expects to meet some kings and queens.He also told the kids he's thinking about longer school days, which did not seem to go over well.
He took some photos with the kids, and we left the school at around 11:26. Mr. Obama is back in his transition office, and we have a lid until 6 p.m.
Talking heads discuss Barack Obama's pick of former EPA chief Carol Browner to a newly created position of energy czar.
By AMY HARDER
At a press conference today in Chicago, President-elect Obama named the city's public schools chief, Arne Duncan, as his choice to be the next secretary of Education. Obama touted Duncan's efforts to reform schools, rooted in his experience leading Chicago's school system for the last seven years. Duncan and Vice President-elect Joe Biden also spoke at the presser, which was held at the Dodge Renaissance Academy, a school that Obama said has improved dramatically under Duncan's leadership.
"When Arne speaks to educators across America, it won't be from up in some ivory tower, but from the lessons he's learned during his years changing our schools from the bottom up," Obama said, with Duncan standing nearby.
Obama also put to rest some "rumors" he said he'd heard floating around as to why he chose Duncan, a longtime basketball buddy, as his next Education secretary. "I did not select Arne because he's one of the best basketball players I know," Obama quipped. "But I will say that we're putting together the best basketball-playing Cabinet in American history. And I think that's worth noting."
To many in education, Obama's choice of leadership in this department represented a stark contrast: He could either choose someone like New York City Public School Chancellor Joel Klein, known for his reform efforts and views that differ greatly from teachers unions; or someone more traditional, like Obama's education transition chief, Linda Darling-Hammond. But many are already calling Duncan a middle-of-the-road pick -- a reformer who has kept in the good graces of the unions.
In his remarks, Obama touted some possible school reforms the federal government could implement, such as rewarding students who get good grades with money. "If pay-for-performance works, and we can work with teachers so they don't feel like it's being imposed on them... then that's something we can explore," Obama said. He mentioned the possibility of implementing charter schools on a more nationwide scale as well.
Continue reading Obama Takes Middle Path With Education Pick.
By DAVID HERBERT
If Barack Obama wants to prioritize e-government, he might look to the Commerce Department, which has quietly gained a reputation for being one of the most Web-savvy departments in the federal government.
Commerce has long been viewed as a sprawling, almost ungovernable bureaucracy, but over the last few years it has seen significant advances in areas both small (online video) and large (the 2010 census).
"I think the Commerce Department has been aggressive and progressive," said Arnold Jackson, associate director for the 2010 census.
Recently, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez pushed the Census Bureau to overcome technological barriers and offer an online form for the 2010 census, Jackson said. While the security software wasn't quite there to make the jump online in time for 2010, offering an Internet-based questionnaire is at "the very top of our agenda" for 2020, he added.
Commerce Secretary-designate Bill Richardson will oversee the 2010 census, and, depending on how long he serves, could be around when planning begins for the 2020 survey.
The bureau is also rolling out American FactFinder, an online database geared towards letting users dive into census numbers for themselves.
"I really think we're heading towards a Google-like approach to information search and dissemination," Jackson said.
Another Commerce agency, the Patent and Trademark Office, has turned to the Web in recent years to help alleviate its chronic backlog of applications, and Richardson could push for further movement online. The agency has an online wiki where the public can examine scores of software and business applications and point out existing inventions that might disqualify a submission.
Continue reading E-Government Ball Already Rolling At Commerce.
President-elect Barack Obama said Monday that an internal review found no inappropriate contacts between his transition team and embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but added that the report would not be released at least until Dec. 22. (NationalJournal.com)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has told incoming Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel that she wants to know when and why the administration contacts "her rank-and-file Democrats." (Politico)
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, will fast-track retired Gen. Eric Shinseki's confirmation hearings for Veterans Affairs secretary, making him the latest nominee to learn that his Senate hearings will be expedited. (Government Executive)
The Electoral College voted to make Obama's win official on Monday, the president-elect's last ceremonial hurdle now being the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress where the House and Senate will tally Monday's votes. (AP)
Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that closing Guantanamo Bay prison before the war on terror ends -- a top Obama priority -- would be a bad idea. (Reuters)
The Supreme Court has rejected yet another challenge to Obama's citizenship, this lawsuit arguing that the president-elect is a British citizen through his Kenyan father. (AP)
Caroline Kennedy is lobbying to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as New York's junior senator, reaching out to New York lawmakers even as some Democrats question her credentials. (New York Times)
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) may face tough questions at his confirmation hearing after a federal grand jury began investigating whether the Commerce secretary-designate engaged in "pay-to-play" politics. (Washington Post)
Name Game
Shaun Donovan, Obama's choice for Housing and Urban Development secretary, is winning plaudits from groups ranging "from those serving the homeless to Realtors and bankers." (CongressDaily)
Time's Washington bureau chief Jay Carney will become Vice President-elect Joe Biden's communications director, serving a candidate he once criticized for being gaffe-prone. (Washington Post)
Arne Duncan, Obama's expected choice for Education secretary, is something of a compromise pick, straddling an ideological divide among educators about how to fix the school system. (Wall Street Journal)
Green Team
Obama will tap Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., to be his Interior secretary, adding another Hispanic and another Westerner to his Cabinet. (Denver Post)
Scientists and environmentalists are celebrating Obama's green appointments, calling the contrast between Bush's team and this one like "night and day." (Los Angeles Times).
Obama said he is not pleased that Congress let the offshore drilling ban lapse without drafting a national energy policy. (Reuters)
Inauguration Conflagration
The Presidential Inaugural Committee defended its practice of rewarding donors who give $50,000 with inauguration tickets, saying that these people are "paying for the Jumbotrons and the Porta-Potties." (Washington Post)
Obama's inaugural train will begin in Philadelphia before moving to Wilmington, Del., Baltimore and finally Washington, D.C. (USA Today)
By KEVIN FRIEDL
Calling alternative energy "a leading priority of my presidency and a defining test of our time," President-elect Obama this afternoon announced his top energy and environmental nominations at a press conference held in Chicago's Drake Hotel. The choices were no less consequential for being entirely expected, signaling a commitment from the Obama administration to bolster an enervated Environmental Protection Agency and encourage alternative energy and green job creation.
As was widely rumored in the run-up to today's announcements, Obama named Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize winning physicist, as his pick to run the Department of Energy, and Clinton-era EPA administrator Carol Browner as his "energy czar." In that position, Browner will coordinate policy on energy and climate change. Rounding out the Obama "green team" were Lisa Jackson as his choice for EPA administrator and Nancy Sutley to chair the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
The presser was held after an earlier meeting Obama held with his national security team, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell and Vice President-elect Joe Biden. Biden accompanied the president-elect to the Drake, where he landed a rare speaking part, praising predecessor Al Gore, with whom he and Obama recently met, and taking a not-so-subtle jab at the office's current holder.
"I pledge to the American people that the office of the vice president will no longer be an obstacle to environmental protection, but it will be, as it was under Al Gore, a force for leaping ahead," Biden said.
As the presser wound down and Obama fielded two questions in a row about his energy policy, it appeared as though he would be able to avoid any mention of disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But reporters managed to slip one past the goalie, asking Obama to address reports that Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel had spoken with Blagojevich's office.
Obama sidestepped the question, repeating his statement that he had no contact with the governor's office or "anybody in the governor's office" and that his staff hadn't done anything "inappropriate." Referring to a statement released earlier today by his transition team, Obama said they had conducted a review of their office's contact with the governor's office but were holding it at the request of the U.S. Attorney's office.
"This appalling set of circumstances that we've seen arise had nothing to do with my office, and those facts will be forthcoming to all of you in due course," Obama said. "We just want to make sure that we're not interfering with an ongoing and active investigation."
Check in with National Journal's Energy and Environment blog to see what our panel of experts has to say about Obama's nominees.
By BILL SWINDELL, CongressDaily
A wide range of groups -- from those serving the homeless to Realtors and bankers -- have lauded the selection of Shaun Donovan as HUD Secretary nominee for the Obama administration. President-elect Obama tapped Donovan, commissioner of New York City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Saturday, noting he would bring "fresh thinking, unencumbered by old ideology and outdated ideas" to the position.
The post has traditionally been a back-bencher spot, and the selection of a secretary has in the past been determined by political considerations as much as policy expertise. Donovan brings a strong resume of housing experience, previously serving as an executive at Prudential Mortgage Capital in charge of its affordable housing investments. During the Clinton administration, he was deputy assistant secretary for multifamily housing at HUD and served as interim commissioner for the Federal Housing Administration.
Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, called Donovan "a visionary, brilliant, and practical leader" who is "desperately needed" to deal with the housing crisis. National Association of Realtors President Charles McMillan said Donovan's "hands-on experience in the private and nonprofit sectors will be extremely helpful." Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said Donovan is an "expert on the full range of housing issues and has a proven track record of getting things done."
Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., also applauded the nomination, saying he would try to schedule a confirmation hearing early next year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called him "uniquely qualified to lead HUD in these troubled economic times," and said she welcomed his "swift confirmation." Donovan will tackle numerous challenges at the agency as record foreclosure rates strike some cities. He will also be under pressure to expand rental housing assistance through programs such as Section 8 vouchers.
By BOB BREWIN, Government Executive
(Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee plans to hold a hearing on the presumptive nomination of former Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki for VA secretary. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the committee, says he will hold the hearing on Jan. 14, 2009, six days before Barack Obama is sworn in as the nation's 44th president.
Akaka said he decided to hold the hearing on Shinseki, a Hawaii native, before Inauguration Day, so the Senate can act on his nomination as soon as it is received, potentially the afternoon of Jan. 20. This may just set a new speed record for confirmations, which tend to move through the Senate at a glacial pace.
Akaka met with Shinseki on Dec. 10 and told him he considered mental health care a priority. "VA needs more doctors trained to treat invisible wounds such as post-traumatic stress disorder," Akaka said.
The Obama-Biden transition team this afternoon released a statement from spokesman Dan Pfeiffer announcing they had completed their review of the transition office's contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his staff, but would be holding it until Christmas week at the request of the U.S. Attorney's office. The release did say, however, that the "review affirmed the public statements of the president-elect that he had no contact with the governor or his staff."
"At the direction of the President-elect, a review of Transition staff contacts with Governor Blagojevich and his office has been conducted and completed and is ready for release. That review affirmed the public statements of the President-elect that he had no contact with the governor or his staff, and that the President-elect's staff was not involved in inappropriate discussions with the governor or his staff over the selection of his successor as US Senator."Also at the President-elect's direction, Gregory Craig, counsel to the Transition, has kept the US Attorney's office informed of this fact-gathering process in order to ensure our full cooperation with the investigation.
"In the course of those discussions, the US Attorney's office requested the public release of the Transition review be deferred until the week of December 22, in order not to impede their investigation of the governor. The Transition has agreed to this revised timetable for release."
By AMY HARDER
Legislation making it a misdemeanor to scalp inauguration tickets failed Thursday when a gambit to win quick passage in the Senate fell short. The bill [PDF] was introduced in mid-November by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.
The legislation would ban the sale of the 240,000 free tickets that members of Congress will allocate a few days before Jan. 20. The tickets were fetching high prices online through Web sites like eBay and StubHub, which have since worked out an agreement with Feinstein blocking any such sales.
Howard Gantman, staff director of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, pegged the legislation's failure on the time constraints of the lame-duck session. "We ran out of time to get it approved by both the House and Senate," he said.
Feinstein was hoping to "hotline" the bill through the Senate, getting it approved by unanimous consent. Gantman added that the senator plans to reintroduce the bill in the new Congress and seek expedited passage.
The bill has been modified to allow the Presidential Inaugural Committee to give tickets to people who donate money to help fund inaugural activities. While PICs of both parties have been doing this for years, Gantman noted that "what has not happened in previous inaugurals is the extent of ticket scalping at astronomical prices." This crucial difference, Gantman said, is why Feinstein wants the legislation passed.
With nearly two dozen major appointments and nominations announced since Election Day, Barack Obama has assembled his incoming administration far faster than other recent presidents-elect. Obama's weekly address this Saturday naming Shaun Donovan as his choice to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development brought his number of big picks over the past six weeks to 23.
The next-speediest president-elect in recent memory was George H.W. Bush, who had made 16 major nominations by this point during his 1988 transition. Ronald Reagan takes a distant third, having announced Alexander Haig as his choice for secretary of State and Fred Fielding as White House counsel.
By this point in their transitions, neither Bill Clinton nor George W. Bush had made any big-name announcements, although Bush at least had the excuse of the presidential recount.
Click through the graphic below to see each president-elect's major appointments up to this point in their transitions.
Check back every Monday for updates on that week in transition history.
By AMY HARDER
All of President-elect Barack Obama's major national security designees will attend a meeting today in Chicago to discuss the incoming administration's "international opportunities and challenges," according to the transition team.
Reported attendees include Vice President-elect Joe Biden; Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton; Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Attorney General-designate Eric Holder; Homeland Security nominee Janet Napolitano; Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; U.N. Ambassador-designate Susan Rice; National Security Advisor nominee James Jones; Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell; incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel; and White House Counsel-designate Greg Craig.
This is the second national security meeting Obama has held since the election; the first one was Dec. 1, the day the president-elect announced his foreign policy team. This time around, however, a much more exhaustive list of leaders is slated to attend. According to the team, this is one of a series of meetings between now and the inauguration to make sure they're "ready to hit the ground running."
President-elect Obama said on Saturday that his choice for secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan, will bring "fresh thinking" to the department, which Obama said would play a key role in tackling the mortgage crisis and helping families stay in their homes. (Los Angeles Times)
Since Donovan is a New Yorker, the diversity in Obama's Cabinet still doesn't include one group: Southerners. (Politico)
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been thrust into the tight rope act of serving two presidents at once. (New York Times)
Obama has tried to limit the influence of influence peddlers on his transition and Cabinet, but the spouses of several of his new lieutenants are notable lobbyists. (New York Times)
Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel had discussions with aides to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) about Obama's soon-to-be vacated Senate seat in the days after the election. (Wall Street Journal)
Obama is telegraphing his priorities with the different "czar" positions he is creating, from energy and urban affairs to the economy and health care. (Wall Street Journal)
With the agency facing budget cuts and some tense moments already occurring with the Obama administration, NASA's future continues to be cloudy. (Washington Post)
The relentless Obama-Abraham Lincoln comparisons are rubbing some historians the wrong way. (Politico)
Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle wants to avoid Hillary Rodham Clinton's 1993 health care debacle by "moving decisively to seize political momentum and, if necessary, cut off opposition." (Los Angeles Times)
Special interest groups are already lining up, hat in hand, for Obama's economic stimulus package. (Boston Globe)
Green Revolution
Global warming is now "the equivalent of a five-alarm fire that has to be addressed immediately" for Obama, not the slow-moving and easily ignored problem it was under President Clinton. (AP)
Obama is expected to announce his Energy secretary, Environmental Protection Agency chief and "climate czar" today. (Agence France-Presse)
Lisa Jackson, Obama's expected pick for EPA chief, is already taking heat for her record in managing New Jersey Superfund sites. (ProPublica)
Inauguration Conflagration
Donating $50,000 to the Presidential Inauguration Committee appears to be the surest way to get tickets to balls, breakfasts and the swearing-in ceremony. (Washington Post)
Hollywood A-listers have been a key donor bloc for Obama's transition committee. (The Hill)
Amid a recession, inaugural ball planners want to be festive on Jan. 20 without being over-the-top. (Los Angeles Times)
D.C.'s roads and trains are not prepared to meet even half the expected number of inauguration attendees, transportation experts say. (Washington Post)
Obama will travel to D.C. by train for his inauguration. (AP)
By AMY HARDER
Fast-forward 10 or 20 years and you might see a Congress that passes "wikied" legislation created by millions of Americans, a president who submits a daily diary via video, and a vast online repository of all the Freedom of Information Act requests ever submitted.
Rewind back to today, and you'll see a handful of innovative tech experts discussing these ideas at Google's Washington headquarters. During a panel discussion today, a packed room listened to Internet-savvy people within Congress, from the presidential campaign and third parties weigh in on how President-elect Obama should use the Web to promote open government.
The discussion centered on the ways Obama's transition Web site, change.gov, has used the Internet to encourage participation and transparency. But Meredith Fuchs, general counsel for the National Security Archive, said that while the Obama team's efforts to allow commenting on its site is a good start, the administration will need to do more. Making federal information more readily available online would be a huge improvement, she said, over past standards of transparency.
Chris Barkley, an aide to Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., acknowledged that the government is not that efficient at "packaging information," but that lawmakers can, at the very least, be good at making that information available. Coburn helped pass, along with then-Sen. Obama, the "Google for government" legislation in September 2006, which mandated the creation of a search engine and database that tracks federal spending. Peering over at the moderator, Google government affairs director Andrew McLaughlin, Barkley quipped that his presence on the panel meant the company didn't mind the senators using its name to promote the bill.
