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AP Political NewsBrief at 6:31 a.m. EST
(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Ill. panel to grill Burris on Senate appointmentSPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) _ Illinois Republicans are promising tough questions Thursday for Senate-appointee Roland Burris on why he accepted a position offered by disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich and whether he promised the governor anything in return. Burris on Wednesday returned from an encouraging two-day visit to Washington, D.C., yet without being able to take the oath of office with the newest members of the 111th Congress. He next faces an impatient impeachment committee.
Obama warns of dire consequences without stimulusWASHINGTON (AP) _ President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday that the nation's recession could "linger for years" unless Congress acts to pump unprecedented sums from Washington into the U.S. economy, making his highest-profile case yet on an issue certain to define his early presidency. "I don't believe it's too late to change course, but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible," Obama said in a speech set to be delivered at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., outside Washington. Excerpts from his prepared text were released in advance by his transition team.
Obama's pick to lead on health care gets hearingWASHINGTON (AP) _ Showing the emphasis that some lawmakers are putting on health care issues this year, former Sen. Tom Daschle will be the first of President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet choices to undergo a hearing. Daschle, Obama's pick as the next health and human services secretary, was to appear Thursday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The committee's chairman is Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
Congress meets to count electoral votesWASHINGTON (AP) _ The House and Senate are coming together in a centuries-old tradition to count the electoral votes from the November election and formally declare that Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States. Vice President Dick Cheney will take a seat next to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to preside over the joint session of Congress on Thursday. In what could be his last act as president of the Senate, Cheney was to hand the certificates from each state's electors to the tellers _ two members each from the House and the Senate _ to be read off and tallied.
INSIDE WASHINGTON: GOP lays down marker on HolderWASHINGTON (AP) _ Eric Holder Jr., President-elect Barack Obama's pick for attorney general, brings to his confirmation hearing next week a dream resume and a bull's-eye target with his picture in the middle. Holder will get a Republican grilling before the Senate Judiciary Committee Jan. 15. Critics challenge his role in Clinton administration pardons while the No. 2 Justice Department official, as well as his failure to recommend an independent investigation of fundraising by then-Vice President Al Gore.
Obama's performance czar has tried to improve IRSWASHINGTON (AP) _ Nancy Killefer, the management consultant chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to make federal agencies work better for the public, has a lot of experience trying to improve the agency taxpayers love to hate, the Internal Revenue Service. The longtime senior partner at the giant global consulting firm McKinsey & Co. has previously worked at the Treasury to modernize the IRS and on a public-private oversight board to push the tax agency to more aggressively pursue corporate and high-income tax cheats.
Ill. sec. of state feels the heat in Burris flapCHICAGO (AP) _ Until recently, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White may have been best known on the national stage for establishing an inner city tumbling team. No longer. After carving out a long career as a steady team player with little taste for controversy or political fireworks, the normally calm, bland 73-year-old suddenly finds himself feeling the heat as a reluctant player in the furor over Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.
Feds say inauguration attractive terrorist targetWASHINGTON (AP) _ The upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama is an attractive target for international and domestic terrorists, but U.S. intelligence officials have no information about specific threats to the Jan. 20 event. An internal intelligence assessment, obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, says the high visibility of the event, the presence of dignitaries and the significance of swearing in the country's first black president make the inauguration vulnerable to attacks.
Richardson adviser worked for firm feds probingSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) _ One of Gov. Bill Richardson's close friends and advisers worked as a consultant for the California firm at the center of a federal pay-to-play probe that derailed the governor's appointment as commerce secretary. Mike Stratton's consulting firm worked for CDR Financial Products to advise on business in New Mexico at the time the company was hired to work on bond deals with the New Mexico Finance Authority.
US supports Egyptian-French initiative on GazaUNITED NATIONS (AP) _ The Security Council failed to agree on action to end the escalating crisis in Gaza on Wednesday, but the U.S. threw its weight behind a cease-fire initiative and Egypt announced it will host separate talks with Israel and Hamas on the proposal. The U.N.'s most powerful body was divided because Arabs are insisting on a legally binding resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of Israeli troops while the U.S., Britain and France want a weaker statement emphasizing that a "durable cease-fire" requires guarantees on reopening border crossings and preventing arms smuggling to Hamas.
Copyright ? 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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