Obama: Let Us Celebrate The Peaceful Transfer Of Power
In his new Presidential YouTube Address, his last one before the inauguration, Barack Obama recognizes the importance of the transition of power, and how we often take the peaceful transfer of power for granted:

"Through the ages, many have struggled for the right to live in a land where power does not belong to one person or party, and many brave Americans have fought and died to help advance that right," Obama says. "Through the long twilight struggle of the Cold War, our transitions from one President to the next provided a stark contrast to the suffocating grip of Soviet Communism. And today, the resilience of our democracy stands in opposition to the extremists who would tear it down."

Obama And Biden On Whistle-Stop Tour
Barack Obama and Joe Biden are traveling today by train from Philadelphia to Baltimore, in a whistle-stop tour for people who want to see the new president-elect but wouldn't have been able to go to the inauguration itself. The Philadelphia event began earlier this morning, with Obama scheduled to met Joe Biden in Delaware at 1 p.m. ET, with another event scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET.

Obama In Philly: The Election Should Only Be The Beginning
Speaking to the crowd this morning in Philadelphia, Barack Obama declared that his election victory should only be the beginning of changing America for the better. "Starting now, let's take up in our own lives the work of perfecting our union," Obama said, according to the prepared remarks. "Let's build a government that is responsible to the people, and accept our own responsibilities as citizens to hold our government accountable. Let's all of us do our part to rebuild this country. Let's make sure this election is not the end of what we do to change America, but the beginning."

Obama Creates Political Organizing Committee
The Obama campaign is now being transformed into a new committee, "Organizing for America," which will leverage his database of 13 million e-mail addresses and other supporter information to set up community organizations across the country. Here's his YouTube announcing it:

Essentially, as the Associated Press points out, this will be his re-election campaign-in-waiting for 2012, as a parallel organization to the Democratic National Committee, in addition to the stated purpose of promoting his policy goals.

Obama: I Think I Can Keep The BlackBerry -- But I'll Be Careful
Barack Obama told CNN that he thinks he'll be able to keep his BlackBerry, rather than have to give it up over privacy and security concerns. "Now, my working assumption, and this is not new, is that everything I write on e-mail could end up being on CNN," Obama did say cautiously. "So I make sure that -- to think before I press 'send.'"

Obama Calls US Airways Pilot Sullenberger
The Obama transition team announced that Barack Obama yesterday called Captain Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot of US Airways flight 1549 who safely landed his damaged passenger plane in the Hudson River, and spoke to him for five minutes. Obama thanked Sullenberger for his heroism.

Ask, and ye shall receive.

Earlier this week I lamented the conservative House Blue Dogs' ability to command the political spotlight in Washington while the larger Congressional Progressive Caucus seemed to sit on the sidelines. And now we have a sign that the left wing of the Democratic party is ready to flex its muscle.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler's (D-NY) office just mentioned that the Progressives are requesting a meeting with President-elect Obama "to discuss greatly increasing the size" of the economic recovery package. Nadler also rapped the House stimulus bill as too small to truly lift the nation out of recession, signaling a showdown to come over despite the legislation's likely weakening in the Senate.

Nadler's full statement after the jump.

Read more »

... hours before leaving office, did George W. Bush really just clear the way for U.S. arms transfers to the dictator-ravaged, unstable nation of Zimbabwe?

The White House just released a memo permitting the Southern African Development Community, which counts Zimbabwe as a member, to receive weapons in order to "strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace." Now, there may well be some barrier to Zimbabwe receiving weapons through the SADC -- Bush halted the weapons trade there back in 2002 -- but this doesn't look good.

I'm starting to dig into the differences between House transportation panel chairman Jim Oberstar's $85 billion proposal for infrastructure funding in the stimulus bill (available for download on the right-hand side of the committee page) and the actual final product, released yesterday.

David Alpert at Greater Greater Washington has a chart that tells the tale well. But my first question is: Where did you go, Amtrak Joe?

When the perennially cash-poor train system got a $15 billion authorization signed by George Bush last fall, it represented a big win for Acela-loving Vice President-elect Biden. Now, however, it would seem that Biden's administration has given mass transit the short end of the stick.

Read more »

The three-judge panel in the Minnesota election contest has just released their official schedule for the trial, after the Coleman campaign submitted a plan for a lengthy, multi-phase trial while the Franken camp wanted a prompt, single-phrase trial.

And as it turns out, the essential parts of their schedule were taken from the Franken team, Al's first big victory in this phase of the never-ending Senate election. The key point is that that the judges appear to be going with a single-phase trial, beginning on January 26, two weeks before Coleman wanted to begin the first of his several mini-trials. The schedule also corresponds closely with the Franken team's other dates for when arguments are to be filed, witnesses and evidence are to be listed, and other such procedural guidelines.

Coleman's proposed schedule has been almost entirely scrapped, with the only major remnant being a January 21 hearing on Franken's motion to dismiss the case -- perhaps the only example in which the Coleman camp picked the earliest feasible date.

One caveat: The Franken camp did ask for the trial's length to be capped at 15 trial days -- that is, three work weeks -- but the court's order is silent on this matter. There's only one way to find out how long this thing will take.

Late Update: Lead Franken attorney Marc Elias has released this statement applauding the court for adopting this schedule -- and making it clear how much Franken really wants to get to the Senate soon:

"With urgent matters pending before Congress, it is essential that we move forward and resolve this lawsuit in a timely fashion so that Minnesota may have equal and full representation in Washington. We're pleased that the panel set this matter for trial on January 26th and has rejected former Senator Coleman's attempt to slow-walk this process and further delay the seating of a second Senator from the state of Minnesota."

The sheer complexity of the $825 billion economic stimulus bill unveiled in the House yesterday means that it may take some time for stakeholders in the effort to digest the Democrats' spending choices. But the environmental community was on the ball right away, shooting out statements that were sadly little-noticed in the flood of news.

Green advocates mostly like the stimulus, particularly its investment in modernizing the nation's electricity grid and remodeling buildings to promote energy efficiency. But the transportation portion of the bill left several major environmental groups very underwhelmed -- and rightly so.

Read more »

Please avoid discussing ... politics ... using ... sports ... cliches.

Love, Elana

The Defense Department inspector general's office tells us that their report on the military's TV pundits program is due online at 4pm today. The Bush administration says goodbye with another Friday news dump...

Norm Coleman's legal team has now filed a motion to intervene against a class-action lawsuit that has been lodged by 64 voters, who all appear to have been Franken supporters, who say their absentee ballots were wrongly rejected and should be put into the count.

As we've reported, the Franken team has been reaching out to supporters whose ballots are still uncounted, helping them to go to court.

Coleman's lawyers might have a point in arguing that this matter properly belongs with the court handling his lawsuit against the election result. But one line in the filing is pretty telling: "Coleman is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect his interests."

In plain English: If these votes are counted, I'll be in even worse trouble than I am already.

Late Update: The state Supreme Court has referred this lawsuit to the election-contest court, essentially agreeing with Coleman's lawyers on one of their points. Note that this action does not comment on the merits of the voters who filed the suit -- they simply agreed as to what the proper venue is for examining this.

Some bad news for Florida (and national) Democrats: State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has announced that she isn't running for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring GOPer Mel Martinez.

Had she entered the primary, Sink would have started out as the immediate frontrunner and probably a slight favorite for the general election, too. Rep. Kendrick Meek is running in the Democratic primary, and is currently the only announced candidate from either party. Meek could very well be a strong candidate -- and at least one other Dem, state Sen. Dan Gelber, is indicating he'll be getting in, too -- but Sink would have started out in an even better position.

So far both parties have managed to lose a top potential recruit for this seat: Sink on the Dem side, and Jeb Bush for the Republicans.

The Senate has answered Norm Coleman on his requests to reopen his offices: You may in fact reopen -- for the purposes of cleaning out your desk.

Coleman had been arguing that the closure of his office after his term expired was hurting Minnesota, as his staff was unable to help constituents while the seat stayed vacant. The Senate has responded by allowing Coleman to reopen until February 4, so that his staffers can gather up the pending constituent-service cases and transfer them to the remaining members of the state's Congressional delegation.