Concerns were raised both in the audience and among the panelists about "white noise" -- that participatory government conducted via the Internet could ultimately create a scenario where no opinion is effectively conveyed because so many voices are clamoring to be heard.
But while these concerns remained unanswered, Barkley stressed the importance of experimenting with the Web, considering the myriad different possibilities it presents for democratic engagement. The government should, in the short term, "throw as much as we can against the wall," and look to "folks on the outside" -- third-party groups that focus on government transparency -- to "package it," he said.
Fuchs argued that any effort to increase government transparency would be a positive step forward, but that this would be a formidable challenge. "The main obstacle is the mess that is being left behind not just by the outgoing administration, but all past administrations," she said.
After a widely anticipated election comes a high-stakes first year for President-elect Barack Obama. National Journal surveyed Political and Congressional Insiders and top bloggers for a special look at the new administration's risks and opportunities; they see a Washington that's ready to get to work, if not entirely ready to change.
Solid majorities of Democratic and Republican Insiders and right-leaning bloggers say that Obama is more likely to take on too many projects than too few in 2009. "He will have an extended honeymoon; he need not be cautious," said blogger David Gerstman of Soccer Dad. Left-leaning bloggers, by a 3-to-1 margin, worried Obama would be too cautious.
Left-of-center bloggers also saw the least benefit for Obama in compromising with Republicans to move his legislative agenda, though a majority of every group except Republican Insiders said Obama should compromise only as much as necessary to win passage. "If the new president compromises too much, the legislative product will be mush instead of change," said one Democratic Insider. Barbara O'Brien of The Mahablog said securing GOP support would be ideal, but "the last two elections have left Congress with mostly right-wing, radical Republicans... rather than moderate ones."
As for how much Obama will change Washington, "a little" was the top choice in every group. "He has the charisma and intelligence to change it some, but Washington is Washington," said one GOP Insider. John Aravosis of AMERICAblog selected "a lot" but added, "Within reason. You really can't change 4,000 years of civilization."
If Obama needs help from the Democratic base, all four groups agree he is least likely to get it from anti-war activists. Majorities of 54 percent to 80 percent said that relationship would be worse in a year. "Anti-war activists misjudged Obama's national security core from the beginning," Taylor Marsh wrote.
And what of the Republicans as they face a year without the presidency or either house of Congress? Right-leaning bloggers (85 percent) and Insiders (68 percent) say they're better off playing up their differences with Obama. "I see no future for them in abandoning their principles to become Democrat Lite," said Robert Miller of JoshuaPundit. A GOP Insider urged a positive distinction: "Do it with humor, use concrete images, make a reasonable case to voters."
For more opinion, and for results on Washington's partisan divisions, Obama's chances of passing significant legislation in key areas, and prospects for investigation of the Bush administration, click here for Insiders and here for bloggers.
The tech industry is eagerly awaiting Barack Obama's promised appointment of a chief technology officer for the federal government. The proposed tech czar would, in Obama's words, "ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century."
Government Executive's Allan Holmes spoke recently with the nation's first and only federal CTO to date, Norm Lorentz, who served as technology officer for the Office of Management and Budget from 2002 to 2003. Lorentz discussed where the new CTO might come from, what his or her skill set should be, and what challenges lie ahead in reforming the government's outdated tech practices.
Read the full interview here, and read what craigslist founder Craig Newmark told NationalJournal.com yesterday about the new CTO position here.
By CORINE HEGLAND
The Obama campaign has asked its massive network of volunteers and supporters to attend "Change is Coming" house parties around the country this weekend to consider the next steps toward making his grassroots movement a permanent national vehicle for community activism.
This week's issue of National Journal reports that his post-election task force has sketched out the basics of a very-real, enduring campaign, which the house parties will help develop, to carry 'Obamentum' forward. Last weekend, some of Obama's top organizers huddled in Chicago for a meeting; earlier this week, his field organizers began getting calls: Would you be interested in possibly coming back to work?
The full story is for subscribers only.
OFA 2.0, which is the initiative's working title (adapted from Obama for America, the campaign committee), is still taking form: Funding is undecided, specifics are scarce and focus will be shaped in part by this weekend's house parties.
"No structural decisions have been made... it is an open dialogue," said campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt. "The campaign has assembled a team of organizers from battleground states to work with our volunteers and allies on the next steps for the organization."
The idea, apparently, is to provide paid support for communities organizing not just around Obama's legislative agenda but also around state and local initiatives. Its vision is no less than a "national, grassroots-driven renewal of civic engagement," according to an account that a California Obama organizer posted to his blog.
LaBolt explained, "We started by sending an e-mail survey to our list, which has already received more than 500,000 responses, and campaign volunteers are hosting more than 1,500 house parties across the country as the next step in determining our supporters' vision for how the organization develops.
"President-elect Obama was clear throughout the campaign that elected officials in Washington alone aren't going to bring change, and whether it's by working to expand the Democratic majority or building grassroots support for the administration's agenda, the power to bring the change we need lies in the hands of Americans who are engaging their communities."
President-elect Barack Obama's outreach to members of Congress is "unheard of," but maintaining smooth relations between the White House and legislators would be a productive departure from previous Democratic administrations. (USA Today)
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce wants Obama to tap a point person for intellectual property law in his first 100 days to oversee anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting programs. (CongressDaily)
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin denied reports that he and the space agency have been hostile towards Obama's transition team. (Washington Post)
Officials still aren't sure how many spectators will attend the inauguration, and have mostly been vague about security precautions on the big day (Roll Call -- subscription), while Metro officials expressed skepticism that they could handle millions of passengers on Jan. 20. (The Hill)
Sidwell Friends School, which Malia and Sasha Obama will soon attend, has plenty of high-powered parents to keep parent-teacher conferences interesting for the Obamas. (Washington Post)
Life won't be all biscuits and pig ears for the Obama family's new dog, which will need to be well-trained to avoid embarrassing the first family like some of its predecessors. (AP)
Ethics Escapades
Obama promised Thursday to reveal any contact between his transition team and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. (New York Times)
While Blagojevich seems likely to resign and disappear from the news, the ethics controversy surrounding Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., has the potential to be a nagging thorn in Obama's side. (Wall Street Journal)
Stocking The Cabinet
Joshua Sharfstein, a vocal critic of the pharmaceutical industry, is at the top of Obama's short list for Food and Drug Administration chief. (Wall Street Journal)
Obama's Cabinet has a noticeable lack of Southerners, an acknowledgment, perhaps, of the region's fading political influence. (Politico)
Congress passed a pay decrease for the secretary of State late Wednesday, clearing a constitutional hurdle for Sen. Hillary Clinton's, D-N.Y., appointment. (AP)
On Thursday Obama tapped former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., for Health and Human Services secretary (NationalJournal.com). At the press conference announcing his nomination, Daschle said the fact the health care system leaves tens of millions uninsured is "unconscionable." (Financial Times)
Energy Realignment
Under Obama, the Energy Department could be vested with a level of power it hasn't enjoyed since the Carter administration. (Government Executive)
But, declining oil prices, a weak economy and personal differences on Obama's team may conspire to make energy reform tougher than originally thought. (Wall Street Journal)
Obama's new climate czar Carol Browner is a fierce global warming warrior, but how much power she will wield is still unclear (New York Times). Meanwhile, Browner's husband has lobbied for Chevron, Exxon and Keyspan Energy. (Wall Street Journal)
Steven Chu, Obama's choice for Energy secretary and an avid proponent of action on climate change, believes that technology and innovation can help solve global warming, not just caps and taxes. (Washington Post)
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said any carbon cap system would be "disastrous" for his state, which is still creating jobs but is also the nation's leading emitter of carbon dioxide. (Wall Street Journal)
By ANDREW NOYES, CongressDaily
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today urged President-elect Obama to set up the congressionally created White House position of intellectual property enforcement coordinator within his first 100 days. The coordinator would oversee governmentwide anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting efforts.
Funding for it was included in a broader IP bill sponsored by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont and ranking member Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, along with Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio. President Bush signed the legislation in October.
The Chamber's Global Intellectual Property Center lobbied hard for passage of the bill despite pushback from the Commerce and Justice departments, which objected to the IP czar being housed in the office of the president. On Capitol Hill, the Chamber will push appropriators to fully fund the $60 million per-year package. "Resources dedicated to IP enforcement return many times over the benefits both to the broader economy to increase jobs and to the public treasury," NBC General Counsel Rick Cotton said.
Cotton, who also chairs the IP center, said the Chamber will emphasize to members a study by Laura Tyson, a former economic adviser to President Bill Clinton, which found every dollar spent on IP enforcement reaps $5 in increased tax payments to the government by moving consumption from counterfeit goods to legitimate products.
Continue reading U.S. Chamber Wants IP Czar In First 100 Days.
By DAVID HERBERT
(Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Craig Newmark, the founder of classifieds giant craigslist, has some advice for President-elect Barack Obama as he searches for a chief technology officer: Find someone who can foster public-private sector partnerships and "crack the whip" to bring about necessary reforms in tech policy.
"The government isn't ready in some respects to use these new technologies," Newmark said. "When it comes to computer technology, there are some really smart people who can do something in a month that it would take the government a year to do."
Pushing a national broadband strategy and overhauling the government's information technology infrastructure should be near the top of any tech czar's to-do list, Newmark argued. And, given the array of technological challenges facing the next administration, Newmark recommended the president-elect keep his campaign pledge to elevate the position to a Cabinet-level post.
So would Newmark leave craigslist and San Francisco for the Beltway if Obama came calling? Not likely.
"I have a job -- it's customer service -- and I'll be doing that for a long time," he said. "Washington is too humid. You can quote me on that."
By WINTER CASEY
Michael Calabrese, vice president and director of the Wireless Future Program at the New America Foundation, said he may be a candidate for a position on the Federal Communications Commission.
"I've heard I'm on a list of people being considered as an FCC commissioner, but I'm sure at this point it's quite a long list," responded Calabrese to an inquiry on the topic. He added that as far as he is aware, there is no formal process under way for FCC appointments. There is expected to be a commissioner vacancy in January when Barack Obama takes office.
Calabrese has previously served as director of domestic policy programs at the Center for National Policy, as general counsel of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, and as pension and employee benefits counsel at the national AFL-CIO. Calabrese is a graduate of Stanford Business and Law Schools.
By MARY GILBERT
Barack Obama is sitting down today with former Secretaries of State James Baker and Warren Christopher, chairmen of the National War Powers Commission, a meeting requested by the bipartisan panel presumably to discuss the findings of their recent report on war powers legislation.
Convened by the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, the Commission was formed in 1997 in order to "establish a clear process on decisions to go to war." Other panel members include former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., former Attorney General Edwin Meese, former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and former Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott.
After interviewing over 40 witnesses, the group published a report in July advocating for the creation of a new War Powers Consultation Act of 2009 to replace the law currently in place, the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Labeling the 1973 legislation "impractical and ineffective," the report calls on the new president to make passage of a new bill a priority for his first 100 days in office.
The Commission maintains that Congress should have the opportunity and responsibility to explicitly vote yes or no on any "significant armed conflict." The proposed bill mandates consultation between the executive and legislative branches before Congress authorizes any conflict expected to last more than one week. Once conferred with, Congress must vote within 30 days on a resolution to approve the war. If approved, it is clear that both branches have "endorsed" the hostilities. If, however, the resolution is defeated , any member of Congress may then propose a joint resolution of disapproval.
The Commission hopes to convince both Obama and congressional leaders that there is a pressing need for this new legislation and that it will prove mutually beneficial on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. "The nation benefits when the president and Congress consult frequently and meaningfully regarding war and matters of national security," the report concludes, and "the Act we propose provides a needed legal framework that encourages such consultation."
See the full report here [PDF].
By KATHERINE McINTIRE PETERS, Government Executive
President-elect Barack Obama has proposed an ambitious agenda for breaking the nation's addiction to petroleum. Among other things, he says his administration will invest $150 billion in clean energy programs during the next 10 years; put 1 million made-in-America plug-in hybrid cars on the road by 2015; ensure 10 percent of electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012 and 25 percent by 2025; and implement an economywide carbon cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.
The logical place from which to direct such initiatives is the Energy Department, said Bill Loveless, editorial director for Platts, the energy information division of McGraw-Hill Cos. Loveless was among a group of analysts to participate in a Wednesday forum on expectations for energy policy in the Obama administration. The discussion, sponsored by the American Council on Renewable Energy, was broadcast over the Internet from the offices of consulting firm Baker and Daniels LLP in Indianapolis.
Energy's influence has fluctuated over the years, but all indications point to the department playing a much stronger role in the next administration, Loveless said. "It's really not been a prominent agency in terms of clout since the Carter administration, when it was invested with various regulatory authority, much of which was stripped from it in the 1980s during the Reagan administration," he said.
On Wednesday, Obama transition officials said the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu would be Obama's choice to lead Energy. Chu is now director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he has been a strong advocate for research into biofuels and solar technologies.
By MARY GILBERT
Barack Obama may have been hoping to redirect attention to his team's transition efforts today, but at a press conference in Chicago this morning, the spotlight was on the scandal surrounding the president-elect's former Senate seat. Obama was forced to preface the announcement of two key members of his health care team with disclaimers about his staff's contacts with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office, and three out of four questions from reporters focused on the Illinois governor rather than the purported issue at hand.
"I was as appalled as anyone by the revelations earlier this week," Obama said of the allegations that Blagojevich was trying to sell the open Illinois senate seat to the highest bidder. The president-elect insisted that he has had no contact with the governor and pledged to gather all information on any contacts between his staff and the governor's office regarding the vacancy and release that information to the public in the next several days.
"I won't quote back some of the things that were said about me" in the transcripts of Blagojevich's conversations, Obama said. "This is a family program," he quipped, arguing that it was clear the governor did not find him or anyone on his transition team "amenable to any deal-making."
Obama maintained that there is no way for Blagojevich to go on and effectively serve the people of Illinois. He expressed his hope that the governor "come to the same conclusion" and resign from his post. He also urged the state legislature to find a quick resolution to the situation and find an appropriate way of selecting a new senator. "This Senate seat does not belong to any politician to trade. It belongs to the people of Illinois, and they deserve the best possible representation," he said.
Obama was able to turn to the task at hand, announcing the appointments of former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle to be secretary of Health and Human Services and director of the new White House Office of Health Reform, along with former HHS official Jeanne Lambrew to be Daschle's deputy in the latter office.
Continue reading Blagojevich Questions Overshadow Obama's Health Care Rollout.
It took little more than an hour for the American Medical Association to register their approval of President-elect Obama's announcement this morning that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle was his pick for secretary of Health and Human Services. The group reserves special praise for Daschle's efforts to expand health care coverage; as HHS secretary, he is likely to serve as the administration's point person on health care reform.
The American Medical Association congratulates former Senator Tom Daschle on his nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services and the new White House Office of Health Reform. The creation of this new position highlights the importance and priority of health system reform to the new administration. As we work to reform the health care system, former Senator Daschle has a firm grasp of the complex issues and has demonstrated a commitment to working with physicians and other stakeholders to strengthen the system.Like President-elect Obama and former Senator Daschle, the AMA is committed to covering all Americans and improving the quality, value and affordability of patient care. We look forward to working with former Senator Daschle and the new Congress and administration to enact health system reforms.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate cleared the way Wednesday for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., to become secretary of State in the Obama administration by agreeing to roll the position's salary back to 2007 levels.
The move was necessary because of a constitutional clause barring members of Congress from taking government jobs for which the pay was raised during their current term in office. The provision is designed to prevent lawmakers from personally benefiting from laws they have passed -- including those setting salaries for government jobs. The Senate voted last year to increase the salaries of Cabinet secretaries from $186,600 to $191,300.
National Journal has confirmed that President-elect Obama is set to name Carol Browner for a newly formed position overseeing White House policy on climate, energy and the environment.
Browner became the longest-serving administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Clinton. She currently sits on the board of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's global consulting firm.
Others who had been rumored for the position include former Vice President Al Gore, who reiterated during his meeting with Obama on Tuesday that he was not interested, and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
By AMY HARDER
What's your opinion of first lady-to-be Michelle Obama? Actually, if two new polls out this week are any indication, the question really should be, What do you know about her?
More than a third of Americans don't know enough about Barack Obama's leading lady to form an opinion on her, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg survey. Just over half of the respondents rated her favorably, while 13 percent said they had an unfavorable impression. A recent CBS News survey [PDF] found that nearly half of its respondents didn't know enough about Michelle Obama to rate her one way or the other. Only 4 in 10 rated her favorably, and 1 in 10 unfavorably.
The Times/Bloomberg poll also contrasted the first-lady-designate's ratings with those of past first ladies. Obama's favorables pale in comparison to those of George W. Bush's wife Laura in August of 2004 (72 percent favorable) and George H.W. Bush's wife, Barbara (83 percent). Of course, as the wives of a sitting president and vice president, respectively, the Bushes were much better known.
