Politico - Ben Smith blog
Aide: Obama will only 'scratch the surface' of hiring by January 20
The executive director of President-elect Barack Obama's transition, Chris Lu, told supporters on a conference call this afternoon that the transition will "really only scratch the surface as of January 20," and will still be filling administration jobs this spring and summer -- although "there are not that many jobs" for the thousands of hopefuls.
Lu spoke on a conference call arranged for fundraisers and other supporters by the transition, and offered insight into the pace of transition and some of the behind-the-scenes preparations, including plans for some swift policy changes when Obama comes into office.
The transition has "started developing executive orders that the pres elect is considering –not only ones the President-elect will sign after January 20, but also ones we will want to repeal," he said.
Lu, Obama's former Senate chief of staff and a law school classmate, took questions from supporters interested in administration jobs, among others. Lu praised the speed and quality of the transition.
"With 15 days left to go, we’re on our way to having the smoothest transitions in presidential history," he said, giving some credit to the Bush Administration which has "gone to extraordinary lengths" to ensure a smooth process, he said.
"We’ve named, we thought, every member of the Cabinet,– we’re now one short," Lu said, referring to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, whose replacement as Commerce Secretary will be named "very quickly," he said.
Lu told job seekers to "be patient" and that resumes will only be accepted on the transition website.
"There are about 364,000 people who have applied right now for maybe 7,000 political jobs in the administration," he said. "There are not that many jobs."
Saying that Obama is now focused on cabinet and sub-cabinet positions, he said "we will really only scratch the surface as of January 20."
"It will take us well into the spring if not early summer, to fill positions," he said.
Submit this article to The Obama NewsFriction on Panetta
Spencer Ackerman gets a statement from Dianne Feinstein's office:
“I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA Director. I know nothing about this, other than what I’ve read,” said Senator Feinstein, who will chair the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the 111th Congress.
“My position has consistently been that I believe the Agency is best-served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time.”
That seems to reflect the view inside the CIA, and suggests a tough confirmation hearing.
Submit this article to The Obama NewsRemainders: Biden on the loose
Biden heads off on a trip to "Southwest Asia," which typically means Afghanistan and parts of the Arab world, I think.
Charlie Hurt distills some GOP message on Obama's having corrupt allies.
A judge orders the release of Blago tapes.
The Secretary of the Senate rejected his credentials.
Mitch Stewart and Jeremy Bird will run Obama for America and, with Jen O'Malley, likely play key roles in the 2012 reelect.
Psychology Today psychologizes Caroline's "you know."
She's losing ground in a new poll.
Rudy keeps his name in the mix in New York.
Krugman doesn't like all the tax cuts in the stimulus.
Ami Eden weighs in against J Street.
Richardson explains his withdrawal.
Obama's Twitter account gets hacked.
Michael Sean Winters celebrates a pro-life DNC chairman.
Alaska cops claim political interference in the drug case against Levi Johnston's mom.
Chuck Todd's book is coming out.
And the transition releases some more donors.
Submit this article to The Obama NewsDept. of shameless self-promotion
This blog somehow got nominated to the "Best Blog" category of the Weblog Awards, along with the likes of Gawker, Andrew Sullivan, Hot Air, and DailyKos.
So, you know, vote for me!
Submit this article to The Obama NewsA deadline for stimulus
Speaking after a meeting with his economic advisors, Obama offered an aggressive timeline for passing an economic stimulus package, though one not quite as optimistic as the notion of getting it on his desk on January 20.
"We anticipate that by the end of January or the first week in February we'll have gotten the bulk of this done," Obama said, according to a pool report.
Submit this article to The Obama NewsObama silent on Gaza
Obama, asked after a meeting with economic advisers about the Israeli invasion of Gaza, declined to answer:
"I strongly believe that a president or a president elect or his team should be able to do more than one thing at a time . . . and so obviously international affairs are of deep concern," he said. "With the situation in Gaza, I've been getting briefed every day . . . I've had consistent conversations with members of the current administration about what's taking place. That will continue. I will continue to insist that, when it comes to foreign affairs, it is particular important to emphasize that there is one president at a time.
"There are delicate negotiations taking place right now and we can't have two voices coming out of the United States when you have so much at stake," he said.
The Israeli attack is a huge story, and very unpopular, both in the Arab world and in Europe, and so in his silence, Obama is spending down a bit of goodwill there.
Submit this article to The Obama NewsPanetta on torture
The new CIA chief is against it, he wrote last year in Washington Monthly:
Those who support torture may believe that we can abuse captives in certain select circumstances and still be true to our values. But that is a false compromise. We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground.
