Powell Will Pass on Cabinet Post

'Season of cooperation' short-lived as Mac rips 'comical' spending bill

(NEWSER) - How to spend hundreds of billions of dollars has a way of opening up old rivalries, the Washington Times reports, with John McCain—who recently pledged to cooperate with President Obama—spearheading the Senate effort to rewrite the stimulus package. “I cannot and do not support the package on the table from the Democrats and the Obama Administration,” McCain wrote to his email list yesterday. More»

Obama backers stand to gain status in wake of historic victory

(NEWSER) - A circle of black power brokers who helped Barack Obama in his rise to the White House are ready to see their influence grow under his administration, Wall Street Journal reports. The close-knit group of fundraisers, execs, and Harvard grads believe their presidential connections will pay major dividends in the worlds of business and government. Some are already angling for top jobs in Washington. More»

Treasury chief may be announced today as transition gears up

(NEWSER) - The Barack Obama team is swiftly dismantling his presidential campaign network and getting the framework in place for the transfer of power, the Washington Post reports. Economic issues are taking priority and the president-elect may announce his Treasury secretary as soon as today. Sources say New York Fed Chief Timothy Geithner, former Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker are likely picks. More»

Embrace Mac, appoint Repubs, work free, urges Slate scribe

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama has promised a new kind of presidency, and John Dickerson of Slate has six ways for the president-elect to transform that promise into action.

• Embrace John McCain. A meeting with McCain would show graciousness in victory and could gain Obama a powerful ally for bipartisan action.
• Appoint Republicans. Obama now has the chance to turn his admiration for Abraham Lincoln's "Team of Rivals" into practice.

...because he's not terribly interested in fighting it

(NEWSER) - Democrats saw the way Mitt Romney's super PAC destroyed Newt Gingrich in Iowa, and it terrified them, because President Obama's super PAC—or as Politico terms it, "not-so-super PAC"—doesn't have the muscle for anything like that. "It's like when China got the bomb," says one Democrat close to the PAC, "We thought we were the ones with cash supremacy. That's clearly not the case." Obama's Priorities USA Action has just $5 million in the bank, less than half Romney's $12 million. More»