Political Glance
The appointments are for six years and are potentially lucrative, paying up to $3,000 a day plus travel and other expenses if an appointee is chosen to hear a case. Bush also named two other prominent Republican lawyers to the agency, which attempts to broker international finance disagreements.
Bush made more than 100 such end-of-term appointments to a constellation of presidential boards and panels, such as the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Commission. Like other presidents, he often turned to close aides and top political supporters to fill the last-minute postings, many of which will outlast President Obama's current term.
Bush Faithful Rewarded With Jobs
Mass Layoffs Hit RNC
One week after Michael Steele won a hotly contested race to be the chairman of the Republican National Committee, he has cleaned house and laid off almost the entire RNC staff.
The RNC's overhaul comes as the DNC -- now being led by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine -- goes through a department by department analysis being conducted by new executive director Jen O'Malley Dillon.
Dozens of secret Bush surveillance, executive power memos found; Could be made public
Details about more than three dozen secret memoranda written by Bush Administration officials now sit atop a chart created by a public interest reporting group. The memos track new details about dozens of secret Bush Administration legal positions on torture, detention and warrantless wiretapping.
The chart lists 40 memos that remain secret, along with identifying the 12 that have been made public.
Obama Picks Lobbyist as Pentagon No. 2
President-elect Barack Obama appointed a defense contractor's lobbyist Thursday to become the No. 2 official at the Defense Department, a choice that appeared to break with his self-imposed rules to keep lobbyists at arm's length.
William J. Lynn III, Obama's choice for deputy defense secretary, is a former Pentagon official who now is senior vice president for government operations at Raytheon Co. Lynn hasn't been a registered lobbyist since July, meaning he can't personally lobby Congress or the White House.
In the first three months of 2008, his lobbying team reported spending $1.15 million to influence issues including missiles, sensors and radar, advanced technology programs and intelligence funding.
TVNL Comment: Well that didn't take long. Welcome back to reality.
Obama Stops Bush's Last-Minute Regulations
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel Tuesday sent a memo to the heads of all executive departments and agencies, ordering a stop to all pending regulations until a legal and policy review can be conducted by the Obama administration.
A rule that would eliminate Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains except for those in Wyoming was scheduled to be published on January 27. Now it will fall under review with the new administration.
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A rule that would eliminate Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains except for those in Wyoming was scheduled to be published on January 27. Now it will fall under review with the new administration.
Farewell, George: Boos for Bush as the former President waves goodbye to Washington
It's the sight many Americans had long been waiting for.
Boarding a helicopter yesterday, George Bush and his wife Laura waved goodbye to a small crowd, a simple gesture closing a controversial eight years in office.
Mr Bush had been greeted with some boos from the two-million strong crowd at the inauguration of new U.S. President Barack Obama - a strong indication of the bitterness with which some, though not all, Americans view the former leader of the free world.
For GOP, it's hard to say goodbye
For once-powerful Republicans, there were two ways to get through today's inauguration -- and neither was entirely without pain.
Some, like former White House aide Suhail Khan, opted to stay in town and witness first-hand the historic transition, even though it meant hearing rebukes from the incoming president and sometimes worse from the inaugural crowd.
"The one sorry note were the boos for President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Justice Roberts," said Khan, who was among a group of former Bush aides standing just a short distance from Obama as he was sworn in by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
"And singing the goodbye song," Khan said. "That was uncalled for."
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