Of course, the underlying reason that the seat is vacant right now, and Minnesota therefore lacking in full constituent services, is that Coleman is keeping Al Franken's win bottled up in court, and he and the Senate GOP are objecting to any provisional seating. But it's good to see that Minnesotans' needs are being addressed to at least some extent.

Obama Promises Entitlement Reform, Action On Health Care
In an interview with the Washington Post editorial board, Barack Obama promised that his administration will make tough choices on entitlement spending. "Social Security, we can solve," said Obama. "The big problem is Medicare, which is unsustainable...We can't solve Medicare in isolation from the broader problems of the health-care system."

Obama Hitting The Sort-Of Campaign Trail For Stimulus Plan
Barack Obama is holding an event today in the Cleveland suburb of Bedford Heights, Ohio, where he'll be touring a factory that makes parts for wind turbines, in order to promote his economic stimulus plan. His meeting with factory workers to discuss the benefits of his plan is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET.

Biden's Senate Replacement To Be Sworn In Today
Senator-Designate Ted Kaufman (D-DE) is set to be sworn in today as Joe Biden's replacement. A political unknown, Kaufman served as Biden's Senate chief of staff from 1973-1994, and will only serve as a caretaker and not seek a full term in 2010 -- at which time Biden's son Beau is expected to run for the seat.

Steve King: Obama Can Say "Hussein," But I Can't
In an interview with Politico, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) criticized Barack Obama for saying he will use his middle name when he is sworn into office. King says it's a double standard that people on the right are attacked for referring to "Barack Hussein Obama," but Obama can do it himself: "Is that reserved just for him, not his critics?"

Blago Won't Attend Inaugural
Rod Blagojevich's office says he will not be attending Barack Obama's inauguration next week. Under most circumstances, it would be considered unusual for a governor to not attend the inauguration of his state's favorite son as president, but Blago's spokesman said the governor does not want to be a distraction.

With Small Numbers, House GOP Whip No Longer Whipping
The Hill reports that House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) is refocusing his job away from counting votes and ensuring party loyalty -- the official job of the whip -- and branching out into formulating policies and a party message. The reason: With only 178 members and having lost the presidency, House Republicans aren't in a position to win many votes.

GOPer Has Big Money For Virginia Gubernatorial Race
The new year-end fundraising reports from the candidates for governor of Virginia show that Republican nominee Bob McDonnell has more than $2 million in cash on hand. In the three-way Democratic primary field, state Sen. Creigh Deeds leads with $891,000, former state Del. Brian Moran has $770,000 on hand, Terry McAuliffe has $718,000 on hand -- an impressive amount, considering Terry only just recently got in the race.

Do Republicans think they could actually lose a seat in Texas, of all places?

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) has taken another major step towards running for governor, The Hill reports, transferring nearly $8 million from her federal account into a state fund. Hutchison has also left the door open to resigning later this year, way ahead of the gubernatorial election itself. And John Cornyn, as both her co-Senator and as head of the NRSC, has been asking her not to do this, as it would set up a special election that could potentially give the Democrats their 60th seat.

One Texas Republican source seemed surprisingly concerned, telling Election Central that the state Dems are "going through a bit of a renaissance," and have two decent candidates lined up for the eventual Senate race in Houston Mayor Bill White and former Comptroller John Sharp.

"If Sharp and Bill White come back, there will be national Democratic Party money put back in Texas, and I think Republicans are gonna have to be on their A-game," the source said. "And that's something we will always fight to achieve, but gone are the days when Democrats would put up sort of B-team officials."

Read more »

While the Senate has decided to hand over the rest of the $700 billion to Barack Obama, the House has only started debating its bill imposing oversight and restrictions on the money.

I sound like a broken record, but it's a shame that the Senate didn't take up its own bill setting conditions on the new administration as it spends the cash. Especially since one of the two amendments adopted this afternoon was Rep. Patrick Murphy's (D-PA) plan to require the Federal Reserve to reveal the mysterious terms and contracts governing its purchase of mortgage-backed securities.

"We are only just starting to get details about the contracts with the Troubled Asset Relief Program and that is only after the threat of a subpoena - we cannot let history repeat itself," Murphy said after his amendment was unanimously approved.

Too bad such a good plan won't have the force of law because the Senate won't pass its own oversight bill!

Is it weird that I'm happy about this news? The progressive blogosphere will have Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) -- he of the lunchtime slide shows on STDs and the decent Elton John impression -- to kick around on the Judiciary Committee.

Earlier this week I mentioned the committee crunch that could have ejected Coburn from the powerful Judiciary panel. But Coburn just confirmed to me that fellow pro-lifer Sen. San Brownback (R-KS), who is readying a likely gubernatorial run in 2010, has agreed to step aside from Judiciary so the Oklahoma senator can stay.

Senators are politicians, after all, so it's not surprising that they love their schmoozing time. Today was no exception, as the vote to release bailout money to the president-elect became a veritable smorgasboard of senatorial socializing.

New Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) was welcomed heartily by members of both parties on his first day as an official member. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) pointed happily to Burris' new senatorial pin (which they wear on their lapels during every session day) and playfully brushed the shoulder of his dark suit. Burris voted to give his senatorial predecessor, Barack Obama, $350 billion of bailout authority.

North Carolina's ideologically disparate senators, newcomer Kay Hagan (D) and Richard Burr (R), huddled together on the Democratic side, while Vice President-elect Joe Biden (D-DE), Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) accepted valedictories for what could be their last vote before joining the Obama Cabinet.

The Senate just voted down a resolution that would have prevented Barack Obama from tapping the remaining $350 billion of the financial bailout. The final vote was 42-52, and there were vote-switchers galore since the chamber last agreed to give a boatload of cash to George Bush's Treasury Department.

Read more »

The White House has released excerpts from President Bush's prepared farewell address tonight. The snippets we have seen so far reveal a president concerned with his historical legacy, aware that his place in public opinion right now is simply horrific -- and who wants to make his case.

Bush will go out by reminding us of a very important fact about his presidency -- 9/11:

As the years passed, most Americans were able to return to life much as it had been before 9/11. But I never did. Every morning, I received a briefing on the threats to our Nation. And I vowed to do everything in my power to keep us safe.

...

There is legitimate debate about many of these decisions. But there can be little debate about the results. America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil.

Bush acknowledges that he has made some unpopular decisions, and that some things didn't work out well. But he asks Americans to remember that he made the tough calls:

Like all who have held this office before me, I have experienced setbacks. There are things I would do differently if given the chance. Yet I have always acted with the best interests of our country in mind. I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions.

Late Update: The full text of Bush's speech is available here.

You remember the mind-blowing New York Times reporton the Pentagon's program of seeding compliant military pundits on TV to promote the Iraq war, right? The Defense Department inspector general's office was required by law to release its investigation on the matter on Monday, but it's been a bit late.

Thankfully, Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) was on the case with a classic strongly worded letter. So now the report is expected to drop tomorrow.

Despite skepticism, even in the environmental community, about the wisdom of the cap-and-trade system as a method for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the carbon tax has never found much favor with Congress.

This is partly because of the T-word, which remains politically incendiary even after the devastating deficits launched by the Bush tax cuts. But the idea is perceived as a dead letter with industry, even more so than the unavoidably expensive cap-and-trade concept. Just listen to Rex Tillerson, the CEO of Exxon, speaking at a conference last weekend:

A carbon tax is also the most efficient means of reflecting the cost of carbon in all economic decisions -- from investments made by companies to fuel their requirements, to the product choices made by consumers.

Wait, what?! Exxon's CEO would prefer a carbon tax? This is undoubtedly a bit of mojo to muddy the waters as a climate change bill begins moving through Congress. But just the same, Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) is at the vanguard of the movement this year, dropping a new carbon tax bill today.

Read more »

The Franken campaign is laying out its response to Norm Coleman's court request for how to conduct his lawsuit against the election result, which would involve a series of five mini-trials to individually test his various claims. Their answer: Let's have a regular trial instead.

