Rahm May Announce White House Exit This Week

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is nearing a decision on whether to quit his job to run for mayor of Chicago, and could make an announcement as soon as this week, sources say. "Because of family considerations, no final decision has been made," a source tells Politico. Senior adviser Pete Rouse is expected to temporarily replace Emanuel if he departs before the midterm elections, as is widely expected.

President Obama told NBC’s Today yesterday that Emanuel will need to move fast if he wants to compete in Chicago's Democratic primary on February 22. "I think that Rahm will have to make a decision quickly, because running for mayor of Chicago is a serious enterprise, and I know this is something he's thinking about," Obama said, adding that he thought Emanuel would make an "excellent" mayor.

(More Rahm Emanuel resigning stories.)