Michelle Obama does best Hillary Rodham Clinton, though, who garnered not even a 40 percent favorability rating in August 1992. Ronald Reagan's leading lady, Nancy, didn't surpass the 50 percent mark either -- with 43 percent of Americans rating her favorably in January 1981.
President-elect Barack Obama's transition site Change.gov has already received around 1,000 questions from supporters and 70,000 votes on which ones they most want answered, all part of the site's "Open For Questions" tool. (New York Times)
But Obama supporters seem to already be abusing a feature of that tool, which lets them flag comments to remove questions about disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. (Politico)
Obama sharpened his tone on Blagojevich Wednesday, calling for the resignation of the embattled governor, whose follies have turned the spotlight from the transition effort to the dark side of Chicago politics. (Chicago Tribune)
Obama's approval ratings are at their highest mark ever, thanks in part to overwhelming support for his transition efforts and support from plenty of voters who didn't back him on Nov. 4. (Wall Street Journal)
Obama transition team member and former Google executive Sonal Shah renounced her former ties to a Hindu group accused of violence against Muslims and Christians, an association which had garnered her increasing criticism in the South Asian press and blogosphere. (National Journal)
Former President Jimmy Carter argues that Obama should pass tough energy legislation during his post-inaugural honeymoon. (Wall Street Journal)
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2008 cycle, said the party's fortunes in 2010 will rise and fall on the ability of Obama and Congress to jump start the economy. (Washington Times)
DC Mayor Adrian Fenty will sign a law allowing bars to stay open until 5 a.m. from Jan. 17- to 21, despite a recent plea from Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Robert Bennett, R-Utah, that the city reconsider for security reasons. (Washington Post)
A top United Nations human rights official, Navi Pillay, predicts that the U.S. will rejoin the "international family" under Obama. (Financial Times)
The commander of the Guantanamo Bay detention center said Tuesday night he doubts the facility will be closed quickly after Jan. 20, as some Obama supporters hope, but will rather be the subject of "vigorous debate" in the U.S. because of the legalities and logistics that are involved with closing the facility. (AP)
Stocking The Cabinet
Obama has tapped Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu as the next Energy secretary, adding a staunch advocate for action on global warming to his Cabinet. (Washington Post)
Filling out his energy team, Obama appears poised to name Carol M. Browner, Environmental Protection Agency administrator under President Clinton, as the top White House official on climate and energy policy and Lisa P. Jackson, New Jersey's commissioner of environmental protection, as the head of the EPA. (New York Times)
Former Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., is expected to be formally nominated as Health and Human Services secretary today (Washington Post), a post that Blagojevich allegedly once hoped for himself. (AP)
Members of the American Constitution Society, the liberal counterweight to the right's Federalist Society, are already flooding the ranks of the new administration. (New York Times)
Online safety advocates want Obama to appoint an Internet sheriff with a $100 million annual budget to keep kids safe from child pornography, cyberbullying and other harassment. (Washington Post)
The Whole Truth
While spouses normally attend confirmation hearings to act as "window dressing," Senate Republicans may ask Bill Clinton to testify about his globe-trotting post-presidency and any potential conflicts of interest for Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Politico)
Retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, Obama's choice for secretary of Veterans Affairs, has been fast-tracked for confirmation hearings and could be voted on by the Senate as soon as Jan. 20. (Army Times)
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., wants to put the brakes on Attorney General-designate Eric Holder's nomination hearing, citing concerns about his role in the 2001 pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich. (The Hill)
By GAUTHAM NAGESH, Government Executive
After weeks of questions, Obama transition team member and former Google executive Sonal Shah today renounced her former connection to a Hindu organization accused of fomenting violence against Muslims and Christians in India.
In a statement obtained exclusively by NextGov and National Journal, Shah says that if she could have anticipated the role of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in the 2002 outbreak of communal violence in the Indian state of Gujarat, she never would have associated with the group's American branch a year earlier:
In 2002, Gujarat suffered one of the most profound tragedies in its long history, when extremist political leaders, including some associated with the VHP, incited riots that resulted in the deaths of thousands. Had I been able to foresee the role of the VHP in India in these heinous events, or anticipate that the VHP of America could possibly stand by silently in the face of its Indian counterpart's complicity in the events of Gujarat in 2002 -- thereby undermining the American group's cultural and humanitarian efforts with which I was involved -- I would not have associated with the VHP of America.
The controversy escalated this weekend when Shah asked supporters for their help in stopping the spread of allegations that she had been a member of the VHP.
In an e-mail sent Friday night and obtained by NextGov, Shah asked her supporters for help combating the allegations and expressed fear that the Obama transition team would ask her to resign as a result of the story.
"I need your help," wrote Shah. "This is gaining legs as the National Journal also picked it up and likely Fox. I need to moblize [sic] people against the leftists and the right wing. There is a likely chance that they will ask me to resign as team does not need my publicity."
The controversy has been gathering steam in the Indian press and South Asian blogosphere for weeks now, but it went mainstream on Thursday when former GOP Senator Rick Santorum published an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer questioning the appointment of Shah to the transition team -- prompting a Lost In Transition post Friday.
Continue reading Under Pressure, Shah Renounces Hindu Group.
By MARY GILBERT
Depending on who you talk to, President-elect Barack Obama could have the chance to replace one-third of the current Supreme Court, and liberals are eager to get justices in the mold of Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan. At a panel discussion sponsored by the progressive advocacy group People For the American Way on Tuesday, several legal experts discussed the characteristics they are looking for in an Obama nominee.
PFAW President Kathryn Kolbert opened by expressing her view that Obama's victory represents a Supreme Court "mandate" for the new president. She cited exit polls showing that voters who called future SCOTUS nominees the most important factor in their decision broke for Obama 57 percent to 41 percent, suggesting public sentiment against the judicial model of Samuel Alito and John Roberts, both appointed by President Bush.
John Payton, the director-counsel and president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, advocated for a candidate who has an "aspirational view" of the law and said the courts can and should be used to expand the concept of justice. LDF colleague and pioneering civil rights attorney Julius Chambers said he hopes to see Obama nominate someone with a deep commitment to the belief that every person deserves fair and equal representation. Maryland state senator and American University law professor Jamin Raskin also spoke of "a passion for justice" as a prerequisite for any nominee. And Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor at Slate and author of "Supreme Court Dispatches," said she would like to see a better salesman for the progressive view on the court.
Continue reading Progressives See New Chance For SCOTUS Diversity.
By KATHERINE MCINTIRE PETERS, Government Executive
With the Bush administration planning to publish a slew of new energy and environmental regulations by year's end, congressional Democrats already are looking ahead to how the Obama administration might undo them.
On Thursday, the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming is planning a hearing to investigate proposed late-term regulatory rule changes that touch on a range of issues from fuel economy standards to endangered species.
A Democratic staff report [PDF] outlines a number of areas the committee is likely to explore. The most contentious proposed agency actions include:
Continue reading Bush WH Poised To Publish New Environment Rules.
By DARREN GOODE, CongressDaily
Gay and lesbian groups are pushing to have historic representation in President-elect Obama's Cabinet, including touting candidates to lead the Interior and Labor departments. As part of a larger program designed to appoint the first openly gay or lesbian Cabinet official, the Washington-based Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund is lobbying for Obama to appoint former Clinton administration Assistant Interior Secretary John Berry to take over that department and activist Mary Beth Maxwell as Labor secretary.
Berry, director of the National Zoo, was a former assistant Interior secretary for policy, management and budget from 1997 to the end of Bill Clinton's presidency.
In a statement, Berry said he has not been contacted, but he touted his experience at Interior. "I have a deep and abiding appreciation and commitment to the department's mission," he said. "This opportunity would allow me to advance issues that I am passionate about."
This includes working to reverse climate change, protect fish and wildlife and to "work with respect and in partnership to increase economic development and improve educational and health care opportunities" for American Indians, he said.
Continue reading Gay, Lesbian Groups Tout Picks For Interior And Labor.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday for effectively trying to auction off President-elect Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. (Chicago Tribune) The effect the scandal will have on Obama is still unclear. (Time)
Nearly three-quarters of Americans are upbeat about the prospect of Obama's presidency, and two-thirds think the country is on the wrong track, down from 84 percent before the election. (Los Angeles Times)
Attorney General-designate Eric Holder's Senate confirmation hearings are set to begin Jan. 8. Given his role in the pardoning of fugitive financier Marc Rich, they could get ugly. (Politico)
Obama hopes to give a "major address" in an Islamic capital soon after Jan. 20 to boost America's image in the Muslim world. (Agence France-Presse)
Obama faces a tough balancing act in keeping both the liberal and moderate wings of the Democratic Party happy. (AP)
National Security Reshuffling
There may be pressure on Obama to invoke the Bush Doctrine to raid terrorist strongholds in Pakistan. (Wall Street Journal)
Obama may soon have to decide the fate of five confessed 9/11 plotters. (Bloomberg News)
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton met at Rice's apartment Monday night for a private dinner and discussion of foreign policy issues facing the U.S. (AP)
At $143 million a pop, F-22 fighter jets represent a prime target for Obama in trimming the Defense budget -- but eliminating them could also kill thousands of jobs. (New York Times)
A bipartisan team of former policymakers, led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Defense Secretary William Cohen, is urging Obama to take a hard line on genocide and do more to prevent human rights atrocities around the world. (Agence France-Presse)
Greening The White House
Obama has tapped former Environmental Protection Agency chief Carol Browner to serve in a new White House position as head of environmental, energy and climate issues. (Washington Post)
Al Gore dismissed speculation Tuesday that he would serve in Obama's Cabinet, with a spokeswoman saying the former vice president wants to continue his work at the Alliance for Climate Protection. (Politico)
Inauguration Conflagration
The 330 surviving members of an "all-black force of elite" World War II pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen, have been invited to the inauguration ceremonies by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. (New York Times)
Sens. Feinstein and Bob Bennett, R-Utah, are asking the District of Columbia to reconsider the decision to let bars stay open late during inauguration week, citing the extra work it will create for police. (New York Times)
A record number of high school and college marching bands have applied to march in the inaugural parade, which is shaping up to be a de facto "battle of the bands." (Washington Post)
The Lesbian and Gay Band Association will march in the inaugural parade, the first time an LGBT musical troupe will participate in the event. (New York Times)
Military analysts, senators and other commentators approve of Barack Obama selecting Gen. Eric Shinseki to head Veterans Affairs -- but argue that the challenges he faces are formidable.
By AMY HARDER
At a policy breakfast this morning moderated by Atlantic Media Company Political Director Ronald Brownstein, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., weighed in on what she thinks should be first on President-elect Obama's agenda, and what may need to be placed on the back burner.
So, what does McCaskill think will dominate the first 100 days? It's the "economy, economy, economy and see if we can do something for energy and health care along the way," the senator said.
The event also included a panel discussion of leaders from three left-leaning interest groups: Matt Bennett, vice president of Third Way; Debbie Sease, national campaign director of the Sierra Club; and Bob Borosage, president of the Institute for America's Future.
Read the entire story here. Video to come shortly.
Today's NJ.com Poolitzer Prize goes to a timely report from the Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman, who filed the following soon after President-elect Obama spoke to reporters about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's arrest.
At 1:55 p.m., the pool was brought into a sparse corner office of the transition headquarters in Chicago's federal building. President-elect Obama sat in the middle, with Vice President-elect Joe Biden on his right and former Vice President Al Gore on his left.Three American flags were arrayed behind them. Mr. Obama then said, "Like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S.. Attorneys office today. But as this is an ongoing investigation involving the governor, I donʼt think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."
He went on to say "The purpose of this meeting today was to listen and learn from Vice President Al Gore on the extraordinary work that he has done around the issue of climate change. All three of us are in agreement that the time for delay is over. The time for denial is over. We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now, that this is a matter of urgency and national security, and it has to be dealt with in a serious way. That is what I intend my administration to do."
After speaking a little more on climate change, the pool was about to be ushered out, when your pooler (I've been assured it was a classy act by certain members of the transition) shouted a question, asking if Mr. Obama was aware of what was happening with his Senate seat. Mr. Obama stopped the press and said he wanted to answer the question.
"I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening," Mr. Obama said. "And as I said it is a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that I don't think it's appropriate to comment."
At 2:00, the pool left the room.
On NationalJournal.com's new National Security Expert Blog, defense experts see a wide array of potential crises awaiting Barack Obama. Asked to identify the most dangerous scenarios and advise the new president on how to handle them, they brought up familiar themes: abroad, India-Pakistan tension and Iran; at home, the economy and the inevitability of surprise.
Retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor warns that the crisis on the Indian subcontinent "could easily become a full-blown war" -- one that could put American forces in Afghanistan at "severe risk" and precipitate a humanitarian disaster that would place heavy demands on the Navy and Air Force.
Hillary Mann Leverett, a Middle East specialist in the last two administrations, warned against more "carrots and sticks" with Iran. "Iran has legitimate security concerns for which it has historically been willing to pay a very high price," she writes, advocating for a strategic rethinking not unlike the first President Bush's stance toward Israeli-Palestinian relations or President Nixon's dealings with China.
Michael P. Jackson, a former Homeland Security official, suggests that the new administration must "prioritize ruthlessly, focus on risk" -- primarily the risk of "attacks against a category of vital infrastructure" and "a large biological attack." He also stresses cohesion among Cabinet departments.
The rough economy could complicate matters. Retired Army Col. Joseph J. Collins says Obama "will likely have enough money to do the right thing in Iraq and Afghanistan for the next few years," but "major systems in development are today all in jeopardy."
In NationalJournal.com's Expert Blogs, insiders in health care, economy, energy, transportation and national security discuss hot policy issues throughout the week. New topics are posted every Monday morning.
Speculation on who President-elect Barack Obama would select for his Cabinet began almost immediately after his historic victory on Nov. 4. But less has been said about how Obama might fill lower-level positions that have a direct influence over management and workforce policies affecting federal employees.
Government Executive asked Beltway observers to share their thoughts on likely candidates for jobs such as the director of the Office of Personnel Management, who will have a critical role in determining whether the next administration continues a push toward pay-for-performance, and the chief of the General Services Administration, the government's main purchasing agency.
The chart on this page tracks their predictions.
(Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today in Chicago on federal corruption charges, including allegations that they conspired to sell President-elect Obama's now-vacant Senate seat.
The federal complaint [PDF] accuses Blagojevich of taking money from at least one individual in connection with the Senate search. He also allegedly threatened to withhold state assistance to the Chicago Tribune concerning the sale of Wrigley Field in an attempt to force the Tribune to fire editorial board members who have been critical of him.
The Tribune reported this morning that a three-year federal corruption investigation of pay-to-play politics in Blagojevich's administration had been expanded to include his impending selection of Obama's replacement and that federal authorities got approval from a judge before the November general election to secretly record Blagojevich.
Among their concerns was whether the selection process might be tainted. That possibility has become a focus in an intensifying investigation that has included recordings of the governor and the cooperation of one of his closest friends.
The paper has been posting the latest developments in the case to this page.
Blagojevich on Monday dismissed the speculation, saying his discussions were "always lawful" and added: "I should say if anybody wants to tape my conversations, go right ahead, feel free to do it. I appreciate anybody who wants to tape me openly and notoriously, and those who feel like they want to sneakily, and wear taping devices, I would remind them that it kind of smells like [Richard] Nixon and Watergate."
Blagojevich has been meeting with possible candidates to succeed Obama, including a session late Monday with Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.
Subscribers can access Blagojevich's Almanac of American Politics profile here.
By MARY GILBERT
As part of its Let's Rebuild America initiative, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a report today pushing for the Obama administration to make serious investments in the nation's aging infrastructure, including transportation, telecommunications, energy and water networks. The nation's economic well-being depends on the health of this physical infrastructure, the report contends, and American competitiveness is threatened if it is allowed to fall into disarray.
Fortunately for the Chamber, the president-elect seems to agree; he pledged in his weekly radio address over the weekend to make "the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s."
So where should that money go? Securing more private and public investment for projects is one main focus. More specifically, the report calls for Obama and the 111th Congress to reauthorize two pieces of legislation -- the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act. Appointing a qualified administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration is also a major concern.
In the area of energy, the report warns that the current infrastructure is "overstretched" and that failing to expand domestic production of energy sources could lead to "blackouts, brownouts, service interruptions and rationing." Meanwhile, much of the 1 million miles of pipe that delivers water to businesses and homes across the country is "reaching the end of its lifespan," the report claims, and will require significant investment in the years to come.
See the full report here [PDF].