In a conference call just now with reporters, lead Franken attorney Marc Elias said the campaign is filing their own proposed schedule that will use a conventional single trial -- which Elias said is consistent with the law -- in which Coleman could call witnesses and present evidence, and then would rest his case. Whereas the final one of Coleman's mini-trials would begin in late February, Elias said his own schedule could end by that point.

The problem here, Elias said, is that Coleman hasn't actually presented real evidence or much of a case so far, and is instead seeking to use these multiple trials as a venue to find something.

"We believe that Norm Coleman has a right to go to court, okay, because that's in the law," said Elias. "We don't believe that he has a right to delay, to use the process of going to court to delay the people of Minnesota from having representation in the United States Senate. Nor do we believe that he has a right to have his court challenge proceed in a multi-phase process that will span week after week after week, in an effort for him to try to turn up a rock some place and find some evidence."

An email invitation to an "inaugural brunch" just arrived in our inboxes. The topic: "What to Expect and How to Project Yourself in the New Washington."

The guests of honor: Mark Penn and Karen Hughes (among others).

Uh, aren't those the poster children for the old Washington?

As TPMmuckraker's Zack can attest, the oversight vaccuum for the $700 billion financial bailout has generated a mountain of unanswered questions for journalists and voters. Thankfully, Democrats are setting the bar a lot higher -- hell, they're actually setting a bar -- for the $825 billion stimulus bill they hope to pass next month.

Overseeing the economic recovery spending, House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey (D-WI) said today, will be a seven-person board composed of assistant secretaries and inspectors general of various agencies. Obey described the board's mission as "early warning of funding management problems" as the bill is implemented in states and towns across the country.

Contracts and data on where the stimulusmoney is heading will be posted online (the hypothetical URL "recovery.gov" was mentioned). But the best part of all: Any member of the public who has concerns with a particular element of the spending disbursement can post their questions for the oversight board to investigate.

When can all this wonderful citizen muckraking get started? Well, Obey said Democrats are aiming to mark up the stimulus (that is, add amendments and debate it in committees) next week, followed by floor consideration by the end of the month.

That leaves only the first two weeks in February for the Senate to finish the plan, and iron out differences with the House, before a final vote around Presidents' Day. If that doesn't happen, no vacation for Congress. Good luck, guys.

U.S. Senator Roland Burris (D-IL) has now been sworn into office.

Burris went to the well of the Senate accompanied by his co-Senator Dick Durbin, and was sworn in by Vice President Cheney, as onlookers applauded.

Congratulations, Senator Burris.

Late Update: Here's the video:

David Obey (D-WI), the House Appropriations Committee chairman, just met with reporters in his bright corner office to discuss the $825 billion economic stimulus bill that was released today.

The most striking message he had was so subtle that you almost missed it: Democrats have learned from their struggles after the 2006 election, when their failure to press a reversal of Bush's war policy left voters frustrated. This time, Obey wasn't making any promises that the stimulus bill would heal the recession. Not even close.

"You have to look at this bill not as a salvation for the economy by any means," he said. "It's simply the largest effort by any legislative body on the planet to try to take action to prevent economic catastrophe."

Read more »

Meet Dennis Peterson, a retired engineering consultant from the Democratic stronghold of St. Louis County, Minnesota, whose absentee ballot was rejected through an apparent clerical error. He voted for Al Franken, and he's now a plaintiff in the new class-action lawsuit from 64 Minnesotans who are seeking to get their votes counted.

Peterson lives in a Democratic bastion, he's donated to Dem state legislative candidates, and he's attended the local Democratic caucuses. It turns out the Coleman campaign vetoed the inclusion of his ballot, under the state Supreme Court's controversial decision to give both campaigns this power over wrongly-rejected ballot envelopes.

"St. Louis County was heavily Democratic. They probably tried to reject every ballot they could," Peterson told Election Central, as he's worked to figure out his situation. "And they had two months to research this thing, so they could probably figure out who was a Democrat."

And likewise, Team Franken had an obvious incentive to track him down and help him.

Read more »

Eric Holder. Tim Geithner. Now, Tom Daschle. All three men remain highly likely to be confirmed to the Cabinet -- but that hasn't stopped the GOP and the media, assisted by the hothouse Washington news cycle, from weaving a pattern of perceived political "stumbles" or "mistakes" by Barack Obama's transition team.

Take Sen. Arlen Specter's (R-PA) opening statement during the Judiciary Committee's Holder hearing today. After noting that his tirades against Holder have been criticized as politically motivated, Specter proceeded to take cover behind the media.

Read more »

Following on its scoop on Tim Geithner's taxes, the Journal reports today on a new vetting problem with Health & Human Services nominee Tom Daschle, a former Senate Democratic leader. It seems that Daschle accepted corporate jet flights from a non-profit student-loan company called EduCap, which is already the subject of inquiries into its tax status.

Okay ... the next question might be, so what? If every prominent Washington figure was hassled for using the private planes of companies under scrutiny, the government would stop running altogether. (Sometimes it feels like that already happened.) So why is EduCap a potential headache for Daschle?

Read more »

Tonight: Bush's Farewell Address
President George W. Bush will be speaking at 8 p.m. ET on national television, giving his farewell address to the American people. Wait a minute -- wasn't that press conference on Monday more than enough?

No Obama Events Today
Barack Obama is holding private meetings at his transition office in Washington, and does not have any public events scheduled for today.

Obama Moving Into Blair House Today
Barack Obama is also set today to move into Blair House, the mansion that has served as a temporary domicile for presidents-elect. The Obama family previously wanted to move in earlier than usual, but were turned down by the Bush Administration.

Today: Burris To Be Sworn In
Roland Burris will be sworn in today as the junior senator from Illinois. This is a great day for Burris, obviously, and a very mixed day for the Democratic leadership -- on the one hand this matter has been settled and they are seating a new Democratic member, but on the other hand they were thwarted in their efforts to block any appointment by Rod Blagojevich.

Senate To Vote On TARP Money
The Senate is scheduled to vote today on a motion to block the remaining $350 billion of the $700 billion Wall St. bailout. Even if this motion passes, it is certain to be vetoed by either George W. Bush or by Barack Obama after he takes office.

WaPo: Geithner Nomination Too Big To Fail
The Washington Post points out that even most Republican Senators aren't complaining about the Timothy Geithner nomination, in the wake of stories about his tax problems, because the alternative is to derail a nomination for Treasury in the middle of an economic crisis. Dana Milbank sums it up: "Put another way, the guy is too big to fail."

NYT: Pentagon Crafting New Iraq Plans For Obama
The New York Times reports that military commanders are drawing up plans for a quicker withdrawal from Iraq than previously planned out, in order to be more in line with Barack Obama's stated policies in favor of exiting sooner. "Various options are being drawn up to give the new president choices," said one military planner involved.

Boxer Saving Committee Seat For Caroline
The New York Times reports that Barbara Boxer, as chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is holding Hillary Clinton's seat on the committee open just for Caroline Kennedy, should she be appointed. "I would love to see Caroline Kennedy in the Senate and I would love to have her on my committee to replace Senator Clinton," said Boxer.

Dick Cheney just conducted a farewell interview with Jim Lehrer, and it was a doozy.

For one thing, Cheney brushed off today's report in the Washington Post about Pentagon official Susan Crawford, who said that a 9/11 suspect was tortured, and dismissed the idea that there was a coordinated policy of torture:

As we dig in and look at hundreds of cases, we may well find a few people who were not properly treated. You know, I ran the Pentagon. I know that you can't absolutely guarantee, at all times, that everybody's doing it the way they're supposed to be doing it.

I can tell you what the policy was; I can tell you that we had all the legal authorization to do it, including the sign-off of the Justice Department. I can tell you it produced phenomenal results for us, and that a great many Americans are alive today because we did all that. And I think those are the important considerations.

Read more »

The Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to hear Al Franken's lawsuit asking that they order Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to issue him a certificate of election -- his ticket to Washington -- while Norm Coleman's lawsuit to overturn the election result is still pending.

The catch: They will hear the arguments on February 5. So Franken will have to wait another three weeks just to argue that he should get a certificate immediately.

Now who knows, maybe the court could end up agreeing to grant the certificate if the litigation is still dragging on by then. But they're content to let the process keep working itself out for a little while longer.

