Obama's Chief of Staff Bill Daley Resigns

Profiles: He's a 'bare-knuckles' whip-cracker—and a disappointment to liberals

(NEWSER) - William Daley has terms like "longtime Democratic operative," "former Clinton secretary of commerce" and "Chicago political scion" thrown about him, but the New York Times takes a closer look at President Obama's new right-hand guy. He's “a bare-knuckles administrator ... someone who not only makes the trains run on time, he makes them run ahead of time,” says a veteran of the foundering Gore campaign Daley was called in to resuscitate. “He quickly brought order to the house. He held people accountable.” More»

President makes it official

(AP) - President Obama named veteran political manager William Daley to be his new chief of staff today, selecting a centrist with Wall Street ties to help navigate a newly divided Congress and a looming re-election. "Few Americans can boast the breadth of experience that Bill brings to this job," Obama said at the White House as Daley, 62, stood at his side. "But most of all, I know Bill to be somebody who cares deeply about this country." More»

William Daley will now only handle external relations

(NEWSER) - William Daley has only been President Obama’s chief of staff for 10 months, but he's seemingly ready to be co-chief: Daley is stepping sideways, the Wall Street Journal reports, handing over the day-to-day running of the White House and its dealings with Congress to longtime Obama aide Pete Rouse , while Daley focuses on managing relations with business leaders and other important outsiders. "He likes continuing his relationships on the outside," said friend Ray LaHood, admitting that inside "it’s been a tough slog." More»

Bill Daley says Congress won't let Obama be a chief executive

(NEWSER) - Roger Simon of Politico has an entertaining interview with White House chief of staff Bill Daley. Some highlights:

• How it's going: “It’s been a brutal three years. It’s been a very, very difficult three years, an incredible three years. And we are doing all this under the overhang of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. F--k! It wasn’t like all this was happening in good times."
• On 'we can't wait': "Both Democrats and Republicans have really made it very difficult for the president to be anything like a chief executive. This has led to a kind of frustration," and to the president's push for the executive branch to do as much as it can without Congress.

White House calls for 'immediate transition'

(NEWSER) - The White House is not-so-subtly telling Yemen's embattled president to hit the road, with top counterterror adviser John Brennan telling Ali Abdullah Saleh yesterday to “fulfill expeditiously” his pledge to step down. Brennan “called upon” Saleh “to sign the GCC-brokered agreement for peaceful and Constitutional political transition in Yemen,” according to a White House statement. The pledge offers him immunity from prosecution in exchange for his resignation, notes Politico . More»