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Rahm Emanuel is set to officially resign from Congress this Friday, as he prepares to become Barack Obama's White House Chief of Staff.

Rahm was easily re-elected to a fourth term this past November, before he got the invitation from Barack Obama to join the White House. A crowded field of local Democrats has already popped up to run in the special election. Whoever wins the primary will be pretty much guaranteed to hold this safe Democratic seat.

Obama Holding Presser, Will Announce Key Financial Appointments
Barack Obama is holding a 10:45 a.m. ET press conference in Chicago, where he is expected to announce the appointment of financial regulator Mary Schapiro to head up the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Georgetown law professor Daniel Tarullo for a vacant seat on the Federal Reserve Board.

Report: Obama's Announcement For LaHood To Come Friday
Barack Obama will reportedly wait until Friday to announce that he has picked retiring GOP Congressman Ray LaHood of Illinois to be his Secretary of Transportation. This would make sense thematically, as today's other appointments are strictly focused on the financial crisis.

Today: More Ballot-Counting In Minnesota
The Minnesota canvassing board is meeting today to sort through ballot challenges by the Coleman campaign, in a process that now seems certain to go well beyond their original goal of finishing by Friday. The board will also be considering a complaint by the Coleman camp: That due to human error, as many as 150 absentee ballots may have been counted twice -- but we can't know which ones without serious investigation.

Minnesota Supremes Could Rule On Coleman Suit To Stop Vote Count
The Minnesota Supreme Court could be handing down an opinion today on a Coleman campaign lawsuit to stop the review and counting of absentee ballots that appear to have been rejected because of clerical errors. Those ballots are expected to break to Al Franken for a variety of reasons, so a ruling in favor of Coleman could pull him out of the fire for now -- but a ruling against him would probably seal the deal for Franken.

Blagojevich's Attorney Confirms Blago Won't Pick A Senator
At a late news conference yesterday, Rod Blagojevich's lawyer Ed Genson confirmed that Blago will not attempt to appoint a Senator. "Harry Reid said that they're not going to accept anybody he picks," said Genson. "Why would he [Blagojevich] do that?"

Rahm To Stay Out Of Local Battle For His House Seat
The Chicago Sun-Times reports Rahm Emanuel is unlikely to intervene in the local fight among Democrats for his House seat, in the wake of the controversies surrounding Barack Obama's Senate seat. It's probably a good move.

Newspaper Readers Help Tuskeegee Airman Attend Inauguration
Quentin Smith, a 90-year old Tuskeegee Airman and retired principal from Gary, Indiana, will now be able to attend the inauguration of Barack Obama. When newspaper readers read about his problem -- the inaugural committee has given the surviving Airmen invitations, but Smith couldn't make it due to the very high costs of lodging -- people ranging from old students to a hotel executive all chipped in for him to go.