transition

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Obama Team Clogs Inboxes, Elicits Backlash

Mugs to donations, that David Plouffe emails incessantly

(Newser) - Barack Obama and his various Internet organs are hawking everything from civic engagement and disaster relief to coffee mugs and fleece scarves, causing fatigue among supporters, Politico reports. And while some are just tired of incessant emails from the likes of David Plouffe, watchers are concerned about how the president-elect...

More Deja Vu: Betty Currie on Obama Team

Bill Clinton's secretary is now answering phones for Podesta

(Newser) - Yet another link with the Clinton White House: Betty Currie, the secretary to Bill Clinton who became embroiled in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, has rolled up her sleeves and is now manning the phones for John Podesta, the co-chairman of Obama’s transition team and former Clinton chief of staff,...

White House Preps Crisis Scenarios for Obama Team

Bush administration strives to stop transition period becoming a security weak spot

(Newser) - The White House has drawn up more than a dozen contingency plans to help Barack Obama if a crisis erupts early in his presidency, the New York Times reports. The briefings go way beyond what other administrations have prepared and deal with potential threats ranging from a North Korean nuclear...

Fast-Track New Stimulus: Pelosi

(Newser) - Congressional Democrats are looking to fast-track a $600 billion economic stimulus package in the first weeks of the New Year, the Washington Post reports. Nancy Pelosi said today lawmakers are working with the Obama transition team to craft the plan, which is smaller than the $1 trillion scheme floated earlier....

Cabinet Devoid of Southerners
 Cabinet Devoid of Southerners 
ANALYSIS

Cabinet Devoid of Southerners

Some complain of 'geographical snubbing,' others say it's irrelevant

(Newser) - President-elect Obama has named most of his Cabinet picks—yet thus far, he hasn’t chosen any Southerners, Politico reports. Every president since at least JFK has named Southerners to his cabinet, and some southern Democrats aren’t happy about what they see as “geographical snubbing.” But others...

Spouses Put Obama's Lobbying Rules to Test

President-elect struggles with ethical promises

(Newser) - The spouses of some of Barack Obama’s top appointees are lobbyists, the New York Times reports, presenting a test to strict ethics policies the Democrat pushed on the campaign trail. Health Secretary-designate Tom Daschle’s wife, Linda, is one of Washington’s top aviation lobbyists, and reported energy-czar pick...

Obama Team's Stimulus 'Jolt' Nears $1T

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s economic advisers are devising a new stimulus package that could top $1 trillion over 2 years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Insiders say the $500 billion plan considered last month is too cautious given America’s mounting economic woes. "Every day there's a new bad number"...

Gates: Don't 'Test' Obama
 Gates: Don't 'Test' Obama 

Gates: Don't 'Test' Obama

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates assured the world today that there would be continuity between the administrations of George Bush and Barack Obama, and that anyone who thought otherwise “would be sorely mistaken,” the BBC reports. Gates, who will be staying on in the Obama Cabinet, told an audience...

Obama Outlines Ike-Style Public Works Push

May quickly provide infrastructure funding; states want $136B

(Newser) - President-elect Obama pledged today to approve billions in government expenditures on public works projects when he assumes office, the New York Times reports. Invoking Eisenhower’s Interstate program, Obama said “we will create millions of jobs,” possibly by funding some or all of $136 billion in infrastructure projects...

Obama Team Swarms Federal Agencies
Obama Team Swarms Federal Agencies

Obama Team Swarms Federal Agencies

Preparation for handover has been under way for months

(Newser) - As Washington prepares for an Obama administration, 135 members of the president-elect's transition team are swarming into federal agencies to scrutinize budgets, interview civil servants, and prepare to take control of the government. Preparation for a smooth transition began months before Election Day, writes the Washington Post. The Obama teams,...

