Stephen Dinan

Defiant Blagojevich names Obama successor

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday defiantly anointed his own replacement for Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat, raising the stakes for a constitutional showdown with lawmakers.

December 31, 2008

Democrats say Blagojevich Senate pick unwelcome

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday named a former state attorney general to fill the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, igniting a racially-tinged fight among Democrats over the appointment.

December 30, 2008

Bush, Obama hail our history

They differ markedly on policies, but President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama both struck the same note in their Christmas weekend radio addresses.

December 25, 2008

Bush withdraws N.Y. builder’s pardon

In what may be an unprecedented step, President Bush on Wednesday revoked a pardon he granted just a day earlier to a man whose family contributed heavily to Republicans this year.

December 25, 2008

Obama met with feds over Blagojevich investigation

UPDATED: President-elect Barack Obama has been interviewed by federal authorities in connection with the arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but an internal inquiry has found no inappropriate contacts by Mr. Obama or anyone else on his team, according to a report the presidential transition team released Tuesday.

December 23, 2008

Biden vows no pet project in stimulus bill

Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Tuesday that the new administration will not allow Washington pork-barrel projects into its planned stimulus spending bill, which the transition team has said could reach nearly $1 trillion.

December 23, 2008

Obama contact report due Tuesday

President-elect Barack Obama has promised an open transition but, federal open records laws do not apply to his transition team - meaning deliberations, meetings with interest groups or even e-mail communications between his staffers and Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich are only as open as Mr. Obama wants them to be.

December 23, 2008

Obama names climate change experts to posts

President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday said he will "once again put science at the top of our agenda" and announced a science and technology team that continues Mr. Obama's vow to tackle global warming.

December 20, 2008

Automakers get bailout with strings

President Bush said Friday that he will offer a $17.4 billion government loan to bail out automakers and force them to modernize, but the United Auto Workers union said it will push Democrats in Congress to drop some of the conditions Mr. Bush wants to impose.

December 20, 2008

Bush spells out the auto restructuring plan

UPDATED: Hours after President Bush announced Friday he would offer $17.4 billion in loans to bail out automakers, the auto workers union said it will push Democrats in Congress to drop some of the conditions.

December 19, 2008

Hurdle removed for Sen. Clinton

President Bush on Friday cleared the legal hurdle to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton becoming the next secretary of state by signing a reduction in the job's salary.

December 19, 2008

Obama: Wall St. to get ‘adult supervision’

President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday said he will force "a shift in ethics" on Wall Street and argued for new, aggressive controls on markets as he named his financial regulatory team.

December 19, 2008

Obama vows to rein in Wall St. excesses

President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday said he will impose "a shift in ethics" on Wall Street, arguing for new, aggressive controls on markets as he named his financial regulatory team.

December 18, 2008

Gay man backed for Navy secretary

Some top retired military leaders and Democrats in Congress are backing William White to be the next secretary of the Navy -- a move that would put the first openly gay person at a high role.

December 18, 2008

Blagojevich link stings even rival union

Gerald W. McEntee, president of one of the nation's largest unions, said the labor movement was damaged when the FBI linked a competing union to Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich's effort to sell Illinois' U.S. Senate seat and it hurts labor's push to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, unions' big legislative priority.

December 18, 2008

Obama team clears itself on Blagojevich

UPDATED: President-elect Barack Obama said Monday that his transition team has completed its review of contacts with Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and has found itself blameless, but won't release the findings until next week.

December 16, 2008

Bush shoe-throwing goes viral

UPDATED: It took two shoes to do it, but the lame duck finally has become an Internet phenomenon.

December 16, 2008

Review finds transition team blameless

President-elect Barack Obama's transition team said Monday it has completed its review of contacts with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and has found itself blameless, but won't release the findings until next week.

December 15, 2008

Bush shoe-throwing goes viral

It took two shoes to do it, but the lame duck has finally become an Internet phenomenon.

December 15, 2008

Bush holiday extension to cost $450 million

The outgoing Bush administration has one final gift for federal employees - a paid holiday on Dec. 26, at a cost of $450 million in holiday pay and salary for lost productivity from those who get the day off, according to one watchdog's estimate.

December 15, 2008