Peter Orszag, the nominee to become Office of Management and Budget chief under Obama, just elaborated a bit on the incoming administration's plans to instill transparency in the contracting process as they implement the economic stimulus bill.

Appearing before the Senate government affairs committee today, Orszag said:

We plan to create a Web site that will contain information about the contracts and include PDFs or contracts themselves, and also financial information about the contracts.

A welcome promise, and one that will surely be a gold mine for us blogger types. Plus, you've gotta love the response from Joe Lieberman (I-CT), chairman of the committee:

Define PDFs.

Rod Blagojevich has been impeached -- again.

The Illinois state House voted today by a 117-1 margin to re-enact their articles of impeachment against Blagojevich. This was legally required because the impeachment last week was passed by the lame-duck legislature, not the new legislature that was sworn in today.

The two legislators who voted against impeachment last week were both lame ducks, leaving the only dissenting vote this time to be cast by freshman state Rep. Deb Mell (D-Chicago) -- Blago's sister-in-law.

The House just passed a $33 billion reauthorization and expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, a.k.a. SCHIP, the legislation that Democrats tried in vain to expand last year only to meet with two vetoes from George Bush.

But now that Bush is gone, and there's no more president to protect, it seems that a few Republicans feel they're ready to support children's health care. Comparing today's House vote count to the roll-call vote in 2007, when Democrats came within about 13 votes of overriding Bush's veto. (There was another override vote that year, and a second in 2008, with similar near-miss outcomes.)

GOP Reps. Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL), Mike Rogers (AL), Mario Diaz-Balart (FL), and Thaddeus McCotter (MI) -- a member of Republican leadership who got picketed over his previous votes on SCHIP -- all voted yes today after voting against expanding the health care program under Bush.

What happened, guys? Was it Obama's post-partisan outreach that did it for you?

Spencer Ackerman of the Washington Independent (a TPM alum) spots one last attempt at relevancy from outgoing attorney general Michael Mukasey. It seems that the departing AG is not too fond of Sen. Russ Feingold's (D-WI) bill requiring Congress to be notified whenever any president is deemed exempt from laws by secret DoJ memos.

We mentioned the president-elect's approval of the Feingold plan on Monday, so it's unlikely that Mukasey's bluster about its constitutionality will have any effect. But for Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, this could be the start of something good. They'll eventually be taking up the nomination of Dawn Johnsen, Obama's stellar pick to head the DoJ's Office of Legal Counsel, and Johnsen's support for the Feingold bill could turn into a reason for conservatives to slow down her confirmation.

With Inauguration Day around the corner, Washington is heavily focused on moving forward these days. But for those who don't mind a little strong medicine to prepare for tomorrow night's Will Ferrell George Bush Farewell Performance, the non-profit group OMB Watch has just put out a sterling report that illustrates the abdication of regulatory responsibility under Bush and its devastating consequences for the nation.

The Bush years may have exhausted writers' supply of negative adjectives, but the failure to use regulatory powers is one misstep of this administration that's not often discussed comprehensively -- partly because the regulatory process itself is so complicated. OMB Watch's report is purposely crafted in narrative form, making it almost a fun read (if you like tragedies).

Barack Obama hasn't been sworn in yet, but he's already hitting the road to promote his economic plan.

The Obama transition team just announced that Obama will traveling on Friday to the Cleveland suburb of Bedford Heights, Ohio. Obama will tour a local factory that makes parts for wind turbines, and will discuss how his plan would help the workers there and others like them by investing in alternative energy.

We might only have one president at a time, as the saying goes. But there's certainly still room for multiple politicians.

The House is about to take up Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank's (D-MA) bill setting restrictions on the $350 billion of new bailout money sought by Barack Obama -- legislation that Democrats apparently don't believe is necessary to pass into law.

The bill is currently in the Rules Committee, that famously procedure-driven outpost that controls floor debate in the lower chamber of Congress. (For a great primer on the Rules panel, read Matt Taibbi's masterful 2005 piece on then-Rep. Bernie Sanders.) As you can see by the rules for appearing before Rules, getting one's amendment accepted by the House ain't easy -- a fact that held true under GOP control as well as Democratic.

As MarketWatch noted, Financial Services panel members weren't given a chance to offer amendments in the committee either. But look at all the damn good amendments that were thrown out there!

Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) would retroactively apply the bill's executive compensation rules to banks that got bailout cash under George Bush. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) would pry out more information from the Fed about its purchase of mortgage-backed securities. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) would prevent companies from transferring stock en masse to their senior executives while getting bailout money.

Too bad that none of these are likely to see the light of day -- but then again, the oversight bill itself is headed for a dead stop in the Senate.

A big question in the Minnesota Senate race has been just how long Norm Coleman and his attorneys intend to fight this whole process out in court. We now have an answer, with Coleman's lawyers filing their proposed schedule for the trial in his election contest -- a schedule that would have the contest by itself last another month and a half from today, without taking into account any potential appeals.

To be specific, Coleman's lawyers are actually proposing a series of separate mini-trials within the overarching trial, testing each of his campaign's various claims of irregularities that unfairly gave Al Franken the win. If this schedule ends up being adopted, and also if the Franken camp were to fail in their current legal efforts to secure a certificate of election in the interim, it would guarantee that Minnesota will be stuck with only one senator for quite a while.

Check out the full list of proposed mini-trials, after the jump.

Read more »

From a release that just hit my inbox:

[Sen. David] Vitter [R-LA] has authored the disapproval resolution that would block Congress's ability to release the remainder of the TARP funds.

After posting last week on the role of Democratic factions in the House's stimulus debate, I tried a small thought experiment: If we took media exposure as a measure of congressional influence, which Democratic group is the most powerful?

Read more »

We now have our first poll looking at the open 2010 Senate race in Missouri, where four-term GOP incumbent Kit Bond's retirement has put this swing state up in the air, showing a very slight early edge for the Democrats.

The new numbers from Public Policy Polling (D) test Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan against three Republicans:

• Against former Sen. Jim Talent, who narrowly lost re-election in 2006, Carnahan is ahead 47%-43%.

• Against Rep. Roy Blunt, who recently stepped down as House Minority Whip, Carnahan has a statistically insignificant edge of 45%-44%.

• Against former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, who lost in the GOP primary for governor last year, Carnahan has a healthier lead of 47%-36%, but is nevertheless below 50%.

The poll has a margin of error of ±3.3%.

It's obviously too early in the cycle to draw any sweeping conclusions. But generally speaking we can expect a very close race given the history of most statewide campaigns in Missouri, and this poll seems to confirm that.

Former Rep. Rob Portman (R-OH) has officially announced his campaign for Senate this morning, running for the seat of retiring GOP Sen. George Voinovich.

Portman brings a few strengths to the race. For one, his campaign committee still has $1.5 million, which can be rolled over into the Senate race. And he remains popular in the Cincinnati area from his 12 years in the House, which could help him in a Republican primary if any of the other other GOPers that have been mentioned -- including former Rep. John Kasich and former Sen. Mike DeWine -- decide to get in.

On the other hand, Portman has some clear vulnerabilities because of his work in the Bush Administration. Portman left Congress in 2005 to be U.S. Trade Representative, and later became the White House Budget Director. In a state where the economy is always the biggest issue, and free trade is very unpopular, expect the Dems to hammer him on this stuff if he becomes the nominee.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) office released the final breakdown of ratios on committees last night, and what sounds like a dry piece of non-news is actually a serious win for Democrats.

After some questions about whether the undecided Minnesota race would leave committee organizing in limbo, Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have settled on a three-vote advantage for Democrats on every Senate committee except Appropriations and Armed Services -- on those panels, Democrats will have four more members.

This means that every time an even mildly contentious bill comes up to a vote -- or a mildly contentious nominee, for that matter -- Democrats can afford to lose one centrist member to the Republicans and still get a win.

The tax-writing Finance Committee and the purse-controlling Appropriations panel are already filled to capacity with Democrats. The new appropriators are Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Mark Pryor (D-AR), while Sens. Thomas Carper (D-DE), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Bill Nelson (D-FL) will get their crack at the tax code on Finance.