President-elect Obama and former Vice President Al Gore will meet today in Chicago to discuss climate -- and not job possibilities, sources insist. (AP)
The Senate on Monday confirmed Neil Barofsky as chief watchdog of the $700 billion financial bailout. Nearly half the program's funds have been disbursed already. (Washington Post)
"Big business is lining up to support" Obama's economic proposals, particularly his emphasis on infrastructure funding. (The Hill)
Security experts are urging the incoming administration to create a "National Office for Cyberspace" in the White House. (Federal Computer Week)
The vetting of Obama's pick for attorney general, Eric Holder, "is veering into TMI-land," but Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy "expressed hope" on Monday that Holder could be confirmed shortly after Inauguration Day. (Roll Call 1, 2)
Gov. Bill Richardson's reputation for "doing whatever it takes to cajole" investment in New Mexico will be put to the test on a nationwide level if he is confirmed as Commerce secretary. (New York Times)
Obama is expected to appoint Princeton professor Cecilia Rouse to round out his Council of Economic Advisers. (NationalJournal.com)
There's another name in the mix for Interior secretary: "Kevin Gover, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian." (Politico)
Still 'No Drama' For Obama?
Obama's pick for United Nations ambassador, Susan Rice, is already signaling that she wants to expand the power of that office, beginning with installing her own transition team at State. (AP)
The Center for American Progress, which is "uniquely integrated with the transition," keeps most of its donor rolls secret. (Politico)
Bill Clinton has pledged to curtail his international charity work to avoid conflicts of interest with Hillary Rodham Clinton's role at State. But the restrictions leave "a lot more that the ex-president can do than cannot." (Politico)
A "three-year federal corruption investigation" of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has expanded to include his selection of a replacement for Obama. (Chicago Tribune)
Gun groups remain "ready to fight" Obama on their favorite issue -- despite his having promised again on Sunday that they have nothing to fear from him. (The Hill)
SCOTUS on Monday declined "an emergency appeal" from a man challenging Obama's status as a natural born citizen. (Chicago Tribune)
Obama's weekly YouTube addresses are rapidly losing their audience. (Washington Times)
Changing Of The Guard
Obama and VP-elect Joe Biden are considering doing community service in Washington on Inauguration Day and asking others to do the same in their hometowns. (New York Times)
Ten thousand buses are expected to converge on Washington for the inauguration, creating "an unprecedented logistical nightmare." (Washington Post)
Nearly eight in 10 Americans "are giving the president-elect the thumbs up" on his transition so far. (CNN)
Outgoing administration officials have received a talking points memo on what to say on their way out the door, including that President Bush "kept the American people safe" and maintained "the honor and the dignity of his office." (Los Angeles Times)
By ALEXIS SIMENDINGER
Listen up, Larry Summers. President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to round out his White House Council of Economic Advisers with a second female member to work with his designated CEA chair, University of California, Berkeley macroeconomist Christina Romer.
Lost in Transition previously reported that Cecilia Rouse, Princeton University professor of economics and public affairs, was under consideration to get a CEA post, and she met with Obama in November. Rouse is now expected to become the third member of the president's council, along with Romer and economist Austan Goolsbee, an Obama campaign adviser from the University of Chicago.
The Council of Economic Advisers was created by law in 1946 to function as an objective think tank within the White House focused on domestic and international economics. During the Clinton years, economists Laura Tyson (who also chaired Bill Clinton's National Economic Council and is now global management professor at the University of California, Berkeley) and Janet Yellen (now head of the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco) broke into the traditional parade of white males chosen to lead the CEA. Alicia Munnell and Rebecca Blank joined them as members in the 1990s.
Obama made it a point to diversify his White House staff with more women and minorities, but he ceded Romer little say in selecting the two members with whom she'll work. He named Romer -- an expert in the history of economic shocks but a political neophyte -- to become his CEA chair on November 24, announcing her role along with Treasury Secretary-designee Timothy Geithner and NEC director-appointee Summers. Goolsbee, the other CEA member, will also serve as the top staffer to Obama's new Economic Recovery Advisory Board, to be chaired by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Obama expects to announce other private-sector members of that board at a later date.
By DAVID HERBERT
(Credit: Library of Congress/The Architect of the Capitol)
Wear long underwear, don't bank on your cell phones working and avoid drinking too much coffee -- there won't be enough Porta-Potties to go around.
Those were just some of the tips veteran reporters and inauguration organizers dispensed at a National Press Club panel discussion this morning, where scores of journalists flocked to scoop up trade secrets for covering Jan. 20.
President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration is poised to shatter previous attendance records with as many as 4 million spectators expected, and the Fourth Estate is scrambling to keep pace. Print media outlets have already requested twice as many press passes as in 2004, and there's still a week before the application deadline, said Joe Keenan, superintendent of the Senate Press Gallery.
Securing a press pass may be the easy part for journalists, who will then need to navigate the crowds and withstand the elements, the panel agreed.
To get a jump on the masses, Carole Florman, communications director for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said journalists will be able to enter an hour or so before the general public, and that they should line up well before that.
With Pennsylvania Ave. closed off as much as 24 hours before the inauguration, and Jim Carroll of the Louisville Courier-Journal predicting the Metro to be "a freaking nightmare," reporters could sleep in their offices, the panelists offered, though camping out on Pennsylvania Avenue or the Mall will be illegal.
David Lightman, McClatchy's Washington correspondent, said cub reporters should treat the inauguration like a crime scene: Stake out pay phones ahead of time in case Blackberries and cells don't work and locate coffee shops and bars to retreat to for filing stories. Carroll suggested reporters ditch their umbrellas, which are banned, wear plenty of long underwear and use pencils instead of ballpoint pens, which will likely freeze.
And for all the planning, Carroll noted that there's a chance bad weather could cancel the whole event. In 1961, President Kennedy's parade was saved only after troops armed with flamethrowers melted the ice from Pennsylvania Avenue. In 1985, when the wind chill pushed the temperature 20 degrees below zero, President Reagan's second inaugural was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda.
The choice to move the event indoors is the president-elect's alone, Florman explained, and this year the Rotunda is again the backup venue.
By ALEXIS SIMENDINGER and SHANE HARRIS
President Bush is helping clear the decks for President-elect Barack Obama by asking his political appointees to submit their resignations effective Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, according to a memo [PDF] dated Dec. 1 and obtained by National Journal. White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten instructed Cabinet secretaries and heads of departments to collect resignation letters from political appointees, with the goal of providing the incoming president "maximum flexibility in assembling his administration."
Bolten said Bush's directions are "consistent with past practice," which is correct: Then-Chief of Staff John Podesta, acting on behalf of President Clinton, sent a similar memo to government leaders in November 2000, and previous presidents have taken similar steps.
The exceptions to Bush's order are federal inspectors general and "those individuals who hold termed positions," Bolten said. "Non-career Senior Executive Service and Schedule C appointees at independent and regulatory agencies headed by termed appointees" are also exceptions to the resignation order.
Should there be any confusion, Bolten helpfully includes a sample letter of two simple lines:
Dear Mr. President:I hereby tender my resignation as (title). I anticipate that my last day of service will be January 20,2009, and I understand that you will act on this offer no later than noon, January 20, 2009.
Sincerely,
Name and title
By AMY HARDER
The Travel Industry Association launched a new transition Web site today and released a series of briefings on major concerns the group believes Barack Obama should address.
The briefings cover issues such as the controversial Visa waiver program, the Transportation Security Administration's screening process and federal highway reauthorization. Nine of TIA's 18 briefings address the Department of Homeland Security, with others devoted to State, Commerce, Transportation, Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The site also offers a repository of information on what other groups, including think tanks and government agencies, have recently done related to travel policy. Geoff Freeman, the TIA's senior vice president of public affairs, hopes the site provides a service for the incoming administration. "Now's not the time when people want to be lobbied, bombarded with stuff they don't need," Freeman said. "The transition team is interested in being informed. These briefing papers and links to other reports take every issue and provide a holistic view."
Freeman said his group has been in contact with various transition team members, and he stressed how closely travel is connected to the economy, U.S. image abroad and energy. Obama's transition team can "use travel to solve a lot of the world's problems," he said.
By ALYSSA ROSENBERG, Government Executive
President-elect Obama has enjoyed good relationships with the unions that represent federal employees, but he faces significant challenges in reforming the way the government recruits and pays its workforce while trying to advance an ambitious agenda. Could those two goals come into conflict?
Apparently, American Federation of Government Employees General Counsel Mark Roth thinks the next Office of Personnel Management director could be Max Stier, president of one of the more innovative nonprofits working on government management issues, the Partnership for Public Service. And Roth says that his organization would "vehemently oppose" Stier's nomination. I asked Roth why, and got this response:
He has consistently supported Bush "deform" efforts like NSPS [the National Security Personnel System] and Max HR [an abandoned pay-for-performance personnel system at DHS] and contracting out inherently governmental functions, and a leopard cannot be expected to change its spots just because the political winds have changed. While he could have been a force for good government and employee involvement, he really was missing in action for the federal workforce and we cannot have that type of leadership continued at OPM. On the other hand, we do see value in the PPS as a think tank working with us and Obama. There are a lot of projects that PPS could impact positively, so we would like to see him stay in that position.
Strong words. It's true that the Partnership has called for a total reform of the federal pay system and a move away from the General Schedule. But Stier has also spoken out against the suggestion that federal employees are overpaid, and the Partnership has launched a major call to reform the way agencies bring new people on board and train them. Partnership Vice President for Policy John Palguta has said that while opposition to using programs like NSPS to curtail labor rights can be justified, that concern doesn't necessarily invalidate efforts to reform evaluation and compensation.
Partnership spokeswoman Sarah Howe declined to comment on whether Stier was up for the top job at OPM or on AFGE's opposition. The Partnership is normally one of the most voluble organizations on the block, but Stier wouldn't say who from Obama's camp he was in contact with during the election or who he talks to now on the transition team.
By AMY HARDER
News of retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki's nomination for Veterans Affairs secretary has drawn mostly cheers from veterans groups and Congress.
"We're very excited that this type of change is going to be effective at the VA, specifically having someone who will do the right things," said Todd Bowers, director of government affairs at the nonpartisan veterans group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "Someone who won't put politics ahead of patriotism."
President-elect Barack Obama made the announcement in Chicago on Sunday, the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Harking back to World War II, Obama said that when "those troops came home to a grateful nation," they had support in the form of the GI Bill and "a chance to live out in peace the dreams they had fought for, and so many died for, on the battlefield." He used the same theme of commitment to veterans in introducing Shinseki.
As Army chief of staff, Shinseki clashed with the Bush administration on its Iraq war strategy, specifically telling Congress before the war began that stabilizing Iraq would require hundreds of thousands of troops. Veterans groups say that this prediction helps show how Shinseki will ensure veterans are well represented by the VA.
"He always made bold decisions, well-defined assumptions and had an understanding of the issues," Bowers said, citing Shinseki's testimony to Congress prior to the Iraq war.
Obama himself said Shinseki was "right" about needing more troops on "Meet The Press" this weekend. When Obama announced Shinseki on Sunday, he highlighted the courage the 66-year-old Army veteran showed during his time in the military. "No one will ever doubt that this former Army chief of staff has the courage to stand up for our troops and our veterans," Obama said. "No one will ever question whether he will fight hard enough to make sure they have the support they need."
Will Shinseki's knowledge and expertise on the Iraq war prompt Obama to seek his advice on military issues outside of Veterans Affairs? Bowers didn't think so. "He's always had a reputation to be a quiet, reserved officer," Bowers said. "He's very committed to the chain of command and the way that that structure is established." He added that Shinseki's time in the military will help strengthen the communication between the Pentagon and the VA.
Bowers said that one of Shinseki's top priorities as VA secretary will be to implement the new GI Bill, which passed Congress this summer and offers more education benefits for veterans. "Him having been in the service and extremely educated, he will see that the program get implemented by the Aug. 1 deadline," Bower said.
One common trend emerging from many pro-Obama veterans groups, such as VoteVets.org and the American Federation of Government Employees, is praise that Obama is taking a step away from the veterans policies the groups reproached during the current administration. In a statement, the AFGE said that this appointment "represents a clear break from the past eight years in which the Bush Administration sought to dismantle the VA through the use of fee-basis contract care and undercut the agency by continually understaffing and underfunding the agency." Brandon Friedman, vice chairman of VoteVets.org, commends Shinseki for "always think[ing] ahead to what needs may be down the road," and not being "afraid to strongly speak his mind to the president of the United States."
Continue reading Shinseki Garners Widespread Praise As VA Pick.
By KATHERINE MCINTIRE PETERS, Government Executive
Anyone looking for a clue as to how Defense Secretary Robert Gates may pursue his responsibilities under the Obama administration should pick up the January issue of Foreign Affairs magazine. In an article titled "A Balanced Strategy: Reprogramming the Pentagon for a New Age," Gates spells out his thinking on issues from the war in Iraq to modernization plans.
"To fail -- or to be seen to fail -- in either Iraq or Afghanistan would be a disastrous blow to U.S. credibility, both among friends and allies and among potential adversaries," Gates writes, dispelling any notion that he might support a speedy withdrawal of troops from Iraq if such reductions mean worsening security there.
"In Iraq, the number of U.S. combat units there will decline over time -- as it was going to do no matter who was elected president in November," he writes. "Still, there will continue to be some kind of a U.S. advisory and counterterrorism effort in Iraq for years to come."
With the Pentagon gearing up to conduct its next Quadrennial Defense Review -- a broad examination of how the services are structured and equipped to meet emerging challenges -- Gates' essay provides a sense of the direction the review is likely to take.
The bulk of Gates' concerns center on military modernization. He notes that higher defense spending will not eliminate national security risks, and says entrenched support for conventional modernization programs at the Pentagon, in industry and Congress is problematic.
Continue reading Gates Outlines Commitment To Military Reform.
By KEVIN FRIEDL
Recent polling has turned up plenty of good news for the incoming administration, as majorities from both parties as well as independents say they approve of how Barack Obama has run the transition. Even Republican political insiders gave Obama's four biggest appointments passing grades in National Journal's newest Insiders poll. And public confidence in the president-elect has remained consistently high.
But if there's a bug in Obama's lemonade, it's that his staunchest supporters during the election -- liberals and Democrats -- are also the groups he's most at risk of turning off with centrist, pragmatic appointments and policies. According to Gallup tracking data taken before and after Obama rolled out his national security team, Democrats' confidence in Obama dropped 3 percentage points after he announced the nominations of Hillary Rodham Clinton for secretary of State and Robert Gates for Defense. That measure among liberals fell 7 points.
To be sure, neither bloc is in danger of bolting the Obama camp: Ninety-one percent of Democrats still expressed confidence in Obama after the announcements, as did 84 percent of liberals. But with some voices on the left becoming increasingly agitated by Obama's performance so far, the transition team will no doubt be keeping a wary eye on its left flank.
Interestingly, while Obama's time as president-elect has seen his support erode among liberals, it's come with no commensurate rise in confidence from conservatives or Republicans, who expressed confidence in him at 46 and 33 percent, respectively.
From National Journal's lobbying blog, Under the Influence:
Dismissing rumors that he might be in contention to head the Department of Labor, Dick Gephardt, former longtime leader of the House Democrats (and now a lobbyist), says he hasn't been approached by the Obama transition and isn't joining the president-elect's cabinet in any capacity. "I want [Obama] to have a great cabinet and succeed beyond any expectations. I'll help from the outside," Gephardt tells National Journal.
By MARY GILBERT
With grim economic news once again dominating the news cycle, President-elect Obama took to the airwaves over the weekend to try to calm the country's frayed nerves. In his weekly radio/YouTube address, Obama outlined key provisions of his proposed economic stimulus plan. And in his first "Meet the Press" appearance since June, the president-elect discussed some of the unpopular choices he might be forced to make when he assumes office on Jan. 20.
Throughout the weekend, Obama tried to project an image of his new economic team as capable, pragmatic and ready to handle the current market turmoil. And he hailed his transition team's efforts in his interview on "Meet the Press," saying, "I'm very pleased with is how fast we've gotten a first-rate economic team in place, the fastest in modern history."
In his weekly address on Saturday, Obama laid out the core pieces of his plan, which he said he would try to pass immediately once in office. The proposals include efforts to improve the energy efficiency of government buildings and rewire schools "to help our children compete in a 21st-century economy," Obama said. He also reiterated his administration's plans for a massive investment in national infrastructure.
Updating the information superhighway and expanding broadband capacity to all communities will also be a priority, Obama said, calling it "unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption." And he pledged that stimulus funds will go towards putting medical records online and ensuring that doctors are using cutting edge technology. "That won't just save jobs," or billions of dollars a year, "it will save lives," Obama concluded.
The next day, Obama made his first appearance on "Meet the Press" since winning the election, fielding many questions on the economy. Comparing conditions today to those that faced President Roosevelt 67 years ago, Obama maintained that "as tough as times are right now, they're nothing compared to what my grandparents went through, what the 'greatest generation' went through." That said, he acknowledged that we are facing "a big problem, and it's going to get worse" before it gets better.
