Administration

Aretha Franklin and Yo-Yo Ma will perform at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration festivities Jan. 20, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) announced today.

Franklin will perform immediately following an invocation given by Rev. Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, who hosted Obama and former rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at a forum during the presidential campaign in August.

Renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform a piece by composer John Williams, and poet Elizabeth Alexander will read a poem.

"I am delighted to announce this superb line-up of participants in the 2009 inaugural ceremonies, Read more...

President-elect Barack Obama, once again dogged by questions on the scandal over his now-vacant Senate seat, told reporters today that it is "a little bit frustrating" to keep from releasing information on whether members of his team were in contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) about potential appointments to replace him in the upper chamber.

"It's a little bit frustrating. There's been a lot of speculation in the press that I would love to correct immediately," Obama said today at a news conference introducing his picks for secretary of Interior and Agriculture, Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D). Read more...

President Bush plans to create a policy institute at Southern Methodist University (SMU) after he leaves office, the president said in a recent interview with PEOPLE magazine.

SMU will be the site of Bush's presidential library.

"It

President-elect Barack Obama today asserted that he has assembled the best basketball-playing White House Cabinet ever, following the addition of former pro Arne Duncan as incoming secretary of Education.

"I did not pick Arne becase he is one of the best basketball players I know," Obama said today at a news conference announcing Duncan's selection.

But, Obama said, "I think we are putting

Vice President Dick Cheney said today that he expects President-elect Barack Obama will appreciate the broadened executive authority he will inherit as a result of the Bush administration, and that he does not expect the Democrat to roll back the executive power Bush and Cheney built up over the past seven years.

"My guess is, once they get here and they're faced with the same problems we deal with every day, that they will appreciate some of the things we've put in place," Cheney said this afternoon in a radio interview with Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh had asked the vice president if he expected Obama to benefit from the "strengthening" of the executive branch President Bush has overseen.

"We did not exceed our constitutional authority, as some have suggested, but we--the president believes, I believe very deeply, in a strong executive, and I think that's essential in this day and age," Cheney said, according to a White House transcript of the interview. Read more...

Following a request from Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the first confirmation hearing for attorney general nominee Eric Holder has been pushed back.

Senate Judiciary Committee Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced today that the hearing would be held Jan. 15--one week after the original Jan. 8 date announced last week.

"The Committee has not yet received the names of other designees for high-ranking Department of Justice officials that we had anticipated and more time is now available to the Judiciary Committee. Therefore, to accommodate the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, at their request we are delaying the hearing, again, until January 15," Leahy said. President-elect Barack Obama assumes the White House Jan. 20.

"It is disappointing to me that they are insisting that we delay at a time when the nation needs its top law enforcement officer and national security team in place and working. I trust that with this additional time to prepare, they will cooperate in proceeding promptly to Committee and Senate consideration of the historic Holder nomination as Democrats did for President Bush," Leahy added.

Specter, the top Republican on the committee, asked for more time last week, raising questions about Holder's role in President Bill Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) today called on the White House to use remaining money from the Treasury's $700 billion bailout fund to help keep the Big Three in business, after the Bush administration indicated this morning that it would consider doing so.

"I call on the current administration to use any tool at its disposal to keep our automakers afloat including using the authority given to the Treasury Secretary to stabilize our markets and troubled companies," Clinton said this morning in a release from her Senate office. Read more...

President-elect Barack Obama this morning said he's disappointed that the Senate could not reach a compromise an auto industry bailout last night, but expressed hope that Congress and the Bush administration can still forge a viable deal.

"I am disappointed that the Senate could not reach agreement on a short-term plan for the auto industry," Obama said in a statement released by his transition office. "I share the frustration of so many about the decades of mismanagement in this industry that has helped deliver the current crisis. Those bad practices cannot be rewarded or continued. But I also know that millions of American jobs rely directly or indirectly on a viable auto industry, and that the beginnings of reform are at hand. The revival of our economy as a whole should not be a partisan issue."

"So I commend those in Congress as well as the Administration who tried valiantly to forge a compromise. My hope is that the Administration and the Congress will still find a way to give the industry the temporary assistance it needs while demanding the long-term restructuring that is absolutely required," Obama said.

The White House this morning revived hopes of federal assistance for Detroit by suggesting it could use remaining frunds from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) package to help the Big Three.

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's (D-S.D.) old congressional colleagues piled on the praise today after President-elect Barack Obama tapped Daschle to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Obama made the announcement today at a news conference in Chicago, though news of the pick leaked last month.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who took over as the Senate's top Democrat after Daschle was unseated by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) in 2005, praised Daschle's commitment to healthcare reform in a statement issued by his office: Read more...

President-elect Barack Obama's transition team announced today that it will be fielding questions online from inquisitive citizens.

The team launched a new web page today called "Open for Questions," where citizens can post questions on the transition process and vote on which they would most like to see answered.