Bush: I've Been Disappointed By Name-Calling In Washington
During his interview last night with Larry King, President Bush said he's concerned with the tone of political discourse. "During the course of this presidency, I've been disappointed at times by the silly name-calling that goes on in Washington -- it's really not necessary," said Bush. "I've done my best, though, to make sure I didn't bring the presidency down to that level."

Obama And Biden To Visit Supreme Court
Barack Obama and Joe Biden are headed to the Supreme Court today to privately meet with the justices, at the invitation of Chief Justice John Roberts. According to the Obama transition team, this is the third time in recent history that an incoming president met with the court, after Ronald Reagan in November of 1980 and Bill Clinton in December of 1992.

Biden And Lindsey Graham To Brief Obama
Joe Biden and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) will also be briefing Barack Obama at the D.C. transition office this afternoon, having returned home from their bipartisan fact-finding tour of Asia. The trip took them to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq, and was conducted by Biden in his capacity as a sitting U.S. Senator and the outgoing chair of the Foreign Relations Committee.

WaPo: Geithner Still On Track For Treasury, But GOPers Making Noise
The Washington Post reports that Timothy Geithner continues to enjoy support for his nomination to be Secretary of the Treasury in the wake of the news about his flawed tax returns, but there could be some headaches. Democrats are standing by him, and even GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch says he still supports him -- but on the other hand, GOP Sens. Jon Kyl (AZ) and Jim Bunning (KY) have blocked a request to proceed with his nomination hearing on Friday.

Poll: Bush Will Be Remembered As One of the Worst Presidents Ever
A new Rasmussen poll finds that a majority of Americans say George W. Bush will be remembered as one of the worst presidents ever. Only six percent say he will be known as one of the five best presidents, compared to 57% who say he'll be remembered as one of the five worst, and 34% who say he's somewhere in between.

Cornyn To GOP Senators: Start Campaigning Now
Roll Call reports that NRSC head Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is urging his Republican colleagues who are up for election in 2010 to decide as soon as possible whether they are running, and to start their re-election fundraising and other campaign activities immediately. Cornyn said the message here is that modern campaign environment demands total dedication, or else an incumbent risks defeat: "I tried to lay that out in gruesome detail for them."

Barack Obama is palling around with who, now?

A pool report tonight shows that Obama left his temporary home at the Hay-Adams hotel tonight to go to the home of none other than George Will, for a cocktail party that also included Bill Kristol and David Brooks.

To be a fly on the wall...

The Franken camp has yet another ace up their sleeves as they fight through the litigation in the Minnesota race. A new lawsuit has just been filed in state courts, a consolidated action by 64 voters who say their absentee ballots were wrongly rejected and are now seeking to have them put into the count.

The Franken campaign has not directly filed this lawsuit, but lead campaign attorney Marc Elias mentioned yesterday that they were giving it their support. Does this have a chance of succeeding? Absolutely, because the option of individual voters suing to get their ballots counted was an often-discussed legal remedy throughout this whole process. Now that we're in the contest phase, the Franken campaign and its supporters are really stepping up to compete.

I headed down to the Speaker's Hallway, the ornate alcove at the end of Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) office suite, for a scheduled media availability with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on the economic recovery bill. But Pelosi never appeared; instead, a spokesman materialized to answer a few questions. This is part of the culture in the Capitol -- the best laid plans of press folks often go awry, leaving reporters to wait in vain outside meetings that start late and end later.

The Pelosi spokesman did confirm that a two-hour meeting took place with the panoply of House committee chairman involved in crafting the stimulus package: David Obey (D-WI) of Appropriations, James Obserstar (D-MN) of Transportation & Infrastructure, John Spratt (D-SC) of Budget, George Miller (D-CA) of Education & Labor, Henry Waxman (D-CA) of Energy & Commerce, and others.

That's an impressive list of "old bulls," as influential congressional chairman are often dubbed. Since the House is slated to start "marking up" the stimulus bill next week -- voting on amendments to the legislation and sending it to the floor for a final vote -- does that mean each of these chairman will get to hold their own hearings? Looks like that question has yet to be answered.

Al Franken's lawyers really don't mess around. In a conference call with reporters just now, lead Franken attorney Marc Elias announced that the campaign is filing a lawsuit at the state Supreme Court to force GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to issue Franken a certificate of election, and send him to the Senate.

Elias placed a request with Pawlenty and Ritchie yesterday, which was promptly rejected, arguing that Franken was entitled to a certificate contrary to the conventional wisdom that state law blocks the issuing of a certificate until after Norm Coleman's lawsuit to overturn the result is settled.

Not so, Elias argues, saying that a different section of the same law would actually require the issuing of a certificate in a legislative contest, with its discussion of revoking an already-issued certificate if the contest concludes with the original loser now on top. "So there is a tension between these two provisions," Elias said. But he thinks the provision he's relying upon will trump the other because it is the more specific of the two.

Read more »

The Senate Finance Committee just released a memo detailing the two gaffes that are causing a media storm today over Treasury secretary-designate Tim Geithner.

According to the committtee's inquiry, Geithner recently filed five years of amended tax returns, taking care of self-employment tax bills that it appears he had mistakenly not paid while working abroad for the International Monetary Fund. He ended up paying the bills, with interest, at a cost of $31,536 $43,200. About $26,000 of that total was paid to settle tax bills from 2001 and 2002 after Geithner was nominated by Barack Obama last month.

Read more »

Just talked to a spokesman for Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), a powerful subcommittee chief in House Ways and Means, who wanted to make the congressman's stance on health care reform crystal clear. Although a report last month suggested that Stark believes a major health care bill could wait until early next year, his spokesman reiterated that the congressman is ready for a reform push before the 2010 midterm elections intrude on the political scene.

"Comprehensive health reform is a complicated, important effort," Stark clarified in a statement. "It will take time to do it right, but we ought to finish in 2009 if at all possible."

Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), another senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, just shed some more light on green-energy incentives that could be added to the coming stimulus bill. Stabenow says she's talking with the Obama camp about fully funding the green-collar jobs plan she got (non-bindingly) inserted into last year's budget resolution.

Stabenow already has an impressive 32 fellow Democrats on board with her plan, although the language setting it out the budget resolution is head-scratchingly vague -- a typical feature of the symbolic "reserve funds" that many senators add to budget resolutions with little hope of the provision actually turning into law. Here's the green-collar jobs language, from the final budget:

Read more »

Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the No. 3-ranked Senate leader, just told reporters that Obama economic adviser Larry Summers had his third stimulus meeting with Dems in six days -- this one solely with members of the Finance Committee, which will have first crack at the massive legislation.

Schumer was unsurprisingly effusive in his praise for the Obama team's engagement with lawmakers. When I asked about the progress of energy tax benefits reportedly getting added to the stimulus, however, he made a bit of news. "You'll find a mixture" of existing and new alternative energy benefits in the economic recovery plan, Schumer said. The overall amount of tax credits in the bill, he added, are expected to remain at around $300 billion.

John Kerry (D-MA), like Schumer a senior member on Finance, was more specific. He said senators are talking about a "green lending" proposal to direct loans to worthy alternative energy projects -- perhaps along the lines of Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Zach Wamp's (R-TN) plan to set up "green banks."

Kerry predicted a "significant energy component" in the final stimulus, "literally as much [funding] as I can get." In fact, he's inside the Democratic caucus meeting right now making a presentation on creative energy tax proposals.

As I mentioned earlier this morning, Tuesday lunches in the Senate are always a scene -- except when a president-elect comes to visit. Then they become a total madhouse.

The shoving scrum of reporters and cameramen aside, the Senate's mood was palpable. Remember that trust game, so popular at summer camp and workplace bonding events, where one blindfolded person had to fall backwards into a line of outstretched hands from his compatriots? Democratic senators and Obama are playing it now.

Read more »

I have now had the chance to read through the Franken campaign's latest legal filings, responding to Norm Coleman's lawsuit to overturn the Minnesota election result. Franken's filings have a certain quality that we've seen not only in the recount but really throughout this whole election: Complete and utter contempt for Norm Coleman.

