Stephen Dinan

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

Obama names choice for HUD secretary

President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday said he will nominate Shaun Donovan, New York City's housing development commissioner, to shepherd the nation through the distressed housing market as secretary of housing and urban development.

December 13, 2008

Bush’s auto U-turn incites GOP

Republicans angrily demanded that President Bush respect the legislative process after the Senate blocked financial aid to the automakers and the White House said that using Wall Street bailout funds is an option.

December 13, 2008

Automaker bill failure sparks GOP intra-party war

UPDATED: Republicans on Friday angrily demanded that President Bush respect the legislative process after the White House declared it could rescue automakers on its own, following the Senate's block of the bailout measure.

December 12, 2008

Obama says staff is clear of scandal

President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday that nobody in his transition office tried to make a deal with Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich on filling Illinois' vacant Senate seat, adding that he has not been contacted by federal authorities during their investigation of the governor.

December 12, 2008

Obama says he has not been contacted by FBI

President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday morning he has not been contacted by federal authorities in the investigation of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and said nobody in his transition was involved in deal-making with the governor.

December 11, 2008

Bush defends policy of pre-emptive strike

President Bush Tuesday said Pakistan has been told that U.S. troops will take whatever steps they deem necessary to defend themselves, as he defended his doctrine of pre-emptive strikes as part of the war on terror.

December 10, 2008