Asked to give a figure for how much his stimulus plan is going to cost, Obama hedged, saying only that it will be "significant." He signaled, though, that his administration will not consider itself limited by the growing deficit. "We understand that we've got to provide... a blood infusion into the patient right now to make sure that the patient is stabilized, and, and that means that we, we can't worry short-term about the deficit," he told host Tom Brokaw.
The Supreme Court today turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth, the Associated Press reports. The court did not comment on its order. Leo Donofrio claimed that since Obama had dual nationality at birth -- his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject -- he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president. Donofrio also contends that two other candidates, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero, also are not natural-born citizens and thus ineligible to be president.
With the conservative bent of the Supreme Court unlikely to change in the next four years, it is the lower federal courts where President-elect Barack Obama's judicial appointees will have the most impact (Washington Post).
Obama wants investors to tap $7.7 billion in tax credits for renewable-energy projects (Bloomberg News).
But Obama's one-president-at-a-time policy means that the current round of global warming negotiations in Poland are not likely to get very far in creating new international agreements on greenhouse gas emissions (Washington Post).
The "whisper campaign claiming" that Obama is not an American citizen continues to flourish, and the Supreme Court will likely decide today whether it will hear two cases contending that the president-elect is not a "natural born citizen" (Politico).
Liberals are again voicing concerns about Obama's rightward tack since the election and the absence of bona fide lefty appointees to the Cabinet so far (Politico).
In the face of a national uptick in firearm sales, Obama said American gun owners have nothing to fear from his presidency (Agence France-Presse).
With the questionnaire for administration hopefuls more in-depth and personal than ever, it is unclear just who will be able to review applicants' dirty laundry, both now and in the future (Politico).
National Security Realignment
Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff applauded Obama's choice of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as his successor and encouraged her not to 'tinker' with the department's organizational structure (Federal Times).
The new administration's foreign policy team is working to ensure more effective responses to humanitarian crises and could get some helpful advice from a report being released today by former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright and former Defense secretary William S. Cohen (Washington Post).
Once thought to be the proverbial Gordian Knot for President Bush's successor, Iraq may prove to be the least of Obama's worries come January (Bloomberg News).
A commission of technology experts will recommend charging a White House czar with bolstering cyber security (Wall Street Journal).
Obama has tapped retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, known for his repeated run-ins with then-Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld during his tenure as army chief of staff, to be the first Asian-American secretary of Veterans Affairs (Army Times).
An Iranian spokesman urged Obama today to end the Bush administration's carrot-and-stick diplomacy and recognize the nation's right to nuclear power (New York Times).
Riding Out The Storm
The economy "is a big problem, and it's going to get worse," Obama said at a press conference Sunday, in which he also repeated his pledge to pass an economic stimulus package focusing on public-works projects (New York Times).
Obama said the federal deficit cannot be a short-term concern while the government tries to lift the economy out of a recession with spending programs (Washington Times).
On "Meet The Press" Sunday, Obama reiterated his support for an auto bailout package but said some industry executives deserved to lose their jobs (Washington Times).
Bush shed his lame-duck status last week when he blocked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., from tapping the $700 billion stimulus fund for the auto industry (Wall Street Journal).
Andrew Noyes of Tech Daily Dose spots an interesting side effect of President-elect Obama's transition Web site:
With increased attention to Change.gov, President-elect Barack Obama's transition Web site, we wondered whether Change.org -- a self-described "social entrepreneurship venture" based in San Francisco -- might be benefiting from a surge in traffic either by users mistakenly trying to access the Obama team's site or out of idle curiosity about what content lives at the potentially lucrative domain.
By MARY GILBERT
The Bush administration drew a lot of attention -- both positive and negative -- to the issue of government partnerships with religious organizations by creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which Barack Obama has pledged to maintain.
A new Brookings Institution policy paper offers a list of 16 recommendations for the Obama administration on how to improve the relationship between government and religious groups in order to provide better assistance to Americans in need.
While this is an area that inspires passionate disagreement, Brookings senior fellow William Galston is optimistic that Obama's appeals to bipartisanship and religious tolerance can bring a measure of common sense to the debate. "This would be the perfect place" for Obama "to begin redeeming his promise of changing the tone of politics," Galston said at a press conference this morning.
Continue reading 'Retain But Reform' Faith-Based Initiatives, Brookings Recommends.
(Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
Atlantic Media Political Director Ronald Brownstein spoke with former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski for today's edition of "National Journal On Air." During the course of their conversation, Brzezinski touched on the incoming foreign policy team, controlling weapons of mass destruction and Obama's global popularity.
Related: Carter Official Jody Powell Rates Clinton Pick
NJ: President-elect Obama this week named the key members of his national security team: Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates and General Jim Jones. What was your assessment of the team he pulled together?
Brzezinski: I think it's a very strong team in terms of individual capabilities and personal experience. Each one adds an important dimension to our ability to handle foreign affairs. But there is, I think, a potential problem, namely, because they're such strong individuals there could be some problems with coordination, especially since in some respects both the new secretary of State and the retained secretary of Defense have had different perspectives in foreign policy issues than the president-elect. So a great deal depends on the degree to which the president, working through the national security adviser, General Jones, can impose a sense of direction, can impose central strategic control over the shaping of foreign policy.
NJ: You know, one thing that's interesting about this team is that unlike many presidents, he has not chosen long-time confidantes for any of these three positions. I mean, none of these three are people that he has spent enormous time with over the years or were in the foxhole with him, as it were, in the campaign. Is that a challenge?
Brzezinski: Well, first of all it's understandable, because he hasn't been dealing with foreign affairs. His associates have not been really concerned with foreign affairs. His political associates have been concerned with his political career in Illinois and then nationally, and his focus has been largely on domestic issues. But it is a problem. Sure, it is a problem, and that's why he compensates for it by having strong individuals who presume to know something about these subjects and a very strong national security adviser in our former NATO commander and Marine Corps commandant who should be able to crack the whip.
Read the complete interview here.
Another announced appointment from the Obama-Biden team, and another former member of the Clinton administration: Jared Bernstein will serve as Vice president-elect Joe Biden's economic adviser, the transition team revealed this morning. Bernstein was deputy chief economist for Robert Reich's Labor department and currently works at the Economic Policy Institute. Up until the week before Barack Obama's electoral victory, Bernstein also blogged regularly.
Complete release available after the jump.
Continue reading Jared Bernstein To Advise Biden On Economic Matters.
Over on NationalJournal.com's lobbying blog, Under the Influence, Julie Kosterlitz notices a trend in the list of donors to Barack Obama's transition effort:
Barack Obama's transition is trying to keep its collective nose clean by refusing money from corporations, labor unions and PACs, and limiting individual contributions to no more than $5000. But that doesn't mean that Obama supporters can't show extra support by having their families donate larger sums--collectively.One who did so was Anthony Welters, of McLean, Va., a top executive at UnitedHealth Group who along with his wife and two sons, each gave $5,000. Well known liberal philanthropists Herb and Marion Sandler, their daughter, son and daughter-in-law also each gave $5,000.
Read the complete entry here.
National Journal this week looks at what lies ahead for President-elect Obama in filling out deputy and assistant secretary positions. All links are available to subscribers only.
The expected nomination of Tom Daschle to be Health and Human Services secretary raises more questions than it answers about who will run one of the federal government's biggest departments.... Daschle is expected to focus intensely on health care reform next year, meaning an emphasis on staffing the policy shop and a greater-than-usual management role for second-tier appointees.
Neither Obama nor his top advisers have indicated whom he will pick to lead the Education Department. It is difficult, therefore, to say how much room the next Education secretary will have to choose a sub-Cabinet team or to set policy, particularly when it comes to the department's No. 1 task of rewriting the No Child Left Behind act for elementary and secondary school reform. More important, until Obama taps someone to head the department, there is no way to know on which side of the intraparty divide over the nearly seven-year-old law he will land or which education experts will want to join his administration.
Despite Obama's intention to make infrastructure investment a centerpiece of his economic stimulus plan, he has not yet chosen a Transportation secretary, much less sub-Cabinet nominees or chiefs for such key agencies as the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Highway Administration. But a few names are floating around town. The most prominent belong to two leaders of the transportation transition team: former Deputy Transportation Secretary Mortimer Downey and former FAA Administrator Jane Garvey.
George W. Bush turned to talented and strong-willed experts, only to see his Cabinet fracture in titanic clashes of ideology. Judging by his choices so far, Obama may steer clear of those fights. Those who have been named to top national security and foreign-affairs jobs, as well as those in the running for second-tier jobs, generally come from the ranks of centrist internationalists, with a heavy emphasis on pragmatism.
INTELLIGENCE & HOMELAND SECURITY
Gov. Janet Napolitano, Obama's Homeland Security secretary nominee, will have her hands full naming deputies at the vast and often unwieldy department. Homeland Security has never undergone a change in administrations.... Historically, Cabinet secretaries and their deputies have worked together to pick their lieutenants, said Michael Jackson, the former No. 2 at the department. Napolitano could ask the current deputy Homeland secretary, Paul Schneider, to remain in his post for a time, maybe only a few weeks, Jackson said.
Those tapped as DNI and as CIA director will have to work closely with Eric Holder, the attorney-general designate, and a Justice Department that has been racked by a poisonous political atmosphere and is facing an undisclosed cache of classified legal opinions that authorized many of the Bush administration's most controversial counter-terrorism policies.... The odds-on favorite to be Holder's deputy attorney general... is David W. Ogden, a partner at WilmerHale in Washington who is overseeing the DOJ transition team.
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., is the odds-on favorite to be Obama's trade representative. He was never a major player on trade issues in his 16 years on Capitol Hill, but his stance on a range of matters has closely tracked that of both organized labor and Obama.
The president-elect has made some specific promises, such as ending a means-test restriction on applicants for veterans health care, cutting a backlog in processing claims for disability benefits, and stabilizing annual funding for the Veterans Affairs Department.... The leading candidate for VA secretary is Tammy Duckworth, an officer in the Illinois National Guard who lost both legs in Iraq and who now heads the state's Veterans Affairs Department.
Opinion-makers are all over President-elect Barack Obama's nominations. This shouldn't be surprising, considering he's filling his Cabinet at record pace -- naming picks for 13 of the 24 most important positions. In comparison, former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan had two, and Bill Clinton only one announced nominee at this point in their transitions, the New York Times reports.
Here's a sample of the appointments buzz:
By DARREN GOODE, CongressDaily
President-elect Obama's choice for Interior secretary might come down to two Western House Democrats: a three-term Hispanic lawmaker and a five-term Blue Dog backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva appears to be the leading contender, but California Rep. Mike Thompson has Pelosi in his corner.
While Pelosi might have pushed for her fellow Californian before speculation accelerated about Grijalva, Thompson has also been endorsed by two of Pelosi's closest allies -- Reps. Anna Eshoo and George Miller, both of California. Thompson has the backing of hunting and fishing groups, while Grijalva is favored by environmental groups. Former two-term Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber -- another finalist to head Interior -- told the Associated Press this week he would bet on Grijalva.
Several other sources following the Obama transition team's deliberations also cite Grijalva -- who chairs the House Natural Resources National Parks Subcommittee -- as the likely favorite. But the importance that the Interior Department holds for Western governors, as well as his executive experience, makes Kitzhaber a sleeper pick.
The Obama transition team this morning released a statement from the president-elect responding to the loss of more than a half millions jobs last month.
"The 533,000 jobs lost last month, the worst job loss in 34 years, is more than a dramatic reflection of the growing economic crisis we face. Each of those lost jobs represents a personal crisis for a family somewhere in America. Our economy has already lost nearly 2 million jobs during this recession, which is why we need an Economic Recovery Plan that will save or create at least 2.5 million more jobs over two years while we act decisively to maintain the flows of credit on which so many American families and American businesses depend."There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it's likely to get worse before it gets better. But now is the time to respond with urgent resolve to put people back to work and get our economy moving again. At the same time, this painful crisis also provides us with an opportunity to transform our economy to improve the lives of ordinary people by rebuilding roads and modernizing schools for our children, investing in clean energy solutions to break our dependence on imported oil, and making an early down payment on the long-term reforms that will grow and strengthen our economy for all Americans for years to come," said President-elect Obama.
By DERON LEE
Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a conservative Republican, has joined a diverse chorus of voices protesting Barack Obama's selection last month of Indian-American economist Sonal Shah, a Google executive, to his transition team.
Santorum's Thursday op-ed piece for the Philadelphia Inquirer repeated the charge made by several others: that Shah's past charitable work with the American wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad -- an Indian organization that has been accused of fomenting violence against Christians and Muslims -- sends a discomfiting message to the world about the new administration's attitude toward the region.
"Shah should condemn the VHP and its actions soon," Santorum wrote. "If she doesn't, keeping her on -- or, more ominously, giving her a post in the new administration -- would send the message that the president-elect does not think the VHP is a radical organization."
Trinity College (Conn.) professor Vijay Prashad -- no ideological ally of Santorum's -- has written a set of articles critical of Shah in the liberal newsletter Counterpunch. A coalition of Indian-American groups has demanded that Shah repudiate the VHP and its sister organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. And the media in both India and Pakistan have covered the controversy closely.
Today's recipient of the Poolitzer Prize, awarded semi-regularly to pool reports of uncommon style, detail or interest, comes from the Chicago Tribune's John McCormick, who accompanied hometown hero Barack Obama to a thank-you reception for some of his most loyal fundraisers.
"All of you had more to do with us being successful than just raising money," the president-elect told his assembled supporters. "You helped shape Michelle and myself. Many of you have been part of our children's lives. Many of you have helped to support us, through thick and through thin. And so, I'm just very grateful to all of you. Now, we've got a lot of work to do, and I don't want to sugar-coat the amount of work there is to be done."
After leaving his transition office in Chicago's Loop at 5:55 p.m., the PEOTUS and his motorcade traveled approximately two blocks to The Standard Club.The private club, located at 320 South Plymouth Court, played host to a thank you reception for many of Barack Obama's fundraisers, mostly from Illinois. Obama entered the building at 5:56 p.m. and the pool was held in the van.
After holding at the base of a stairway inside, we were ushered into the room about 7:17 p.m. There were about 100 people in the small room and they all stood as he spoke.
In the back were the standard buffet tables and a bar (cheese, bread and crackers were some of the offerings).
Obama had spoken privately with people before we entered and also posed for photos. Michelle Obama was in the room as well, but did not speak as part of the brief program that we saw.
The president elect spoke for about seven minutes (a few quick quotes are below). He was introduced by John Rogers and James Crown, key members of his Illinois finance committee.
Penny Pritzker, the chairwoman of his national finance committee, was also in the room, although did not speak while we were there. Aides said the crowd was a mixture of Illinois finance committee members and national finance committee members.
"I could not have asked for better leadership," Obama said of his finance committee leaders.
Obama said he wanted to do the small event because of the long friendships in the room.
"This is a gathering of friends, and we wanted to do it precisely because all of you are friends. You know in politics, often times you say folks are friends, when what you really mean is they supported you and sometimes only after it became apparent you were winning. In this case, it's absolutely true."
If the left and right can find common ground on any of President-elect Barack Obama's major Cabinet picks so far, it's on Treasury nominee Timothy Geithner. Top political bloggers and political Insiders polled by National Journal this week are in closer agreement on Geithner than on three other high-profile picks: Hillary Rodham Clinton at State, Robert Gates at Defense and Eric Holder as attorney general.
Geithner's selection rated B+ grades from both Democratic and Republican Insiders; left-leaning bloggers gave him a B and right-leaners a B-. Commenters noted his involvement in the financial bailout talks as president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank -- James Joyner of Outside The Beltway said he "presided over the meltdown of the financial sector in New York but is oddly considered a rock star in financial circles." A Democratic Insider said, "Time will tell whether the Geithner-[Henry] Paulson approach has been the correct one, but the economic crisis needed someone that insiders respect and support, and the Geithner pick has sent the right signals to the Hill, Wall Street, and the boardrooms."
The highest grade given to any pick was Clinton's A- from Democratic Insiders and Gates' A- from the GOP Insiders. "Her detractors will be pleasantly surprised at how well she works in his [Obama's] and our behalf," wrote one Democratic Insider who gave Clinton an A. One Republican who gave Gates an A said, "This tells me Obama is a realist, and won't buckle at the knees each time the Far Left comes calling."
The lowest grade was the D- that right-leaning bloggers gave to Holder, an official in the Clinton Justice Department under Janet Reno. "Holder served as No. 2 to one of the worst, most lawless attorneys general in U.S. history," said David Kopel of the Volokh Conspiracy. "His role and his lies in the Elian Gonzalez abduction were despicable."
Full results of both polls -- including Insiders' and bloggers' thoughts on an auto industry bailout -- are free on NationalJournal.com.
President-elect Barack Obama is stocking his Cabinet at record pace, filling 13 of the 24 most important jobs in a new administration. By this time in their transitions, former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan had made appointments to just two of those slots, and former President Bill Clinton had made just one (New York Times).