We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances. We are better than that.
Panetta's appointment, and the choice of Dawn Johnsen to lead OLC, seem to mark a more forceful, dramatic break with Bush's interrogation policy than anything else to date.
Submit this article to The Obama NewsFranken declared winner
The Minnesota Canvassing Board makes it official.
Coleman's staffers, meanwhile, have been locked out of his Senate office.
Submit this article to The Obama NewsWhitman moves toward run
Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who raised her profile on the presidential campaign trail, is moving toward declaring her bid for governor of California, a source close to her said.
The latest step: she just resigned down from board seats at Procter & Gamble, Dreamworks, and eBay
Submit this article to The Obama NewsPanetta to CIA
Obama picks a veteran politician and bureaucrat, Leon Panetta, over the more-often mentioned national security types to run the CIA.
It's a mark, among other things, of the desire to make a clean break with the Bush Administration's interrogation policies, and the difficulty of finding an insider not implicated.
He'd report to a retired admiral, Dennis Blair, expected to be named Director of National Intelligence.
Submit this article to The Obama NewsWhat's going on in Minnesota
In short, it seems: Franken is about to win, formally; but a ruling against Coleman today doesn't mean that he's out of legal options. It just means that his (increasingly longshot) fight now goes through the courts, not through the state's election apparatus.
If Coleman contests the election, that could take a while; in the meantime, Franken has a pretty good case to make that he has "won."
Cillizza and Ambinder explain at more length.
Submit this article to The Obama NewsRNC Chair: Iraq conduct Bush's biggest failure
The Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mike Duncan, said President Bush's early prosecution of the Iraq war was his biggest failure in two terms in office.
“I think we failed in the way that, originally, we were prosecuting the war," Duncan said at a debate with five rivals for the chairmanship. The candidates were asked by Americans for Tax Reform's Grover Norquist to name Bush's "biggest mistake."
Other candidates cited the bailout and taxes and spending. Former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele cited the "failure to communicate on the war, Katrina, the bailout."
South Caroline Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson cited the decision to push Social Security and immigration reform which, he said, "tore our party apart."
Submit this article to The Obama NewsRNC debate
It opened with applause for Grover Norquist; you can watch live online here.
Submit this article to The Obama NewsReady on day one, New York edition
Carolyn Maloney, also campaigning for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, offers a familiar line:
"I've been a city councilor, I've been in Congress for 16 years,'' she said. "I know how to win campaigns. This is a different selection. I have a record to run on. If I'm chosen, I know I'd be ready on day one.''
Submit this article to The Obama NewsA different view on torture at OLC
The incoming head of the Office of Legal Counsel, Dawn Johnsen, is a sharp critic of the office's performance under President Bush, and made the case for a much more muscular, confrontational role in a long law review article published last year.
The appointment of Johnsen, a professor at the University of Indiana, will give comfort to critics of the Bush Administration's torture policy, as her article is cast as an examination of that office's failures to stop what Johnsen sees as "abuses" and "illegal practices" in the Bush Administration's torture policy.
"Ultimately, even with the current Supreme Court’s relatively strong willingness to protect rights in the face of unlawful executive action, coupled with scrutiny from the press and advocacy organizations, the Bush Administration has engaged in years of largely unconstrained illegal practices," Johnsen wrote, making the case for OLC as an important check on executive power.
She has clearly thought a great deal about the office's role, and her central argument is that it served too much as a lawyer for the president, and too little as a quasi-independent advisory body whose advice shouldn't be colored by advocacy.
"In short, OLC must be prepared to say no to the President," she writes, continuing:
If the President desires only a rubberstamp, OLC will have to struggle mightily to provide an effective check on unlawful action. In addition to being prepared to say no, therefore, the assistant attorney general for OLC and other top Department of Justice officials must also be prepared to resign in the extraordinary event the President persists in acting unlawfully or demands that OLC legitimize unlawful activity.
Now, she's the one on the spot.
(h/t Tim Fernholz)
Submit this article to The Obama NewsIllinois House subpoenas Burris
Capitol Fax reports on the ongoing Springfield sideshow: " The [House impeachment committee] has also issued a subpoena that was served Saturday on Roland Burris, the governor’s controversial choice to fill Illinois’ vacant U.S. Senate seat. The order compels Burris to testify Wednesday."
Burris may not make it that day, as he's expected to be in D.C., and last night gave a combative talk in which he said, among other things, "They can’t deny what the Lord has ordained."