Kmiec As Vatican Ambassador Is No Insult

(Newser) - Douglas Kmiec’s possible appointment by Barack Obama as ambassador to the Vatican shouldn’t raise any hackles and—pro-lifers' views to the contrary—would not be an insult to the church, Henry Farrell writes on Crooked Timber. “Kmiec continues to state his opposition to abortion,” Farrell writes....

Ex-Obama Aide Now Helping 'Monster' Hillary

Samantha Power joined State team after slamming Clinton

(Newser) - Samantha Power will have plenty of time to tell Hillary Clinton how she really feels. The former Obama foreign policy adviser, who was forced to resign during the campaign after calling Clinton “a monster,” is now working on the State Department’s transition team, Politico reports. With Clinton...

Obama Takes Office Early
 Obama Takes
 Office Early 
Analysis

Obama Takes Office Early

President-Elect takes the reins of power

(Newser) - Barack Obama has often decorously emphasized that America has only one president at a time, but that’s just a “ritualistic statement,” writes Paul West in the Baltimore Sun. In truth, Obama has already created a “virtual parallel presidency.” Spurred by what he calls “extraordinary...

Low Staffing Strains Feds' Rescue Plan

May have been a big reason for Paulson's TARP flip-flop

(Newser) - The government’s economic rescue plan continues to be hampered by an understaffed Treasury Department, the Wall Street Journal reports. With 40 employees, the Office of Financial Stability—which manages TARP—says it has about half the staff it needs, and banking regulators say there’s a big backlog of...

Romer Will Be Summers Ally, but With a Deft Touch
Romer Will Be Summers Ally, but With a Deft Touch
analysis

Romer Will Be Summers Ally, but With a Deft Touch

Pick for Council of Economic Advisers chair known for 'deft touch'

(Newser) - Relative unknown Christina Romer was a smart pick to lead Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, Lisa Lerer writes for Politico. The Berkeley professor is a Depression expert, and "right now, you want a business cycle stabilization chair," one colleague said. She describes herself as having “liberal...

Bush 'the Lamest of All Possible Ducks:' Klein
Bush 'the Lamest of All Possible Ducks:' Klein
OPINION

Bush 'the Lamest of All Possible Ducks:' Klein

(Newser) - Joe Klein really wants to find something charitable and valedictory to say about George W. Bush. “His position on immigration was admirable,” Klein writes in Time. “He spoke well, in the abstract, about the importance of freedom. He is an impeccable classicist when it comes to baseball....

Obama's Top CIA Pick Drops Out

Obama's Top CIA Pick
Drops Out

Obama's Top CIA Pick Drops Out

Brennan withdraws under pressure but denies backing torture

(Newser) - Barack Obama's top intelligence adviser and his first choice for CIA director has withdrawn his name from consideration, the Los Angeles Times reports. John Brennan, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, was branded by some liberal groups as a proponent of the harsh interrogation techniques used against terrorist suspects...

Reports: Gates Will Remain at Pentagon

'Done deal' that Bush appointee will stay at least 1 year under Obama

(Newser) - Robert Gates will remain in his post as defense secretary at least through the first year of Barack Obama’s administration, reports ABC News. “It’s a done deal,” an anonymous source told the network today. Obama will reportedly unveil his choice of Gates shortly after Thanksgiving, along...

Obama Signals From Sidelines
 Obama Signals From Sidelines 

Obama Signals From Sidelines

Walks fine line while Bush remains in office

(Newser) - Barack Obama is swiftly filling his Cabinet and outlining the direction of his economic plans, the Los Angeles Times reports, a decisive push unusual for a president-elect. “There's no question that Bush is still president, but people are looking for signs to see what's going to happen going forward,...

Summers Gets Key Financial Post

(Newser) - He didn't get the Treasury position, but Larry Summers will still play a major role in guiding Barack Obama's economic policy. Obama has picked the former Treasury chief to lead the National Economic Council, a post that will make him the president's closest fiscal adviser, the Wall Street Journal reports....

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