There are few choice top positions left in the new administration, leaving Obama team hopefuls to focus on "powerful, lower-profile sub-Cabinet positions" (Politico).
As chief trade negotiator, Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., would bring his credentials as a "defender of workers' rights and as a skeptic of trade agreements," but like Eric Holder, he has a pardon problem from the waning days of the Clinton administration that could come back to haunt him (New York Times).
Not everyone in the Obama camp is happy with the direction his grassroots campaign network is being taken in post-election (Los Angeles Times).
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said he does not want to be the next secretary of Education (AP). Meanwhile, Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan was spotted chatting with outgoing Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, though he characterized the exchange as purely social (AP).
Problems at the Food and Drug Administration are fueling a struggle over who should be next to lead the troubled agency (Wall Street Journal).
President Bush has purchased a home in a tony North Dallas neighborhood, where he and Laura will reside after Jan. 20 (AP).
On The Agenda
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Obama's choice for secretary of Homeland Security, is expected to make immigration a top priority, given her experience as a southwestern governor (Federal Times).
Defense Secretary Robert Gates writes in a newly published article that the military is obsessed with conventional weapons and needs to invest more money in tools designed to fight guerrilla insurgencies (Boston Globe).
The leader of U.S. Strategic Command warned that Obama must focus on modernizing the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile to keep pace with China and Russia (Washington Post).
In addition to leading health care reform (Wall Street Journal), former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., will need to overhaul the FDA and make changes to Medicare and Medicaid if he is tapped for Heath and Human Services secretary, as is widely expected (Federal Times).
Obama's transition team met with 2,500 grassroots leaders in Washington on Thursday, which organizers said fulfilled a campaign pledge to reach out to community groups after Election Day (Washington Post).
Inauguration Conflagration
The entire mall will be opened on Inauguration Day to accommodate the record numbers of attendees expected and allowing even those without a coveted ticket a direct line of sight to the swearing-in (New York Times).
Souvenir retailers are gearing up for what promises to be the most profitable inauguration in recent memory, throwing Obama's face on everything from hot sauce bottles to "Hope on a Rope" soap (NationalJournal.com).
DC police are worried they may not have the manpower to handle a recent city council decision to let bars stay open until 5 a.m. in the days surrounding the inauguration (Washington Post).
A faith-based charitable organization, the Stafford Foundation, is footing the bill to bring hundreds of disadvantaged people to Washington for the inauguration (Washington Post).
Latino groups are hoping they get the go-ahead for a Latino inaugural ball, which they say would be a nice "thank you" for their help electing Obama (Politico).
By DAVID HERBERT
Forget Christmas. Souvenir stores and street vendors are gearing up to cash in on what promises to be the most profitable inauguration in recent memory.
President-elect Barack Obama has had the Midas touch for tchotchke retailers this year, outselling his Democratic primary rivals and Republican nominee John McCain in T-shirts, buttons and bumper stickers by landslide margins. With perhaps as many as 4 million spectators flooding Washington around Jan. 20, retailers are racing to slap the 44th president's face on anything that might sell. There's a "Barack-in-a-box" toy that plays "Hail to the Chief" when cranked. Or pick up your own "Hope on a Rope," colored purple in the spirit of unity.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Jim Warlick, who operates a memorabilia shop, Political Americana, in the shadow of the White House. He is opening five new locations around the D.C. metro area in the coming weeks to meet the voracious demand for Obama bric-a-brac. Warlick has a hard time meeting demand for Obama bobblehead dolls (McCain dolls are still available).
"In 30 years, I've never seen anything like it," Warlick said, standing in his newest store on 15th Street and New York Avenue, which features an Oval Office set where visitors can snap shots of themselves sitting behind a replica of the Resolute desk.
Another dose of realism: plainclothes Secret Service agents will be roaming the store on Inauguration Day. That may not be a bad idea: Francisco Martin Duran, the Colorado man who fired at the White House with an assault rifle in 1994, was browsing merchandise in a Political Americana store just minutes before he went on his rampage, Warlick said.
Street vendors will have a somewhat tougher time hawking their wares. The city is distributing just 500 licenses -- by lottery -- for food and souvenir stalls in the blocks surrounding the parade route and White House. Applicants also need to pass an FBI background check. Michael Rupert, a spokesman for the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, said his office's phone has been ringing "literally nonstop" from local and out-of-town vendors and that their inauguration e-mail list has 1,200 recipients.
But even if Inauguration Day is a smashing success, can retailers expect the good times to keep on rolling? That will depend on Obama's popularity, and souvenir retailers said their sales predict changes in public opinion as accurately as polls. Jane Crawford, owner of AMERICA!, a chain of 18 political souvenir shops at D.C. airports and around the metro area, said her sales have accurately predicted the winners of the last six presidential elections. And Dave's Gourmet, which sells Obama hot sauce, kept a running tally of head-to-head sales during the primaries and the general election. In the last 90 days of the campaign, Obama outsold McCain 55 percent to 40 percent, not far off the actual 53-46 breakdown.
Obamamania does have its limits. The toughest sell isn't a figurine of Obama defecating. It's Vice President-elect Joe Biden.
"Poor Biden," Crawford sighed. "Quite frankly, there isn't a lot of excitement there, just like there wasn't any marketability for Cheney merchandise."
Some things, it seems, never change.
By AMY HARDER
A broad coalition of digital advocacy groups and individuals, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, MoveOn.org's Eli Pariser and Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig, are applauding Barack Obama's stated commitment to open government and suggesting ways he can show that commitment further.
In a new Web site that went up Tuesday, the groups lay out three principles they hope the incoming administration will follow. Obama's transition team pre-emptively agreed to the first one by announcing Monday that its Web site, change.gov, will implement a new copyright policy -- the Creative Commons License -- that allows for more widespread use of its content.
Lessig applauded the move Monday on his blog. The Stanford professor, representing the group Change Congress, is spearheading the coalition's effort along with Mozilla and the Participatory Culture Foundation. The groups have had a "back channel back-and-forth" with the new administration, and the new Web site could serve as a way to allow more public input, he said.
"Nobody knows exactly the best way to do this right now," he said. "So
that calls for this kind of ongoing discussion, both inside and outside
of the administration."
Lessig and company hope the incoming administration will agree to post videos onto sites other than just YouTube, such as blip.TV, so users can more easily download them. YouTube currently doesn't actively promote downloading. The administration got rid of the legal barrier by switching to the new copyright policy, and now it needs to get rid of the technological barrier, Lessig said. The group's letter also called upon the president-elect to make sure that all information, such as video of a press conference, for example, is made available to all media (whether it's broadcast TV or the Internet) equally. This ensures fair competition, Lessig said.
Pundits debate whether New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's announced nomination for Commerce secretary was a slight to the Latino community. Plus: Members of the media and Obama agree that he should bring back the beard.
NationalJournal.com's Amy Harder recently interviewed Secret Service agent and spokesman Malcolm Wiley on how the agency is leading security efforts for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration. Almost 60 law enforcement agencies are teaming up for the event and related festivities; Wiley discussed the comprehensive nature of security planning and the necessity of a "360-degree plan" -- "we want to protect everything around us, everything above us and everything below us."
Read the complete interview here. Edited excerpts follow. Visit the archives page for more Insider Interviews.
NJ:How do you go about coordinating security for such a large event with so many different agencies?
Wiley: One of the first things we do is to create a steering committee. That steering committee is made up of command-level folks from the different agencies who are going to have a hand in putting together the plan. What's done after that is we create a set of subcommittees. For this particular event, there are 23 different subcommittees, each who have a piece of the security puzzle. So for instance, we have subcommittees that are responsible for air space security, for civil disturbance, for prisoner processing, for credentialing.
NJ: Nick Trotta, assistant director of the Secret Service's Protective Division, was quoted in a recent article saying that race is a factor, but not a security factor. How has Obama's race factored into the Service's approach to this inauguration?
Wiley: The fact that Barack Obama is an African-American is something that's not lost on us as an agency. We understand the historic nature of this event.... But again, what that means is that we look at it as just a part of our larger security puzzle. There are several things that we look at, and several things that we consider when putting together a plan. Him being an African-American and factors related to that are just a piece of that larger puzzle.
By ROBERT BRODSKY, Government Executive
Fifteen years ago, President Clinton launched a bold, free-wheeling initiative to cut red tape and improve government efficiency. Eight years later, President George W. Bush introduced a more structured and targeted reform platform to strengthen agency-level management capacity and boost program performance and results.
These two initiatives could now serve as models for President-elect Barack Obama.
Management specialists, some of whom worked on the reform efforts of Clinton and Bush or served as advisers, expect that Obama will design a plan focused on transparency, outcome-driven results and increased coordination with Congress. But, unlike his predecessors -- who generally scrapped the work of the previous administration -- Obama is apt to cherry-pick the most successful and applicable aspects of Clinton's National Performance Review and Bush's President's Management Agenda, observers said.
"The world has changed so much that neither the Clinton nor the Bush model would work right now," said John Kamensky, a senior fellow at the IBM Center for the Business of Government, who served as deputy director of the National Performance Review. "We need a third model. There have been tectonic shifts in government, and we need a model that captures that whole notion."
Continue reading Obama Could Follow Hybrid Approach To Government Reform.
By MARY GILBERT
Grim economic news keeps coming, but Americans seem optimistic that President-elect Barack Obama can turn things around, giving the incoming POTUS high marks for the Cabinet officials he has selected so far.
Nearly eight in 10 respondents to a recent USA Today/Gallup survey reported that they approve of the way Obama is handling the transition between administrations, including a 57 percent majority of Republicans. That's higher than either George W. Bush (61 percent) or Bill Clinton (68 percent) registered immediately before they took office. A Democracy Corps/Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (D) poll found Obama's support to be lower, at 53 percent approval, but with just 19 percent disapproval. Twenty-eight percent of respondents to that poll declined to express an opinion.
Those surveyed by USA Today/Gallup overwhelmingly approved of Obama's decision to retain Defense Secretary Robert Gates: Eighty percent approved, compared with just 14 percent who disagreed. Hillary Rodham Clinton also inspired confidence, as nearly seven in 10 approved of her selection as secretary of State. Similarly, a Lifetime Networks poll, conducted by WomanTrend and Lake Research Partners, found that 71 percent of women support Clinton's nomination -- but that two-thirds want Obama to make his Cabinet picks based solely on experience and qualifications rather than gender equity.
Continue reading Polls: Americans Approve Of Obama's Cabinet Picks, Policies.
A bipartisan panel of foreign policy experts is encouraging President-elect Barack Obama to merge the National Security and Homeland Security councils to ensure interagency cooperation (Washington Post).
"Instead of being able to call in their chits for having helped elect Obama, union leaders are facing an array of crises" as the economic situation grows worse (Boston Globe).
Obama has begun to tap his network of online supporters in his drive to reform health care (Washington Post).
Microsoft founder Bill Gates spoke Wednesday at George Washington University, where he called upon Obama to ramp up government spending to stimulate the economy (Washington Post).
A dozen retired generals met with Eric Holder, Obama's choice for attorney general, on Wednesday, to argue for closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, among other recommendations (Army Times).
Obama's campaign was boosted by his pledge to withdraw all combat forces from Iraq within 16 months of his inauguration, but that promise is now being tempered by reality (New York Times).
The North American Free Trade Agreement, which Obama "frequently derided as a candidate," has not come up in any of his post-election remarks (Washington Times).
When Obama called Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to congratulate her on her re-election, the Florida Republican hung up on the president-elect, thinking the call was a prank (AP).
As Obama's mother-in-law considers taking up residence in the White House, there's plenty of precedent of extended first families setting up shop on Pennsylvania Ave. (USA Today).
Stocking The Cabinet
Obama tapped New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to be his secretary of Commerce, making him the first Latino picked for the Cabinet thus far (USA Today).
The two-and-a-half years Rahm Emanuel, Obama's soon-to-be chief of staff, spent cashing in on his political connections as an investment banker are a little-known part of his life (New York Times).
Lawrence Summers, Obama's choice to lead the National Economic Council, has made something of a comeback just two years after he left Harvard with a cloud over his head (Boston Globe).
Holder's role in the controversial Marc Rich pardon likely won't be enough to derail his confirmation, but it's still making Senate Democrats uneasy (Politico).
Congressional Democrats are putting the finishing touches on legislation that would clear the way for Hillary Rodham Clinton to become secretary of State, which an obscure constitutional footnote currently prevents (Politico).
After including plenty of bona fide moderates in his Cabinet, Obama is looking to fill out his team with more liberal picks (Wall Street Journal).
Inauguration Conflagration
Oprah Winfrey will host her show from the Kennedy Center during inauguration week (Access Hollywood).
By banning strollers and backpacks and not providing childcare facilities, the message from inauguration organizers is clear: Leave the kids at home (Washington Post).
By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
President-elect Barack Obama is considering nominating Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., for Agriculture secretary, according to a statement from Salazar.
In response to a request for comment from the Denver Post today, Salazar, 55, issued a statement confirming that he is under consideration. "I am humbled that I may be under consideration as a possible nominee for Secretary of Agriculture," Salazar said. "Should President-elect Obama honor me with a nomination to Agriculture, I would certainly consider it. However, at this time, I am continuing my work on behalf of my constituents in the Third Congressional District and preparing for the many difficult challenges facing the 111th Congress."
Salazar told the Denver Post that he had talked to the Obama transition team but had not been interviewed. The newspaper reported that he also said, "I've lived agriculture and I sleep agriculture. I certainly want to make sure that this country continues to be able to produce a safe food supply. It would be a sad day in America if... we ever have to depend on other countries to produce our food."
If nominated and confirmed, Salazar would be the first Hispanic Agriculture secretary. His brother, Ken Salazar, is a U.S. senator from Colorado.
A potato seed farmer and cattle rancher on Colorado's Western Slope, Salazar in 2004 won an open seat in a district that had been held by Republican Scott McInnis for six terms. Parts of the district have been occupied by Spanish-speaking people for 350 years, but it also includes the city of Pueblo and the ski resort town of Vail.
Salazar serves on the House Agriculture Committee and played a role in the 2008 farm bill by insisting on more aid for fruit and vegetable growers and for renewable fuels research. During the farm bill debate, he told a National Farmers Union audience that the bill had to be written on a bipartisan basis because "there are too few of us to divide ourselves along partisan lines and partisan bickering."
A Republican commodity lobbyist said today that Salazar "would be incredible," a "great pick." The lobbyist added that Salazar is "respected on both sides of the aisle, and fair."
Meanwhile, sources close to Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said she is not interested in the Agriculture post. Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who has been frequently mentioned as a likely secretary, last week told the Des Moines Register that the Obama transition team had not contacted him about the Agriculture position or any other in the administration.
Subscribers can read Salazar's full profile in the Almanac of American Politics.
If you wanted to propose the most significant changes in the U.S. national security architecture in half a century, James Locher III would be a logical choice to lead the effort. A key architect of the Goldwater-Nichols defense reforms of the 1980s, Locher went on to cajole warring factions in the Balkans to embrace a joint national security system. As executive director of the Project on National Security Reform, Locher this week unveiled a blueprint for a revamped 21st-century national security system. He recently spoke with National Journal's James Kitfield. Edited excerpts from that interview follow. Visit the archives page for more Insider Interviews.
NJ: With so many burning crises already in their inbox, why would a new Obama administration and Congress want to undertake fundamental national security reforms?
Locher: Well, I think Republicans and Democrats alike agree that the system is broken, and that makes people receptive to change. They watched the 9/11 attacks, and the problems the United States encountered in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the botched response to Hurricane Katrina. All of those setbacks are not coincidental. They have organizational root causes. And if we don't address those causes and adjust a badly misaligned national security structure, we'll continue to suffer major setbacks time after time.
NJ: What do you consider the root cause of those failures?
Locher: In simple terms, the challenges we confront in the 21st century are horizontal problems whose solutions require collaborative work across the government. Yet we're trying to deal with those challenges with a government that is vertically oriented into stove-piped agencies and departments. The boundaries between those agencies are non-permeable, rigid and bureaucratic. There are powerful incentives designed into the system that reinforce an inward-looking culture where people are not rewarded for putting the national interest above the agency interest. In fact, mavericks who do so often put their careers at risk.
By HUMBERTO SANCHEZ, CongressDaily
Aid to the Big Three automakers should come from an existing $25 billion industry loan program, the White House said today, but officials declined to comment on the long-term viability plans the manufacturers unveiled Tuesday, which seek up to $34 billion in loans and credit.
Noting that administration officials were reviewing the proposals, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said it is too early to assess the submissions. Officials at the Treasury and Commerce departments are evaluating the proposals. "Let us have a chance to look at their plans... and let's see what support it can get on Capitol Hill," she said.