The Franken filings say that Coleman's lawsuit is without any merit, is excessively vague and sloppy, and presents no legally permissible remedies that could actually change the fact that he has lost the election. In short, they say the lawsuit should be thrown out or otherwise taken care of as soon as possible, so that Al Franken can take his seat in the Senate.

Our breakdown is available after the jump.

Read more »

The president-elect is headed to the weekly Senate Democratic lunch meeting today to make his case for a release of the second half of the financial bailout money. It sounds like news -- after all, as the AP reports, Barack Obama is "putting his persuasion skills to a high-stakes test" with today's visit. But what makes the lunch date in itself significant? Here's my take.

Read more »

In the airy, expansive room known as 216 Hart Senate Office Building, the site of many highly anticipated and attended congressional events, Hillary Clinton is in the midst of her confirmation hearing to become Barack Obama's secretary of state.

Clinton is as close as Washington comes to a shoo-in, but that doesn't mean her testimony is without genuine drama. Conservative Republicans on the Foreign Relations Committee -- particularly Sens. Bob Corker (TN), David Vitter (LA) and Jim DeMint (SC)-- are determined to give her as rough a ride as they can, which means plenty of questions about foreign donors to Bill Clinton's presidential library and foundation.

Meanwhile, the media is still casting panel chairman John Kerry (D-MA) in the beleaguered second-fiddle role he assumed after the 2004 election, citing his dashed hopes to head Obama's state department as a possible indication of confirmation tensions.

But beneath the surface maneuverings, Clinton's nomination to State is one of those storied transitions that members of Congress -- no matter their party -- love to guide to fruition. The hearing is packed with members of Clinton's family and has already inspired a look back to Kerry's famous "Winter Soldier" testimony on Vietnam before the foreign relations panel 38 years ago.

When the curtain falls on Clinton's appearance today, the TV cameras and pack of reporters will disperse to the next confirmation event -- one hopes they'll continue talking about the issues that are raised while the microphones are on.

Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL) has officially announced his bid for the Senate, the first declared candidate from either party for the seat of retiring one-term GOP Sen. Mel Martinez.

Meek has a potentially attractive profile for a Senate candidate. He played football for Florida A&M, then became a policeman and later was elected to the state legislature in the 1990s. In 2002 he was elected to Congress after the retirement of his mother, Rep. Carrie Meek. If elected, he would be the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction.

Other Democrats are said to be looking at the race, and the Republican field is still sorting itself out after Jeb Bush announced that he won't be running.

Rob Portman, the former Ohio Congressman who is widely viewed as a frontrunner for the Republican nomination for the newly-open Senate seat, just held a press conference to announce...that he might be making an announcement tomorrow.

To be specific, Portman said he's "leaning toward deciding to run," but also that he needs more time to speak with people around Ohio and make a decision. The decision itself could come as soon as tomorrow.

With GOP Sen. George Voinovich retiring, this is going to be a top Democratic target in 2010. Should Portman actually run, which still seems to be the most likely scenario, he should be viewed as a formidable candidate for the Republicans in this perennial swing state.

Here's a question that, quite literally, kept me awake last night.

Before acceding to Barack Obama's request for another $350 billion of financial bailout money, the House is set to take up a bill from Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) that would require some cash to be spent on foreclosure aid and set limits on executive compensation. But Frank's counterpart in the Senate, Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT), has suggested that yesterday's non-specific letter from Obama adviser Larry Summers might be enough to convince him that the incoming administration plans to spend the taxpayers' money more wisely.

And even Frank (before HuffPo reported it) has already shown his unquestioning faith in the Obama team. Here's what he said Friday while introducing his own bill to provide oversight of the second $350 billion:

[II]t doesn't have to be enacted. It would be helpful if it was. But if the bill passes the House with a large majority, and we have smart and cooperative people in this administration, I'm willing to accept their word that they will act as if it were the law.

Now to my question. How would progressives react if these were Republican lawmakers agreeing to take the word of John McCain -- or any Republican president succeeding George W. Bush? Would the response be universal alarm at Congress failing to exert even minimal oversight powers? Remember how much agita this remark caused?

Even though the resolution before the Senate is not as strong as I would like ... I will take the President at his word that he will try hard to pass a UN resolution and will seek to avoid war, if at all possible.

That was Hillary Clinton in October 2002, before the vote to authorize the Iraq war.

Obama Meeting Senate Dems Today, Will Press On Bailout
Barack Obama is heading to Capitol Hill today for the weekly lunch of the Senate Democrats, part of his outreach to Capitol Hill. Obama is expected to lobby the Senate Dems on obtaining the authorization for the remaining $350 billion of the Wall St. bailout, and it seems reasonable to expect he'll also work on getting his economic stimulus package approved.

Today: Hillary's Confirmation Hearing
Hillary Clinton will be appearing at 9:30 a.m. ET before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for her confirmation hearing to be Secretary of State, and is expected to easily win confirmation. Hillary will reportedly tell the committee: "I believe American leadership has been wanting, but is still wanted."

Bernanke: Obama Stimulus Would Lift Economy, But Other Reforms Also Needed
Speaking today at the London School of Economics, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that Barack Obama's stimulus plan would give a "significant boost" to the economy. However, he also cautioned that other reforms are needed for the financial system, and that a fiscal stimulus alone isn't likely to produce a lasting recovery.

NYT: Closing Gitmo Will Take A While
The New York Times reports that Barack Obama's plans to close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay will face numerous logistical difficulties: "One transition official said the new administration expected that it would take several months to transfer some of the remaining 248 prisoners to other countries, decide how to try suspects and deal with the many other legal challenges posed by closing the camp."

Obama Transition Team: He Looks Forward To Working With Burris
Obama transition team spokesman Dan Pfeiffer released this statement last night, welcoming Roland Burris to Washington: "As the President-elect has said repeatedly, he knows Roland Burris and has high regard for him. He looks forward to working with Senator Burris and the rest of the United States Senate to rebuild our economy and meet the great challenges of our time."

Obama Will Address House GOP In A Few Weeks
The Hill reports that Barack Obama has accepted an invitation to address the House Republican caucus a few weeks after being inaugurated. "We hope this will be the beginning of a positive working relationship with House Republicans at the start of your administration," the GOP leadership wrote in their invitation.

Cheney Writing A Book
Dick Cheney told Sean Hannity yesterday that he's writing a book about his experiences in public services. "I've got 40 years since I came to town to stay 12 months," Cheney said. "I've got a lot of stories to tell. And a few scores to settle."

To Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), health care reform is the great "unrequited love" of progressives. "It goes back to Harry Truman," he told me during a sit-down interview today. "Every 15 years or so, there's an effort to fix health care. Every time, progressives have said, 'This is the moment, my dream of universal health care will be achieved!' ... Something goes wrong, and it goes by the boards."

His realistic assessment of health care's progress during the past half-century made his prediction for 2009 all the more remarkable: Wyden believes there is "a real path to 65 to 70 votes" in the Senate for a health bill that gives all Americans access to "good-quality, affordable coverage".

In fact, he added, major health reform could receive a vote in Congress by the summer. So is it really time for progressives to start believing in love again? Or should we heed Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), another influential lawmaker on health care, when he says health care should wait until next year?

Read more »

I know I wasn't the only one troubled by the president-elect's interview with ABC News yesterday, when he was asked about adopting a uniform, torture-free military interrogation standard and replied (emphasis mine): "...And if our top army commanders feel comfortable with interrogation techniques that are squarely within the boundaries of rule of law..."

But this is certainly a good sign. From Politico:

Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) said he's been informed that President Obama will support his proposed legislation to make public some opinions from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which issued some of the Bush Administration's most sweeping claims of executive power. Obama also has promised to limit President Bush's practice of using "signing statements" to amend legislation.

Here's a link to the Library of Congress' summary of Feingold's bill, which was passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last year with one cosponsor -- brace yourselves, liberals, it was the oft-maligned Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). The legislation would essentially require Congress to be notified when any justice department releases a legal memo interpreting the constitutionality of federal statutes or exempting the president from any newly passed law.

Coming three days after the Bush DoJ's Office of Legal Counsel released a last gasp of abusive, ill-advised, law-stretching secret memos, this is a welcome sign.

