Barack Obama
Conservative Federalist Society Can Expect Its Status to Shrink
Last year, there was a candlelight dinner at sold-out, shut-down Union Station to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Federalist Society, with President Bush on stage and three Supreme Court justice ....... read more
1 day ago
Obama Inherits a Neglected Housing Department
The Obama administration will soon inherit a $35 billion federal housing agency that was a weak backbencher during the housing crisis and moved too late to do much to keep millions of families from go ....... read more
2 days ago
Thomas Daschle to Be Nominated as Secretary of Health and Human Services
Thomas A. Daschle, a former Senate majority leader and a confidant of President-elect Barack Obama, will be nominated as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and will take on a bro ....... read more
2 days ago
EPA Proposal Would Ease Clean-Air Rules for National Parks
The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near national parks and wil ....... read more
3 days ago
As Investment Banking Keeps Changing, SEC Regulators Keep Moving
The usual bureaucratic response to adversity is to rearrange the deck chairs as the ship goes down. But the Securities and Exchange Commission, whose task had been to regulate the now-defunct -- okay, ....... read more
3 days ago
Obama Could Reverse Erosion of Federal Service by Restoring Funding and Reducing Political Appointees
As The Washington Post reported this week, President-elect Barack Obama wrote American Federation of Government Employees in October promising that he would do everything in his power to rebuild the f ....... read more
3 days ago
Obama Team Cautious on Homeland Security Appointment
As Democrats for the first time take over the five-year-old Department of Homeland Security, the watchword for Obama transition aides is caution.
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5 days ago
Obama Courted Federal Employees With Letters Before Election
In wooing federal employee votes on the eve of the election, Barack Obama wrote a series of letters to workers that offer detailed descriptions of how he intends to add muscle to specific government p ....... read more
5 days ago
New Secretary Faces Reforming Under-Resourced State Department
The next secretary of state not only will face the challenge of repairing the nation's tattered image and grappling with an array of global crises and hot spots, but also must solve a problem closer t ....... read more
7 days ago
Hillary Clinton as Mrs. Foggybottom?
There's increasing chatter in political circles that the Obama camp is not overly happy with the usual suspects for secretary of state these days and that the field may be expanding beyond Sen. John F ....... read more
8 days ago
Democrats Benefiting From Post-Election Lobby Boom
Barack Obama spent much of his presidential campaign decrying the influence of Washington lobbyists. In the 10 days since he was elected, he already has had an impact: He has touched off a mini-boom o ....... read more
8 days ago
'Plum Book' Is Obama's Big Help-Wanted Ad
As the national unemployment rate climbs to a 14-year high, a treasure trove of about 8,000 new jobs surfaced in one place on Capitol Hill yesterday. The federal government published the Plum Book, an ....... read more
9 days ago
Officials Guiding the Process Are Named
The Obama transition team yesterday rolled out a new list of officials who will help guide the process, singling out the Treasury, Defense and State departments as its first three areas of focus.
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9 days ago
Latinos and the Obama Cabinet
Latino political advocates, citing the importance of Latino votes in President-elect Barack Obama's victory, are pressing him to appoint at least two and as many as four Latinos to his administration' ....... read more
10 days ago
Group Seeks Web-Savvy, More Open Government
The incoming Obama administration needs to use the Internet to publish reams of new information about federal spending, policies and performance as well as other records that have been increasingly sh ....... read more
10 days ago
In a New Administration, Some Brand-New Jobs?
The intense competition among Democrats for top jobs in the incoming Obama administration assumes there are a fixed number of posts worth having. But it's looking likely that some extremely choice, ev ....... read more
11 days ago
Less Room for Breakthrough Ideas
President-elect Barack Obama is currently mulling one of the largest legislative agendas in modern history. He promised it, and the public expects it. But if the past is prologue, his agenda is likely ....... read more
11 days ago
Still Yearning for Change? Make Sure the Site Is Right.
If you're looking to track the transition to the Obama administration in real time, make sure you're going to the right Web site. It turns out there are two sites called "Change," and they present vas ....... read more
12 days ago
Bye, Partisanship?
Okay, enough euphoria. The first true test of whether President-elect Barack Obama will keep his promises to reach across the aisle will come long before he's sworn in. We'll know when we see how many ....... read more
15 days ago
Under Obama, the Envoy Convoy May Screech to a Halt
You'd think everyone on the Obama team would be celebrating today. But you'd be wrong.
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16 days ago