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- The Obama transition team has announced a slew of policy directors, the most prominent being Former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle who will also reportedly be head of Health and Human Services and White House health czar. Ezra nails the relevance of the pick: "Daschle signals that the Obama administration view health care as a political problem." Precisely. Wonkish details are intellectually interesting but at the end of the day you gotta pass the bill and that's what Daschle is equipped to do.
- In other transition news, the Obama team has tapped CBO Director Peter Orszag for budget director, and possibly Max Cleland or Tammy Duckworth for Secretary of Veterans Affairs or Secretary of the Army. Obama also appears to be negotiating to keep Robert Gates on as Defense Secretary, at least short-term, and Arlen Specter tells First Read that the Holder appointment would be news to him (it's unusual for the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to be in the dark, historically).
- Hillary Clinton's close to $8 million in campaign debt from her presidential run may become a problem if she accepts a position as Secretary of State, since she'd have to raise funds while serving in the administration, a potential ethics violation. On the other hand, becoming SoS might give her a compelling case to ask the FEC to forgive the debts. In other Hillary news, Ted Kennedy offers Clinton the chance to head the Senate's health care working group if she doesn't go to Foggy Bottom.
- The House Democratic Steering Committee narrowly nominated Henry Waxman over John Dingell to chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Tim explains what this means.
- John McCain has announced that he will run for reelection in 2010 although, as Dana notes, he might face real competition in Arizona from Gov. Janet Napolitano.
- Delaware's Democratic Governor-elect Jack Markell plans on being sworn in at midnight on January 20, which would allow him to name Joe Biden's replacement if the vice president-elect resigns his Senate seat after being sworn in.
- The Minnesota recount begins today and will determine whether Norm Coleman will retain his Senate seat or lose it to Al Franken. Yesterday, Mark Begich prevailed over Ted Stevens in Alaska, giving the Democrats 58 seats for the 111th Congress. In other election remainders, Missouri -- and its 11 electoral votes -- is finally being called for McCain, and Salt Lake City went for Barack Obama by 296 votes, even thought the state as a whole went for McCain by 29 points.
- A Willacy County, Texas, grand jury has indicted vice president Richard Cheney and former AG Alberto Gonzales over use of a detention facility, even though the county has no federal jurisdiction. Will Bunch has the background on the case.
- And finally, in its ongoing efforts to prove that America truly is a center-right nation, Newsweek probes the serious question of whether Barack Obama is indeed the Antichrist. Hey, maybe next week they can do a Q & A with Alan Keyes regarding his quest to get Barack Obama to provide his birth records prior to being inaugurated!
--Mori Dinauer