The three judges who will be presiding over Norm Coleman's lawsuit to contest the Minnesota election result were just appointed this evening, hailing from all over the state both geographically and in terms of their political backgrounds:

• Judge Elizabeth Hayden from Stearns County (St. Cloud), an appointee of former Democratic Gov. Rudy Perpich.

• Judge Kurt Marben of Pennington County, in the state's rural northwest, an appointee of former Gov. Jesse Ventura.

• Judge Denise Reilly of Hennepin County (Minneapolis), who was first appointed by former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson.

The appointments were made by state Supreme Court Justice Alan Page.

This proceeding will use a three-judge panel format. This is for a good reason: A single judge would be too powerful to decide matters of law and fact in a case like this, while on the other hand a jury would obviously be a very flawed way to solve a disputed election.

Roland Burris just held a press conference to mark the acceptance of his appointment by the Senate Democratic leadership, in which he was very much gracious and magnanimous in his victory.

• Burris thanked Harry Reid and Dick Durbin for working with him through this whole process: "It will be my honor to both serve with them and to learn from them."

• He discussed how much he personally likes and respects Sec. of State Jesse White, and urged his own supporters to not hold any grudges against White or others who held up the appointment: "They should not be faulted for doing their best to serve our state in the best way they thought possible."

• And to the people of Illinois who didn't like the appointment and the whole scandal surrounding it, he promised to work hard on their behalf. "It's always the darkest before the dawn," Burris said. "I believe that dawn is here, and brighter days are ahead."

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) gets results! The director of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, Martin Sullivan, has just written back to Sanders' plea for a little logical cohesion in the caption hanging beneath the museum's new portrait of George W. Bush.

The portrait's caption, describing the Bush era, originally said that the 9/11 attacks "led to" the war in Iraq. After Sanders pointed out the obvious flaw in that causal correlation -- Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 -- Sullivan replied: "Our intention was to remind viewers of the portrait that the listed events were defining moments in the Bush presidency, within the limited space of an object label. I appreciate your concern, however, about the words 'led to.' We will revise the label and delete the words 'led to.'"

Score one for historical accuracy. Now where's that Bush Truth & Reconciliation Commission?

You gotta love the candidates for RNC chair.

Gay-rights activist and talk-radio host Michelangelo Signorile has posted an amusing piece of audio of Ken Blackwell during the Republican National Convention, telling Signorile that homosexuality is a compulsion that can be "restrained," and he's quite confident he would be able to suppress it within himself -- though of course he's never had any sort of problem like that.

"I've never had to make the choice because I've never had the urge to be other than a heterosexual," Blackwell said, "but if in fact I had the urge to be something else I could have in fact suppressed that urge."

(Via The Hill)

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) knows how to build health care coalitions. From his seat on the Senate Finance Committee, he has watched the major health debates of the past decade -- from the 1994 Clinton flame-out onwards -- play out from the front row. His Healthy Americans Act helped lay the groundwork for Barack Obama's post-partisan movement on health reform by getting conservatives, progressives, and corporate interests together on a proposal to break the mold of traditional insurance. So he's got a pretty authoritative take on the health care proposals that are headed for inclusion in the stimulus bill.

"If there can be two good wins on health care early," he told me during a sit-down interview in his office today, "on SCHIP and COBRA for the uninsured, it's a bit of a down payment in terms of broader reform. It can build on that -- on Democrats and Republicans finding common ground."

Wyden added that reforming health information technology, allowing all Americans to have an electronic medical record within five years, is also on track to be part of the stimulus, for one simple reason: "It's a job creator."

Read more »

Harry Reid and Dick Durbin have just released a statement confirming that Roland Buriss' appointment to the Senate now meets all legal requirements, and he will be seated in an orderly fashion later this week.

Full statement after the jump.

Read more »

Word in the Senate is that Roland Burris' future may be decided today. His legal team has been huddling this afternoon with the Secretary of the Senate -- whose offices, for better or for worse, are next-door to the press gallery. No questions have been taken from the press so far, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) may be pushed to make it official with the would-be senator from Illinois as soon as he finishes meeting with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon.

With Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) now having announced that he's retiring from his Senate seat in this big swing state, both parties have some decent rosters of potential candidates for the race in 2010.

An Ohio Dem source walked us through the list of people who are contemplating the race on that side:

• Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, who was the party's nominee for governor in 1998 and also served as state Attorney General in the early 1990s.

• Rep. Tim Ryan, who has represented Youngstown since 2002.

• Rep. Zack Space, who was elected to deep-red House seat in 2006.

• Rep. Betty Sutton, who was elected in 2006 to the Akron-based district formerly represented by Sen. Sherrod Brown.

• Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who has represented Toledo since 1982.

• Even Rep. Dennis Kucinich has been spreading his name around. "Look, he always runs for president," the source pointed out.

Read more »

Minnesota Sec. of State Mark Ritchie has just released a statement in response to the Franken campaign's request for a certificate of election to be issued today, which would send Franken to the Senate while Norm Coleman pursues his legal challenge to the election result.

The answer is a definite "No":

"Minnesota law is very clear on when a certificate of election can be issued. Neither the governor nor I may sign a certificate of election in the U.S. Senate race until all election contests have reached a final determination. Even if the governor issues a certificate of election prior to the conclusion of the contest phase, I will not sign it."

So unless Franken goes to court and can succeed in convincing a judge to order a certificate to be signed, he's out of luck for the weeks or months that this litigation could take. As we've seen from the haggling on Capitol Hill over Roland Burris' certificate of appointment, no certificate equals no seat.

Late Update: Gov. Tim Pawlenty has also just released a statement, turning Franken down and citing the relevant state statutes. The statement is available after the jump.

Read more »

In response to Friday's post on the political dynamic shaping up in the House over the economic recovery plan, I thought it would help to take a similar look at the Senate. What are the Democratic fault lines that will help determine the cost and the contents of the stimulus bill as the push-and-pull over the package continues?

Read more »

In a conference call with reporters just now, the Franken campaign rolled out their organized response to Norm Coleman's lawsuit to overturn the election result in the Minnesota Senate race, which has bottled up the election result in court: Not only is the lawsuit baseless, but they believe the Governor and the Secretary of State are legally required to issue them a certificate of election today.

Lead Franken lawyer Marc Elias announced that the campaign is sending a letter to Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Sec. of State Mark Ritchie, pointing to federal and state laws that they believe require Pawlenty and Ritchie to issue the certificate, contrary to the conventional wisdom that has held that the certificate can't be issued until after Coleman's lawsuit is dealt with. Not so, says the Franken camp -- Minnesota should have two senators, and the winner of the election is entitled to his certificate.

When a reporter asked if the Franken campaign could go to court over this to force the issuing of a certificate, Elias didn't rule it out. "We don't take any options of the table," Elias said, "and are eager to have Senator-elect Franken receive the certificate that he is entitled to."

Elias made clear that issuing a certificate would not cut off Coleman's legal right to contest the election in court -- it would simply force the seating of Al Franken in the interim. But as for the lawsuit itself, Elias said it was "riddled with error," and that the campaign was filing a motion to dismiss.

Assuming the lawsuit does go to trial, Elias also showed that the Franken people have their own number of issues that they can push in their favor. For example, they will seek the counting of improperly-rejected absentee ballot envelopes that the Coleman campaign vetoed during the sorting process, and they are also giving their support to a lawsuit to be filed today by absentee voters seeking to get their ballots counted.

Any progressives who have felt bile rise in their throats during previous public struggles of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will likely get a kick out of this post on the conservative blog Red State, in which Eric Erickson proves quasi-eloquently that the right has as many problems with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as the left has with Reid.

But No. 4 on Erickson's list of complaints about McConnell is the most interesting: is the Republican leader really "not fighting Reid on throwing [Sen. Tom] Coburn off the Judicial [sic] Committee"?

There would be ample cause for Reid to try to punish Coburn, the Oklahoma Republican who makes a habit of gumming up the Senate works to slow down what he deems excessive government spending. Coburn's quests to delay routine bills -- last year the number topped 100 -- tend to be lonely, but his efforts on the Judiciary Committee have made him a conservative darling.

