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Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh will be the closing speaker at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference in late February, the organization announced via Twitter this afternoon.

The conference's website has little detail about other speakers, indicating they will be announced later this month.

But Lisa de Pasquale, who operates the CPACnews Twitter account, also posted that Mitt Romney will speak on Friday, Feb. 27, the second day of the conference. Romney used his speech at CPAC last year to announce his withdrawal from the 2008 presidential campaign.

De Pasquale also used Twitter to announce that Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), Tucker Carlson and Ann Coulter will be speaking at CPAC.

-Samuel Rubenfeld

Another day, another Obama Cabinet nominee facing tax issues.

USA Today reported Thursday afternoon that the husband of Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), Obama Read more...

President Obama this morning signed executive orders creating a White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, saying the answer to the economic crisis will not come from government alone.

"No matter how much money we invest or how sensibly we design our policies, the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone. There is a force for good greater than government. It is an expression of faith, this yearning to give back, this hungering for a purpose larger than our own, that reveals itself not simply in places of worship, but in senior centers and shelters, schools and hospitals, and any place an American decides," Obama said. Read more...

President Obama will sign an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) today at 4:30 p.m., according to the White House, enacting legislation that has been a top priority for congressional Democrats since the 110th Congress.

The House passed an SCHIP extension today 290-135, sending it to Obama's desk. The bill reauthorizes SCHIP for the next four and a half years at higher funding levels.

The House passed a previous $35 billion expansion in 2007, which President Bush vetoed. Democratic leaders tried and failed to override the veto in October of that year.

"This is the beginning of the change that the American people voted for in the last election and that we will achieve with President Barack Obama," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has led the Democratic crusade for SCHIP expansion, said on the House floor today. "We look forward to this afternoon when the President of the United States will sign this legislation."

The Netroots are coming to bat for Howard Dean once more.

Ilya Sheyman, a 22 year-old online grassroots organizer and fundraiser based in Chicago, is pushing for Dean to replace former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D) as President Obama Read more...

President Obama said he "will not tolerate" lavish bonuses and excessive pay to top executives at bailed out firms this morning, upon announcing a $500,000 pay cap for top executives at companies receiving taxpayer bailouts.

"For top executives to award themselves these kinds of compensation packages in the midst of this economic crisis is not only in bad taste -- it Read more...

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" has many elements that have earned it tremendous Oscar buzz, but one of them--its depiction of the city of New Orleans--was celebrated as a star of the film Tuesday night at a reception hosted by acclaimed Democratic strategist, author, and political commentator Donna Brazile at the Acadiana restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C.

Brazile, a New Orleans native, said the film was "great for New Orleans," speaking about the film's importance to the Big Easy's revitalization and its role in remembering the luster of the city three and a half years after the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina. Read more...

Newly elected Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele today named several state party chairmen--including former rival and Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis--as co-chairmen of his RNC transition team.

Wisconsin GOP Chairman Rience Priebus will lead the team. In addition to Anuzis, the team will include Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer, Oregon GOP Chairman Bob Tiernan.

It will also include several national committeemen and women: Henry Barbour of Mississippi (former campaign manager of Mississippi Rep. Chip Pickering and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour), Pat Brady of Illinois, Holly Hughes of Michigan, Bo Palacios of the Northern Mariana Islands, Shawn Steel of California, and Joyce Tehres of Maryland.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), one of the early, leading possibilities to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, took himself out of consideration Tuesday after nominee Tom Daschle's withdrawal.

Dodd is the second-most senior Democrat on the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and is a close friend of the committee's chairman, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). But Dodd laughed off the possibility when asked about his interest, pointing out that he already chairs the Senate Banking Committee and is the second-most senior majority member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

"No, no, no, I like what I'm doing," Dodd said. "I'm still frankly upset about Tom and I haven't given any thought to who his successor would be."

-J. Taylor Rushing

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) has withdrawn his name from consideration for Health and Human Services secretary, MSNBC is reporting.

Daschle has faced controversy in recent days after the revelation that he failed to pay over $100,000 taxes on a car and driver provided by a wealthy friend and business partner. Daschle paid just over $140,000 in back taxes and interest while being considered for the Cabinet post, according to a Senate Finance Committee report.

Daschle formally apologized for the error yesterday to the committee, before which he would have appeared for confirmations hearings.

The former Senate majority leader had been considered a slam dunk when President Obama announced him as his pick to lead the deparment.