Perino's comments came ahead of hearings scheduled for Thursday and Friday, when executives of Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC will make their case for the aid. The CEOs' meeting with lawmakers will be their second attempt at getting federal aid. After hearings two weeks ago, when the executives were taken to task for bad business decisions, lawmakers told the CEOs to develop viability plans by Tuesday.
President-elect Obama took a wait-and-see approach to the automakers' plans. "There will be hearings over the next two days, and I want to wait and see specifically what is said during those hearings," Obama said in Chicago after announcing that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was his choice for Commerce secretary. "It appears... this time out the executives from these automakers are putting forward a more serious set of plans."
Obama added that it's important for any government aid to be "based on realistic assessments of what the auto market is going to be and a realistic plan for how we are going to make these companies viable over the long term." Obama said it was premature to discuss where the funding should come from.
By MARY GILBERT
Naming Bill Richardson as his pick for Commerce secretary today, President-elect Barack Obama emphasized the New Mexico governor's "breadth and depth of experience," particularly on the international front, and labeled him America's new "economic diplomat."
Richardson, who previously served in Congress, as well as state government, would be serving in his third Cabinet-level position. He was appointed ambassador to the United Nations by President Clinton in 1997 and a year later became secretary of Energy. With such varied responsibilities, "Bill has seen from just about every angle what makes our economy work and what keeps it from working better," Obama said of his nominee at a press conference in Chicago.
Obama highlighted Richardson's accomplishments in New Mexico, where under his supervision the state created 80,000 new jobs and kept unemployment to its lowest level in decades. But Obama particularly stressed Richardson's international perspective and "stature." He possesses a "deep understanding of today's global economy," Obama asserted, and understands that economic prosperity at home requires that "citizens of the world respect America's leadership" in the global economy.
Obama spoke of his former presidential rival's unique political style, joking that "during his 2002 campaign for governor, he actually broke a world record by shaking nearly 14,000 hands in just eight hours." But ultimately, Richardson is someone "who shares my values," the president-elect said, and will measure progress "the same way I do."
A newly beardless Richardson took the podium to thank his constituents and family, in both English and Spanish, and to express his appreciation of having the "great honor to serve once again a president who recognizes that America's diverse heritage is its greatest strength." He explained that the Commerce Department's mission exactly mirrors Obama's goals for his economic recovery plan -- job creation, particularly green jobs, sustainable economic growth and investment in new technologies -- and both he and Obama insisted that Commerce will play a vital role in getting the economy going again.
Diversity has been a hot topic surrounding Obama's Cabinet appointments. Asked by a reporter whether Hispanics like Richardson will play enough of a role in his Cabinet, Obama responded that when he is finished selecting both his Cabinet and his White House staff, he is confident that Americans will see "one of the most diverse administrations" in history. But he maintained that he will make individual picks based on who is most qualified for the post, noting that he sees no contradiction between diversity and excellence.
On the topics of the Troubled Assets Relief Program and auto industry bailout, Obama was non-committal, saying that his economic team is staying on top of everything that is being done by the current administration and on Capitol Hill, but that he is waiting to see more from both auto executives and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson before he makes any further decisions.
By AMY HARDER
Vice President-elect Joe Biden and Homeland Security nominee Janet Napolitano will be briefed this afternoon on a new report released today that projects a nuclear or biological attack will occur somewhere around the world by 2013.
The report, conducted by the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism, aims to serve as road map for President-elect Barack Obama's administration to prevent biological and nuclear terrorism. In its findings, the report focuses on the "poorly governed parts of Pakistan" where the commission concluded the risks to the U.S. are increasing.
Former Sens. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and Jim Talent, R-Mo., have led the commission's efforts, which built upon findings by the 9/11 Commission, another congressionally mandated study. The group has conducted more than 200 interviews with national security experts, held eight major commission meetings and took several trips to regions deemed risks, such as Russia, since May.
The timing of the report's release, in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks last weekend, further drives home the risk of all types of terrorism. "If those people had access to a biological or nuclear weapon they would have multiplied by orders of magnitude the deaths they could have inflicted," Graham told an AP reporter.
The report predicts that terrorists will more likely attack with biological, rather than nuclear, weapons because nuclear facilities are more closely guarded. "The commission believes that the U.S. government needs to move more aggressively to limit the proliferation of biological weapons and reduce the prospect of a bioterror attack," the report states.
Hotline's latest list of those rumored to be in contention for positions in the next administration -- culled, as always, from sources of varying reliability -- has shortened up a bit with the unveiling of Barack Obama's national security team this week. But there remains plenty of speculation about the still-unfilled posts.
See below for the complete list, organized by department. An asterisk denotes that the individual has said publicly he or she does not wish to be considered; underlining, that the nominee has been officially announced by the transition team.
Interior
Defenders of Wildlife exec. VP Jaime Rappoport Clark
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ)
Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Ex-OR Gov. John Kitzhaber (D)
Ex-AK Gov./'04 SEN nominee Tony Knowles (D)
National Trust for Historic Preservation Pres. Richard Moe
CO Gov. Bill Ritter (D)
Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO)
MT Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D)
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA)
Agriculture
Nat'l Black Farmers Pres. John Boyd Jr.
Ex-Daschle aide/ Nat'l Farmers Union pres. Tom Buis
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)
Ex-Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA)
Atty Marshall Matz
Ex-Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-TX)
Ex-IA Gov. Tom Vilsack (D)*
Commerce
NM Gov./ex-UN Amb./ex-Energy Sec. Bill Richardson (D)
Labor
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA)
Prof./ex-Rep./ex-John Edwards mgr. David Bonior (D-MI)*
DNC vice chair/ex-AFL-CIO exec. VP Linda Chavez-Thompson
Ex-Clinton adviser Maria Echaveste
Ex-Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO)
MI Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D)
American Rights at Work Exec. Dir. Mary Beth Maxwell
Ex-AFT Pres. Ed McElroy
Rep. George Miller (D-CA)*
KS Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D)
SEIU Pres. Andy Stern*
LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D)*
Complete list after the jump.
By TOM SHOOP, Government Executive
Defense Secretary Robert Gates may have agreed to stick around in the Obama administration, but that doesn't mean that other high-ranking Pentagon officials will remain in their jobs.
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England announced Tuesday that he will not continue serving with Gates under Obama.
"It's time for me to leave," England said. "When I came into government in early 2001, I anticipated serving for two to four years. After almost eight years, it's now time for me to turn over the reins to a successor. Also, it's most appropriate for the new administration to name its own deputy."
England, of course, oversaw the Pentagon's efforts to implement the controversial National Security Personnel System for its civilian employees -- and, most recently, its decision to drop plans to convert employees represented by labor unions to the system.
By PETER COHN, CongressDaily
(Credit: Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., is in discussions with President-elect Obama's transition team about taking the job of United States trade representative in the new administration, sources said Tuesday.
Becerra, who won election as House Democratic Caucus vice chairman just last month, has not accepted the offer to head the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and is still considering it, sources said. A Becerra spokeswoman would not comment on a possible offer from Obama, saying only that Becerra is looking forward to his duties as vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus in the 111th Congress.
Becerra is seen as a middle-of-the-road pick on trade policy, someone who could appeal to both business and labor groups, sources said. He voted against the Central America Free Trade Agreement in 2005 -- but helped lead the effort on behalf of Democratic leadership in support of the Peru Free Trade Agreement last year.
"It's a sign that adults are back in charge," said one labor source.
Becerra -- who was given the title of "assistant to the speaker" when the Democrats took control of the House two years ago and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California assumed the speakership -- has been a member of the House since 1992, representing a district on the south side of Los Angeles. He ran for mayor of Los Angeles in 2001, finishing a distant fifth.
If he joins the Obama administration, he would become one of its most high-profile Hispanic members -- joining New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is poised to be named Commerce secretary.
Additional reporting by Christian Bourge.
Becerra's profile in the Almanac of American Politics is available to subscribers here.
With state budget deficits looming, President-elect Barack Obama promised the nation's governors on Tuesday federal aid for state public works projects like repairing roads and schools (New York Times).
With Obama already signaling a commitment to shepherding the federal government into the Internet age, a coalition of groups ranging from Google to the New America Foundation is calling on the president-elect to adopt a national broadband strategy (CongressDaily).
Agency review teams for Obama have poured into dozens of government offices, from the Pentagon to the National Council on Disability, examinging budgets and investigating what works and what doesn't -- and creating plenty of anxiety among some President Bush appointees in the process (Washington Post).
More than three in four Americans -- including a majority of Republicans -- approve of Obama's transition efforts and Cabinet picks, according to a new poll released Tuesday (USA Today).
The D.C. City Council approved legislation Tuesday that will let bars to stay open until 5 a.m. for the four days surrounding the Jan. 20 inauguration (Washington Post).
Nomination Speculation
Obama will tap New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, for secretary of Commerce today, making him the first Latino in his Cabinet (Wall Street Journal).
Richardson may have some problematic business ties from his brief foray into the corporate world in between the Clinton administration and his election as New Mexico governor (Politico).
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., who has said he regrets voting for NAFTA, has been offered the top trade position in the new administration, sources say (Bloomberg News).
Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber says it's "extremely doubtful" Obama will tap him to be Interior secretary (AP).
Maneuvering Defense Disputes
After Obama blasted controversial C.I.A. counter-terrorism programs during the election, overhauling the agency could prove to be "one of the more treacherous patches of his transition" (New York Times).
The president-elect must tap old hands to guide the spy agencies, intelligence community sources say, but finding veterans "untainted" by the controversial counterterrorism tactics of the Bush years might be challenging (Washington Post).
Obama plans to appoint a new White House official to coordinate efforts to prevent nuclear or biological weapons from falling into the wrong hands (Boston Globe).
Obama's centrist national security picks have won effusive praise from Republican lawmakers, who have sometimes offered more plaudits than even their Democratic colleagues (Politico).
In his first press conference since Obama announced that he would remain at his post, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said closing Guantanamo Bay prison remains a "high priority" and assured reporters that he has "no intention of being a caretaker secretary" (Wall Street Journal).
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England announced Tuesday that he will step down in January, saying: "It is time for me to leave" (Army Times).
Hillary Watch
Hillary Rodham Clinton may be constitutionally ineligible to move from the Senate to the State Department, it was revealed Tuesday, but Senate Democrats are working on legislation that would let the former first lady bypass the rules (New York Times).
Fresh off the news of her promotion, Clinton e-mailed supporters asking them to help her retire nearly $7.5 million in campaign debt from her failed bid for the White House (USA Today).
Former President Bill Clinton said he is open to a job with the Obama administration, but will otherwise "just try to be a helpful sounding board" for his wife as she begins her new role in the Cabinet (Politico).
(Credit: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)
The wires are reporting this afternoon that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) will join the incoming administration in the role of Commerce secretary, and that Barack Obama will make the announcement official at a press conference tomorrow morning. (Check back then for coverage of the presser.)
If true, this would make Richardson the third of Obama's primary opponents to find roles in the administration, continuing the trend toward a "team of rivals." It would also mark a return to the Cabinet for Richardson, who served as President Clinton's Energy secretary after a year as ambassador to the United Nations.
As detailed in the Almanac of American Politics, Richardson's tenure in the Clinton White House was not without its rough patches:
In January 1997 Richardson was nominated as ambassador to the United Nations. Here was an opportunity to be a major player in foreign policy, although Richardson was cabined in by the close supervision of his predecessor, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. But he did negotiate agreements between the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and opposition forces and secured the release of Red Cross workers held hostage in Sudan, and the foreign policy experience he was gaining seemed likely to make him a plausible vice presidential candidate in 2000 or later. The only embarrassing thing about his service was the fact, later disclosed, that at the request of a White House staffer and without asking why, he offered a job to Monica Lewinsky; she rejected it as insufficiently grand.Then in June 1998 Energy Secretary Federico Pena resigned and Bill Clinton, eager to have at least one Hispanic in an official cabinet position, shifted Richardson to the post. This was not really a promotion: Energy is a department that is made up of several unrelated agencies, some of them with deep troubles at the time. One of those was the Los Alamos National Laboratory, from which, it seemed, secret documents about the assembly of nuclear weapons made their way to China.
Richardson was much criticized in Congress for his work on improving security in the national laboratories, and his connection to the Wen Ho Lee security case was a political liability. Later, in May 1999, two hard drives with designs of the nation's nuclear labs were found to be missing after a fire; in June 1999 he decided not to appear at a Senate committee hearing on the issue, on the grounds he had no answers; at a later Armed Services Committee hearing he was lambasted by Robert Byrd, who said he would never be confirmed for another job (the hard drives were later found behind a copying machine). He was mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate in 2000 -- the Democrats would have loved to run a Hispanic -- but his name soon fell off the list.
See Richardson's full Almanac profile here.
By MARY GILBERT
James Lee Witt, who served as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency from 1993 to 2001, dismissed speculation today that he has been asked to head up that agency again under President-elect Obama. "Those are just rumors," he said, adding that he is "not looking for any appointed position" but has advised the Obama transition team on these matters "from time to time."
Speaking at a press conference for Protect America, a nonprofit consortium dedicated to disaster preparedness, Witt stressed that whoever is selected as director of FEMA should have a great deal of relevant experience and that Congress should not confirm anyone who does not fit that description. Asked about Mark Merritt, president of Witt's consulting firm and another rumored contender for the FEMA position, Witt vouched for Merritt's qualifications and said that "personally, individually I would support" him, but it is Obama's decision to make.
Protecting America, which Witt co-chairs along with Admiral James M. Loy, former deputy secretary of Homeland Security, is calling on the new president and Congress to create a national catastrophe program to protect the six in 10 American families that live in areas prone to natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes. At today's press conference, held to mark the end of the 2008 hurricane season, Witt and Loy stressed the importance of creating a national approach to disaster protection before the "big one" strikes.
Continue reading Witt Dismisses FEMA Rumors, Calls For National Catastrophe Program.
By DAVID HERBERT
News organizations across the country are privy to the minutia of President-elect Barack Obama's daily life thanks to the protective pool, a rotating patchwork of reporters that follows the 44th president as he goes to the gym and the barber.
But more than just cataloging the movements of the president-elect, these dispatches often go above and beyond the call of duty with notes about the weather, Obama's clothing, snippets of conversation among bystanders and reflections on journalism, all of which can, on the best days, raise the pool report to an art form.
As such, NationalJournal.com is proud to announce the creation of the Poolitzer Prize, to be awarded semi-regularly to pool reports that achieve an extraordinarily high level of detail, prose, humor, drama and any combination thereof.
Today's winner comes from Christina Bellantoni, the White House correspondent for the Washington Times, who had the good fortune to be covering the president-elect on the day he met with the National Governors Association.
The winner of the inaugural Poolitzer, after the jump.
By ALYSSA ROSENBERG, Government Executive
If you were keeping an eye out for late-breaking executive orders or rule-making by the Bush administration, take a look at this one.
It's a doozy, exempting parts of the departments of Energy, Homeland Security, Justice, Transportation and the Treasury from collective bargaining rules on the grounds that their "primary function [is] intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work. It is further determined that chapter 71 of title 5, United States Code, cannot be applied to these subdivisions in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations."
UPDATED Dec. 2 at 2:20 p.m: GovExec has followed up with a fuller report:
Federal employee unions reacted angrily to a Nov. 26 executive order that strips collective bargaining rights from thousands of employees at five departments.
"The Bush administration has spent the entire eight years in office attempting to destroy collective bargaining agreements in all sectors of the workforce, and unfortunately, federal labor unions have been the easiest target for them," said Matt Biggs, legislative director for the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. "This is a vindictive and deplorable swipe at federal workers on the way out the door."
Complete story available here.
CORRECTION: The original version of this post misattributed Biggs' quote.
By DAVID HERBERT
The bundlers who helped President-elect Barack Obama shatter campaign fundraising records aren't finished helping their man yet -- at least 48 of these boosters have donated more than $200,000 of the $1.17 million raised through Nov. 15 to cover his transition expenses, according to data compiled by the consumer advocacy nonprofit Public Citizen.
At least 41 of those bundlers -- supporters who raised anywhere from $50,000 to $500,000 for Obama's general election campaign -- donated $5,000, which Obama has set as the limit for individual transition-related contributions. More than half of the $1.17 million already raised has come from 131 boosters donating the maximum amount.
The emphasis on deep-pocketed donors represents a shift from the general election, when Obama openly boasted about the millions of "regular people" chipping in $200 or less to his campaign, a group that accounted for roughly a quarter of his total contributions. Obama has repeatedly appealed to this same group for funds since Nov. 4, e-mailing supporters as recently as this morning about his national security team and asking for donations. But those who have written checks of $200 or less for his transition expenses account for just 8 percent of the total contributions through Nov. 15.
Minus the $5.2 million in federal funds he will receive, Obama is barely on pace to cover his $12 million transition price tag.
At the same time, the president-elect is also passing the hat around for his inauguration, for which he will likely need to raise even more than the $42.8 million President Bush collected for his 2005 festivities.