So it would be a major story if, as The Hill reported last week, Reid tried to cut the number of seats on the judiciary panel in an effort to knock off Coburn. But that's not the case.

Read more »

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has written to the Smithsonian raising questions about the caption that sits beneath its new portrait of George W. Bush. The current wording of the caption states that Bush's term was marked by "the attacks on September 11, 2001, that led to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq." Sanders, bless his heart, points out that the 9/11 attacks -- all together, now -- had nothing to do with the Iraq war.

From Sanders' letter to Martin Sullivan, director of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington:

When President Bush and Vice President Cheney misled our country into the war in Iraq, they certainly cited the attacks on September 11, along with the equally specious claim that Iraq possessed vast arsenals of weapons of mass destruction. The notion, however, that 9/11 and Iraq were linked, or that one "led to" the other, has been widely and authoritatively debunked ... Might I suggest that a reconsideration of the explanatory text next to the portrait of President Bush is in order[?]

If any readers happen to stop by the Portrait Gallery this month and see a new caption, please let us know.

Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) has just made it official: He is retiring from the Senate, rather than run for a third term in 2010, setting up a potential top-tier race in 2010.

Voinovich easily won re-election back in 2004, but recent polling had showed him with lackluster approval ratings. That said, having him run as an incumbent would still almost certainly have been better for Republicans than having to deal with an open seat in a state that just voted for Barack Obama.

Both parties have deep benches in this state. Former Congressman and ex-White House Budget Director Rob Portman would start out as the immediate favorite for the Republican nomination if he wants it, while potential Dem candidates include Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Rep. Tim Ryan. Whoever the candidates turn out to be, expect this race to attract a lot of money and manpower.

Al Franken and Norm Coleman were able to just briefly put aside their legal fight over who actually won the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports, and come together on one issue: Showing support for Israel.

Both Franken and Coleman were invited speakers at a pro-Israel rally yesterday in the Twin Cities area, at which Minnesota politicians from across the political spectrum all made appearances. The two candidates even shook hands.

"You can imagine how rare it is for me to agree with everything Senator Coleman says," Franken said to laughter and applause. Then after pledging to support Israel as a U.S. Senator, Franken joked to Coleman: "That's something we might disagree on."

Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, proposed on Friday to impose new limits on companies receiving funds under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (a.k.a. "the bailout"). The Frank bill is poised for a vote in the House this week, timed to coincide with the joint Bush-Obama call for Congress to release $350 billion more in bailout money.

But what's this? While the Frank bill moves towards passage, Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) suggests that a letter of assurances from the incoming Obama administration, detailing its promises for responsible use of the bailout cash, could be enough to alleviate Dems' concerns.

From the Politico:

Dodd said he's prepared to draft legislation, mirroring a bill proposed by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) last week, to call for a broadening of the TARP program and for more oversight, but he said that a letter from Obama's team - instead of additional legislation - could be sufficient to alleviate concerns in Congress.

"The Obama administration wants to rebrand this process," he said. "They realize it has been terribly mismanaged, they realize in order to be effective in assisting our credit markets to get them unclogged and moving again, this program has to be far better run than it has been.

Now, I'm not suggesting that the Obama administration harbors nefarious intentions to renege on its promises for stricter conditions on the second half of the TARP money. But a letter, no matter how well-intentioned, lacks the force of law -- and as Democrats take care to underscore their independence from Obama, they'd be well-served to make sure their oversight goals are set in stone.

Obama Reworking TARP To Reduce Foreclosures -- And Win Over Congress
The Wall St. Journal reports that the Obama transition team is working some key new conditions into the Wall St. bailout, in order to win Congressional authorization for the remaining $350 billion. The bailout would now place new restrictions on recipients, and funds would also be used for additional purposes such as preventing foreclosures.

Obama Meeting With Calderon Today
Barack Obama is meeting in Washington today with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, a customary practice for presidents-elect before their inauguration. A big topic of discussion will reportedly be the Mexico drug war.

Bush Holding Final Press Conference
President Bush is holding a 9:15 a.m. press conference today, which is believed to be his final presser before leaving office.

Voinovich Expected To Announce Retirement
Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) is expected to announce today that he won't be running for a third term in 2010. The new development sets up this big swing state for what should be a very heated open-seat race.

Today: Burris' Lawyers In Washington
Roland Burris' attorneys will be in Washington today to press the Senate leadership on the legality of Burris' appointment to the Illinois Senate seat. This comes after Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White issued a certified copy of Burris' certificate of appointment -- though he did not sign the appointment itself -- and after the state Supreme Court declared that the appointment was legal under Illinois law regardless of White's signature.

The Forecast For Inauguration Day: Cold, But Dry
The weather forecast for January 20, Inauguration Day, currently predicts temperatures in the high 30s in Washington, with sunny skies and no precipitation. The New York Times points out that this is comparable to the sunny and cold weather for Bill Clinton's two inaugurals, and better than the foggy or icy weather that George W. Bush had for his two events.

WaPo: The Audacity Of Terry
The Washington Post reports that Terry McAuliffe's candidacy for governor of Virginia seems to be going against just about every fundamental assumption of state politics: "that successful candidates must have deep roots in Virginia, that they must spend years cultivating support in local and state party organizations and that, if they are Democrats, they must stay connected with conservative-minded Virginians by keeping their distance from the national party."

Obama Economic Adviser Promotes Stimulus Plan On YouTube
The Obama transition team has posted this new YouTube video featuring Christina Romer, who will be Obama's chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, to promote Obama's stimulus plan:

Back in 2007 and 2008, the Obama campaign was noted for the ways it used the Internet to reach out to voters and spread its message. Now that he's won the election, the incoming Obama Administration is still using the new medium to push its policies.

Obama Shows Reluctance On Investigating Bush White House On Torture
In an interview on ABC's This Week, Barack Obama seemed to indicate that his administration won't be investigating the Bush White House for crimes related to torture, wiretapping and other offenses:

"We're still evaluating how we're going to approach the whole issue of interrogations, detentions, and so forth. And obviously we're going to be looking at past practices and I don't believe that anybody is above the law. On the other hand I also have a belief that we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards. And part of my job is to make sure that for example at the CIA, you've got extraordinarily talented people who are working very hard to keep Americans safe. I don't want them to suddenly feel like they've got to spend all their time looking over their shoulders and lawyering up."

Biden Visits Afghanistan
Joe Biden visited Afghanistan on Saturday, meeting with President Hamid Karzai and military leaders. He also visited the southern Afghanistan region, a Taliban stronghold. "I am very interested in what becomes of this region because it affects us all," Biden said in a statement.

Coleman Campaign Swamps Counties With Document Requests
The Star Tribune reports that county election officials in Minnesota are being overwhelmed with requests from Norm Coleman's lawyers, who are looking for documents such as approved absentee ballot envelopes and precinct voting rosters, in their effort to subtract votes from Al Franken and add votes for Norm Coleman. "You're talking 30,000, 40,000 pages of documents," said Stearns County (St. Cloud) elections chief Dave Walz -- and he was just talking about his county alone.

Bush: GOP Shouldn't Change Philosophy -- But Needs To Change Messengers
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, President Bush said that Republicans must avoid being seen as the anti-immigrant party if they want to be viable, and also that they shouldn't deviate from an anti-tax and pro-military platform. "We shouldn't change our philosophy," said Bush. "We may want to change our messaging. We definitely want to change messengers. We need a new group of leaders."

Caroline Kennedy Meets With Paterson
The New York Times reports that Caroline Kennedy and David Paterson met on Saturday, their first formal discussion about Hillary Clinton's Senate seat. Paterson has already met with other people who are interested in the seat, including Reps. Steve Israel and Carolyn Maloney, plus Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, and his office told the Times that he will be holding more meetings in the coming days.

Biden Officially Resigning From Senate, Effective Thursday
Joe Biden has officially tendered his resignation from the Senate, effective at 5 p.m. ET on January 15. Biden was sworn in for his seventh term just this past Saturday, choosing to remain a Senator for just a short while longer before becoming vice president -- for example, staying in the Senate enabled him to go on his current tour of Asia.