Submit this article to The Obama NewsHarvard Law to the Justice Department
It's looking like a lean season for Regent University Law School grads. Obama just announced that the dean of Harvard Law School, Elena Kagan, will be Solicitor General.
Also, from the credentials-heavy press release, which notes that Kagan graduated magna cum laude and was supervising editor of the presitious law review: David Ogden -- a former top Janet Reno aide and Harvard Law grad (magna cum laude, law review) -- will be Deputy Attorney General; Tom Perrelli -- former Reno aide and Harvard Law grad (magna cum laude, managing editor of law review) -- will be Associate Attorney General; and Dawn Johnson (Clinton Justice Department, (gasp!) Yale Law) will run the Office of Legal Counsel.
Obama, himself a product of the Ivy League and the meritocracy, is known to care about these things, having himself graduated from Harvard Law magna cum laude and as president of the law review.
Kagan emailed students and faculty this morning to announce that she'd be resigning to take the job, with a tip of the hat to Obama's degree:
I have accepted this nomination because it offers me the opportunity, working under the leadership of the President-elect and his nominee for Attorney General, Eric Holder, to help advance this nation’s commitment to the rule of law at what I think is a critical time in our history. I am honored and grateful, awestruck and excited, to be asked to contribute to this most important endeavor. And perhaps, for me, it adds a special touch of sweetness to the occasion that the person making the nomination, in whose capacity for greatness I deeply believe, is himself a member of the group to which I am writing.Kagan did add one note of caution: "Now isn’t the time for me to attempt a grand wrapping-up or final farewell; I don’t in any way want to presume the outcome of the Senate’s consideration."
Submit this article to The Obama NewsA rift on the Jewish left
Leaders of both political parties have been, despite split public opinion and wide reports of civilian casualties, more or less united in support of Israel's attack on Gaza.
A rift, however, has opened on the Jewish left, where a top Reform rabbi blasted the words of a new peace group, J Street, as "morally deficient." The conflict is an early test of whether the domestic dynamics, which include a quite weak peace movement, will continue under Obama, and who will wind up speaking most prominently for American Jews in the Obama era. There are some newer, dovish voices fighting for traction, including J Street, whose controversial statement calling for an end to the conflict said:
Israel has a special place in each of our hearts. But we recognize that neither Israelis nor Palestinians have a monopoly on right or wrong. While there is nothing "right" in raining rockets on Israeli families or dispatching suicide bombers, there is nothing "right" in punishing a million and a half already-suffering Gazans for the actions of the extremists among them.
And there is nothing to be gained from debating which injustice is greater or came first. What's needed now is immediate action to stop the violence before it spirals out of control.
The more liberal religious groups, like Reform Jews, tend to map loosely onto more liberal politics and more dovish views on the Middle East, but here Eric Yoffie, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, penned an op-ed in the Forward blasing J-Street's claim "to represent the moderate American Jewish majority."
"These words are deeply distressing because they are morally deficient, profoundly out of touch with Jewish sentiment and also appallingly naïve," Yoffie wrote.
J Street responded by making its claim to represent the American center, and condemning Hamas.
"We are pragmatists grounded in the real world and the lessons it teaches. As such – and as avid supporters of Israel – we are asking whether the specific actions taken by Israel in Gaza actually do advance Israel’s and America’s interests. In this case, J Street believes they do not," wrote its head, Jeremy Ben-Ami, in response to Yoffie.
Obama's transition has silenced the voices presumed to be closest to him -- veteran Democratic policy hands like Dennis Ross, Martin Indyk, and Daniel Kurtzer -- and many of the most frequently cited experts at the moment led by former Ross deputy Aaron David Miller -- advocate putting more pressure on Israel than past presidents have. This, and inclusion in a transition meeting, has given the peace camp, perhaps, a bit more prominence than usual, and the question of whether they'll be players in an Obama administration is a pretty important one.
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First day of school
The Transition posts a Flickr set of the first day of what are going to be a very public four or eight years for the Obama girls.
There's an immediacy to this kind of snapshot family photography -- from a couple of hours ago -- that could help humanize the president as time goes on, or could alternately make public life more like a reality show than it already is.
Submit this article to The Obama NewsPhotographing the president
Obama just chose a White House photographer, Pete Souza, an experienced photojournalist who will be a not insignificant part of the imagemaking apparatus.
He's already published a volume of Obama photography, above, and some examples of his style, some intimate, some iconic, are on his website.
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