Congress

(Newser) - Talk about hitting the ground running: Less than 24 hours after he was named to replace Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar, schools superintendent Michael Bennet was already staffing up for the 2010 campaign, reports the Rocky Mountain News. Says a former Barack Obama operative, “I had just unpacked my bags in DC and got a call asking if I could jump on a plane.” More »

(Newser) - President-elect Obama’s visit to Capitol Hill today is as much about an economic stimulus package as it is about stimulating the White House-Congress relationship neglected by Bill Clinton and George W Bush, writes Manu Raju in Politico. A bipartisan, inclusive approach should earn Obama points with lawmakers—but if he’s too pliant, he could quickly develop a reputation for weakness. More »

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi is thrilled to work with “a president whose vision I respect and whose agenda I will help stamp” after 2 years of butting heads with Republicans, she tells the New York Times . The speaker of the House doesn’t mind ceding her role as the face of the Democratic Party to Barack Obama, but it may take some adjustment, say some. More »

(Newser) - Roland Burris dominated the Sunday morning tongue-wagging, though the would-be senator himself was a no-show, reports the Hill. Elsewhere, mixed messages on whether to seat him: Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said on This Week that the Senate has no plans to seat Roland Burris. Burris was scheduled to appear alongside his state's senior senator. Meanwhile, top Senate Dem Harry Reid told Meet the Press that while the body has the power to block Burris, "there’s always room to negotiate." More »

(Newser) - It's looking more and more likely that Al Franken will be the new senator from Minnesota. Franken extended his lead to 225 votes over Norm Coleman tonight after election officials finished counting nearly 1,000 previously rejected ballots, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The recount is now done—unless the state's Supreme Court rules it isn't. More »

(Newser) - Harry Reid called Rod Blagojevich after the election, but before the governor’s arrest, to discourage him from appointing unelectable candidates to Barack Obama’s Senate seat, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The Senate majority leader sought to put the kibosh on Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Danny Davis, along with State Senate President Emil Jones. Reid suggested state AG Lisa Madigan or Illinois' veterans affairs chief Tammy Duckworth. More »

(Newser) - The battling campaigns in the Minnesota Senate race have agreed to count some 900 incorrectly rejected ballots, an unexpectedly high proportion of the 1,350 reviewed by county officials. The system required both campaigns to agree on every ballot, which made such a figure seem unlikely, Talking Points Memo reports. More »