By DAVID HATCH, CongressDaily
President-elect Obama's review of likely changes at the FCC has been delegated publicly to two respected professors, but there are plenty of communications executives working behind the scenes to influence decisions about the agency and the incoming administration's approach to tech policy. Several hold official titles with the transition, but many others are relying on informal ties to have their voices heard on policy matters while staying out of the spotlight.
For the transition team, the result is a tightrope walk with the watchdog community on one side of the balance rod and corporate interests on the other. Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach, professors at the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively, are heading up the FCC review. They sit on the advisory board of Public Knowledge, best known for advocating unfettered access to Internet content and less-restrictive copyright laws. "We're not going to be a government that's run by corporate lobbyists. That's the message," said Gigi Sohn, president and co-founder of the group.
But with a heavy roster of former top FCC officials and powerful communications executives working on the transition, some are skeptical that academics will choose the next agency chairman. "I find it hard to believe that they would be the persons making the selections," said one industry source, who expects higher level advisers to call the shots. Crawford and Werbach report to Tom Wheeler, an early supporter of Obama, major fundraiser for his campaign and longtime lobbyist. Wheeler, on leave as managing director at the venture capital firm Core Capital Partners, has a long resume that includes stints as head of the main cable and wireless industry associations.
The transition team this morning announced the latest addition to President-elect Obama's staff. Louis Caldera -- law professor, first Hispanic secretary of the Army from 1998 to 2001 and endorser of Hillary Rodham Clinton for president -- is Obama's pick to be director of the White House Military Office.
Caldera will be responsible for coordinating military support for the White House, from Air Force One to the president's communication systems. The post is currently held by Rear Admiral Raymond Spicer.
By GAUTHAM NAGESH, Government Executive
In his year and a half in office, District of Columbia technology chief Vivek Kundra has developed a reputation as an innovative, open-minded leader who uses technology to increase the transparency and accountability of government. So it's hardly surprising that Kundra is being considered for a post in the Obama administration, which has promised to use technology to create a more open government.
Democratic insiders have told NextGov that the D.C. official is on the short list of South Asian-Americans being considered for roles within the new administration. The details remain uncertain, but one possible fit for Kundra would be the new federal chief technology officer position that President-elect Barack Obama proposed during his campaign.
Complete story available on NextGov.
President-elect Barack Obama's promises to protect workers and companies in the crumbling economy could make Democrats the party of Big Business, a shift that would have been unthinkable for the last 75 years (Boston Globe).
Governors will make their pitch for federal aid when they meet with Obama today at the National Governors Association conference in Philadelphia (Politico).
Obama has raised $1.2 million for his transition expenses in a drive that, while respectable, bears little relation to the fundraising machine that shattered campaign finance records (NationalJournal.com).
Even though Obama said Monday during his national security presser that he doesn't go "around checking people's political registration" before offering jobs, his Web site suggests otherwise (Politico).
Unions are expecting more clout under an Obama administration (Federal Times).
He speaks! Vice President-elect Joe Biden spoke publicly on Monday for the first time since Election Day (Politico).
The National Security Landscape
Obama's wants his new national security team to use nonmilitary strategies and the "power of our moral example" abroad (Wall Street Journal).
Obama contends that more troops are needed in Afghanistan, and military experts agree, but they also warn that an influx of forces won't produce the same rapid turnaround that the surge in Iraq did (New York Times).
While Defense Secretary Robert Gates will offer a measure of continuity, many of his top deputies -- hired under Donald Rumsfeld -- are expected to leave the Pentagon (Washington Post).
Dissecting The Picks
Some renewable and alternative energy advocates applauded Obama for selecting as his national security adviser Gen. James Jones, who led the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's energy efforts (Washington Times). Other environmentalists are less enthused (Los Angeles Times).
Jones comes to the job with "an unusual combination of military and diplomatic skills," including decorated combat service in Vietnam and fluency in French (USA Today).
As Obama's choice for secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano will spearhead a controversial ID program that she vigorously opposed as Arizona governor (New York Times).
Susan Rice, Obama's choice for United Nations ambassador, will be charged with mending fences at the international body (USA Today).
Eric Holder's prominent role in the Marc Rich pardon debacle continues to blemish the otherwise much praised career of the man Obama has chosen for attorney general (New York Times).
Obama's national security team is being praised by key Senate chairmen, including the embattled Sen. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn, who said "the president-elect has begun to build an administration that can lead America forward" (CongressDaily).
Hillary Watch
Former President Bill Clinton praised Obama's selection of his wife for secretary of State, arguing that she is "the right person for the job" (AP), while a new poll shows that most women prefer competence over gender equity in Obama's Cabinet picks (Politico).
Hillary Clinton forged strong ties with India during her time as senator and presidential candidate, which could complicate her role as a peace broker between India and Pakistan (AP).
Obama and Clinton are still developing the personal rapport that is critical to the relationship between president and secretary of State, according to former senior foreign policy officials (Washington Post).
Clinton has a long to-do list between now and her first day as secretary of State (Time).
By MARY GILBERT
President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama marked the 20th annual World AIDS Day by addressing Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Civil Forum at the Newseum in Washington today. Bush appeared in person to receive an "International Medal of PEACE" from the California pastor for his administration's efforts to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, while Obama pre-recorded a video message for the event.
Bush does not get much credit for his foreign policy initiatives, but even critics acknowledge his work to help eradicate AIDS, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In remarks delivered this morning from the White House lawn, Bush -- accompanied by the first lady -- touted the results of his President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief. Launched in 2003, PEPFAR has channeled $18.8 billion to fight the disease and has met its goal of treating 2 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.
Foreign aid experts wonder if the economic downturn at home will impact the new president's willingness to devote money to eradicating diseases in foreign countries. But in his remarks to the Saddleback Forum, Obama pledged to continue this administration's work on fighting HIV/AIDS "around the world." He praised Bush for "his leadership in crafting a plan for AIDS relief in Africa and backing it up with funding dedicated to saving lives and preventing the spread of the disease."
Obama also emphasized the need to "recommit ourselves to addressing the AIDS crisis here in the United States." He proposed a combination of education, prevention and treatment to help those already infected and stop the spread of the disease, and urged "focusing on those communities at greatest risk."
Obama admitted that "in the end, this epidemic can't be stopped by government alone," but, quoting St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians, he called on leaders of the AIDS movement to continue to sound the call and encourage others to take up the fight against the disease. "I am humbled by your devotion to this cause and look forward to working with you and new partners in this effort in the years ahead," he concluded.
President-elect Obama's national security nominees have won praise from key Senate Democrats and appear to be headed toward smooth confirmations, CongressDaily reports today.
Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin praised Defense Secretary Robert Gates' "actions in restoring a measure of accountability in the Pentagon" and highlighted his call for Afghans to increase their security role by doubling their army's size.
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman called Janet Napolitano a "strong nominee" for Homeland Security secretary and said he looks forward to getting the Arizona governor's "perspective on the anti-terrorism responsibilities of the department."
Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy suggested attorney general nominee Eric Holder will ally with Democrats who want to further overhaul the Justice Department in the wake of the firing of U.S. attorneys and a perception that the department is too politicized.
The full report is available to CongressDaily subscribers.
By KIRK VICTOR
Jody Powell, President Jimmy Carter's press secretary, said in a recent interview that he has concerns that former President Bill Clinton's far-flung business interests could well get in the way of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's ability to perform as secretary of State.
"It seems to me it will be very, very hard for her to do her job as secretary of State and for him to continue the work that he wants to do in terms of raising money and all of that even if you could avoid an actual conflict -- which I think would be hard. I worry that they would constantly be hit with [charges about] the appearance of conflict."
"It just seems to me that there are some very knotty, built-in problems in that situation that I don't see how you cut," Powell continued.
When pressed on whether President-elect Obama seemed to be reneging on his promise of "change," given the Establishment figures he is putting in top Cabinet posts, Powell said this extraordinarily difficult period demands Cabinet choices of depth and experience.
"I'm sure there will be, and already have been, complaints that he didn't go off and find somebody that nobody had ever heard of for key positions," Powell said. "We are in such a mess as a country, internationally and domestically, we don't have the luxury of indulging that sort of, 'well, maybe they will work out -- let's give it a try.'"
Comparing Obama's choices with the kinds of people that Carter picked, such as Cyrus Vance, a pillar of the foreign policy establishment who became secretary of State despite Carter's promise to bring change, Powell added: "Carter... picked people with experience in government, but he also pursued and didn't back off promises he made during the campaign, and that was not a problem. They supported him. They supported what he was trying to do. That is the key -- sitting down and getting to know somebody and letting them know what you plan to do and taking [the] measure of whether they are prepared to march along with you."
By DAVID HERBERT
President-elect Barack Obama collected $1.17 million as of Nov. 15 for his transition expenses, according to a Web page his camp published today.
For a campaign accustomed to shattering fundraising records, the rate of donations appears barely on pace to cover the estimated $12 million price tag for the two-and-a-half month transition effort. Minus the $5.2 million in federal funds Obama will receive and the amount he has already collected, Obama needs to collect about $110,000 a day from now until Jan. 20 to cover his bills.
At the same time, the president-elect is also raising money for his inauguration, which will no doubt run into the tens of millions. While no budget has been set, President Bush raised $42.8 million for his 2005 ceremony.
Obama has also limited the size of individual donations for the transition and inauguration to $5,000 and $50,000, respectively. Bush capped inauguration donations at $250,000 a person.
Obama is not the only one scrambling to cover the shortfall between what the federal government ponies up and what is needed for post-election planning. The District of Columbia is worried that the $15 million in federal funds won't pay all the bills Jan. 20.
Some highlights among the 1,776 donors listed (a suspiciously fortuitous number, to be sure):
Eric Schmidt, Google CEO -- $5,000
George Lucas, Jr., "Star Wars" creator -- $5,000
Edgar Bronfman, Jr., CEO of Warner Music Group -- $5,000
Former Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb. -- $1,000
Vinton Cerf, "father of the Internet" -- $2,500
Former Commerce Secretary William Daley -- $5,000
Doug Berman, producer of NPR's "Car Talk" -- $500
CORRECTION: The original version of this report misstated the amount Obama has taken in.
By MARY GILBERT
President-elect Barack Obama presented his new foreign policy team at a press conference this morning. Most of his selections had been anticipated for the last week or so, but the blogs are abuzz with thoughts on what these picks mean for Obama's approach to international issues.
By AMY HARDER
Following in the wake of last week's Mumbai terrorist attacks, President-elect Barack Obama announced his national security team at a press conference this morning in Chicago. With unrest between India and Pakistan rising over the weekend, Obama addressed the situation briefly but declined to comment further when pressed by a reporter.
"This is one of those times that I reiterate that there is one president at a time," the president-elect said. "We will be engaged in delicate diplomacy in the next several days and weeks. It would be inappropriate for me to comment, but what I can so unequivocally is that both myself and the team that stands beside are absolutely committed eliminating the threat of terrorism."
That team includes several appointments that had been rumored for weeks -- Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of State, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Eric Holder as attorney general, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as Homeland Security Department secretary, Obama's campaign foreign policy adviser Susan Rice as ambassador to the United Nations and Gen. Jim Jones as national security adviser.
After announcing Clinton as his secretary of State, Obama was asked about "belittling" her international experience while on the campaign trial. "This is fun for the press to try to stir up whatever quotes were formed over the course of the campaign," Obama quipped in response. "If you look at statements that [Clinton] and I have made outside of the heat of the campaign, we share a view that America has to be safe and secure." He added that in making his decision, he never experienced a "light bulb moment"; rather, once their primary battle was over, he started thinking of ways they could work together.
Continue reading Obama Stresses Pragmatism Of Security Appointees.
(Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
The Obama-Biden transition team this morning made official several key appointments, confirming reports that the president-elect was seeking Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of State, Eric Holder for attorney general and Robert Gates as secretary of Defense.
The team also confirmed that Arizona governor -- and early Obama endorser -- Janet Napolitano was Obama's pick for DHS chief, and named retired Gen. Jim Jones as national security adviser and Susan Rice as ambassador to the U.N. Combined with previously announced names, today's rollout brings the total number of announced picks from the Obama team to 42.
Check back shortly for coverage and video of Obama's press conference unveiling his national security team.
Complete release available after the jump.
Continue reading Clinton, Holder, Gates Officially Announced.
Terry Sullivan is the executive director of the White House Transition Project and an associate professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He recently released a study on the work schedules of the presidents during their first 100 days in office.
Sullivan spoke with NationalJournal.com's Michelle Williams last week about the pitfalls and opportunities of the first 100 days and gave his take on what Barack Obama's first days in office might look like. Edited excerpts follow. Visit the archives page for more Insider Interviews.
NJ: Why are the first 100 days so important?
Sullivan: Well, I think there are two basic reasons. One is because almost every president since [Franklin D. Roosevelt] has sort of focused on it themselves. It's a standard. It's an easy thing to identify and sit down at the end of the 100 days and say what has this guy accomplished and what have they not accomplished. So it's an easy standard to hold every president against, to compare every president to.The second thing, which is probably more important, is that the policymaking community is, I want to say, a professional community. It's a group of people who have been doing policymaking for a very long time, and it's a very specialized community.
And so the first 100 days are important for reputational reasons. Members of the president's congressional party often are required to take chances with their own careers in making public policy decisions that often they feel like are forced on them by an administration. They need to know that the new president essentially -- literally -- knows what he's doing. There are many public policy issues which are essentially 50 one way and 50 another way, and they look for guidance and leadership.
So you get some sense of the professional reputation of the president, and the same is true of the executive branch. It's critical for the presidency that it act and speak with one voice, and the hundreds of thousands of federal employees look to the president's early activities to give them some idea of the lead that they're supposed to follow.
NJ: Do you think Obama is on track to do well for his first 100 days in office?
Sullivan: Yeah. One of the things that we keep track of -- the White House Transition Project does -- is how quickly the president-elect puts in place the kind of operation that is necessary for a successful White House to work. There are 12 positions that we think of as being critical to a functioning White House, and the president-elect has already announced the selection of eight of those 12.
Ronald Brownstein reviews Barack Obama's appointments so far:
The most intriguing trend in Barack Obama's early appointments is the absence of a conventional political design....If there is a diagram to Obama's choices, it's idiosyncratic and personal. Obama doesn't seem to be responding to anyone's vision of what his inner circle should look like except his own. And that may provide a much larger clue to his thinking as he nears the presidency. These first decisions could be read as a declaration of independence. They suggest that Obama feels unusual latitude to set his course without overly deferring to his party's traditional power centers, or even to the expectations of those who helped elect him.
Republicans are watching President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet picks to figure out what they may say about his future judicial nominations (Roll Call -- subscription).
Political consensus is emerging for health care reform that would provide universal coverage, but that would fall short of a federal, single-payer system like those in Canada and Europe (Los Angeles Times).
Washington, D.C. has been allotted just $15 million in federal funds for the inauguration -- less than the city got for the 2004 festivities, and far less than the $50 million distributed to both Denver and St. Paul for this summer's party conventions (New York Times).
Now that Obama has signaled that he wants a new stimulus package for public works and energy research, there's no shortage of voices offering advice on how to spend it (Los Angeles Times).
The U.S. Conference of Mayors released a Christmas list of $90 billion in local infrastructure projects it hopes Obama will fund (Politico).
Obama's millions of tech-savvy supporters could be a powerful ally as he tries to push legislation through Congress (Bloomberg News), especially younger voters (NationalJournal.com).
After winning more seats in the Senate and House, Democrats seem poised to deliver Obama several key legislative victories early in his term (Washington Post).
Vice President-elect Joe Biden has tapped three longtime advisers for key posts in his office (AP) -- Michael C. Donilon, Terrell P. McSweeny and Evan M. Ryan.
Shuffling The Deck
Obama will formally announce several high-profile national security appointments today, but he is moving more slowly on his "intelligence picks in an attempt to find experienced officials who aren't associated with the Bush administration's controversial interrogation policies" (Wall Street Journal).
Obama is expected to appoint as national security adviser General James Jones, who "comes out of the Rumsfeld Pentagon as one of the renegades" (Agence France-Presse).
Susan E. Rice, Obama's choice for United Nations ambassador, is a strong advocate of "dramatic action" against genocide (New York Times).
Among the avalanche of Cabinet picks Obama is expected to announce today are Eric Holder as attorney general and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) as homeland security secretary (AP).
By sticking with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the short term, Obama gets an uncontroversial figure and buys himself time to find a suitable replacement (USA Today).
Hillary Watch
The choice of Hillary Rodham Clinton for secretary of State has reassured Israelis, but dampened Palestinian and wider Arab hopes for a marked shift away from the Bush administration's approach to the conflict (Los Angeles Times).
Clinton's nomination may face tough questioning in Congress, where some Republican lawmakers say they are troubled by her husband's business dealings (New York Times).
Women's rights activists expect Clinton to push for their cause in her new role at State (Boston Globe).
