Minnesota’s other funny senator, Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), has been chosen as a featured speaker at the National Press Club’s upcoming black-tie gala.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune reported that Klobuchar first earned a comedic reputation at the Washington Press Club Foundation’s dinner.

The National Press Club’s 103^rd presidential black-tie inaugural gala will be held Jan. 30. Incoming president Alan Bjerga, 36, of Bloomberg news will begin his term this Friday.

Fox News Channel contributor Juan Williams has some advice for his new colleague at Fox News, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (R), who makes her debut on the cable news channel Tuesday night on a live broadcast of The O'Reilly Factor.

"When [you're] on Bill O'Reilly's show," said Williams, "remember you're not the star ... Bill O'Reilly is."

The counsel came in response to Palin's announcement on Monday that she would join Fox News as a contributor. Williams appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal program where audience members asked him about Palin.

Williams said he was glad she was joining Fox, because "she's a ratings grabber ... and a lightning rod," adding that "both her fans and her critics will watch her."

But he warned Palin not to try to steal the spotlight from O'Reilly: "People tune in to watch Bill [O'Reilly]," he said, "and the guest is often just a foil for him."

Williams also cautioned that the "rapid-fire" style of punditry on cable news could be challenging for Palin, who is "more used to critics from afar."

A new book out this week reveals that President Barack Obama struck a deal with his wife in 2007 in order to gain her support for his run for president.

According to "Game Change" authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, the terms were simple: In exchange for Michelle's backing, Obama agreed to a) quit smoking, b) attend his daughters' parent-teacher conferences and musical recitals, and c) stay home on Sundays.

But is he holding up his end of the bargain?

Obama admitted during a press conference in July that he still smokes occasionally, but not in front of his family. He compared his struggle to quit smoking with that of a recovering alcoholic, saying that sometimes he falls "off the wagon."

"I would say that I am 95 percent cured, but there are times where, there are times where I mess up," he said.

He appears to be doing better on the parent-teacher conferences, having attended five meetings with his daughters' teachers at the Sidwell Friends School in 2009, according to the AP.

Obama is also a regular at his children's sports games, where he stands on the sidelines and cheers with the rest of the parents.

As far as staying home on Sundays, the president seems to have a mixed record. For the past five weeks, he hasn't scheduled any official events on Sundays: the last one was a meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Dec. 6, 2009.

However, on more than a few occasions (when it was much warmer in Washington, D.C.), Obama has golfed on Sundays.

Vice President Joe Biden’s mother, Catherine Eugenia "Jean" Finnegan Biden, was laid to rest this morning at age 92 at a Mass at 11 a.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del. Eulogies will be delivered by Vice President Biden and his sister, Valerie Biden Owens. Reverend Monsignor J. Thomas Cini will deliver the homily.

At around 9 a.m. this morning, President Barack Obama left the Oval Office and walked to the residence part of the White House. It was there he was joined by the First Lady and the two departed via helicopter for Andrews Air Force Base where they boarded Air Force One to Delaware.

Senior staff on Air Force One who will be in attendance at the funeral include: senior advisor David Axelrod, deputy national security adviser Tom Donilon, assistant to the president for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Valerie Jarrett, cabinet secretary Chris Lu, First Lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff Susan Sher, assistant to the president for legislative affairs Phil Schiliro, chief White House photographer Pete Souza and director of the White House’s National Economic Council Larry Summers.

Secretaries Steven Chu, Shaun Donovan, Arne Duncan, Timothy Geithner, Gary Locke, Ray LaHood, Janet Napolitano, Ken Salazar, Kathleen Sebelius and Hilda Solis, as well as Attorney General Holder, Administrator Jackson, Ambassador Kirk, Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Christina Romer, are all attending the service. In addition to the Cabinet members listed above, all were on board Air Force One.

And other dignitaries expected to attend include:  Senators Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), as well as Governor Markell (D-Del.), Leader Hoyer (D-Md.), Ambassador Gitenstein of Romania and former President Clinton.

First Lady Michelle Obama’s White House garden has become more popular than she ever imagined. The Associated Press reported that the South Lawn garden has foreign dignitaries even asking about it when they visit the White House.
 
Mrs. Obama has used the garden to speak about childhood obesity and the good that can come of eating fresh food.
 
Now the garden is protected for the cold winter months, with a temporary greenhouse to help keep crops like carrots and spinach fresh as the temperature drops. Obama’s efforts have also inspired others to start gardens of their own.

Many political insiders listen to the local news on their commutes to work. Soon, they will be able to watch it, which could lead to some accidents on the Washington Beltway.

The Associated Press reported that “Mobile DTV” gadgets are going to be unveiled this spring in the D.C. area.
 
With this type of technology, consumers can watch live local TV shows on a portable device. The gadgets that will be unveiled include a cell phone made by Samsung and a Dell laptop. What is perhaps the best bet for on-the-go Washingtonians is the “Tivit,” which is a device that receives a TV signal, then rebroadcasts it over Wi-Fi so iPhones and Blackberrys can receive it.

In what appears to be another setback for the White House security team, new photos reveal that an alleged party crasher posed for pictures with many powerful lawmakers at President Barack Obama's Nov. 24, 2009 state dinner.

The man alleged to be the third White House gate crasher, Carlos Allen, also posed for plenty of grip-and-grin shots, which were posted on Facebook late Monday by stylist Erwin Gomez.

Legislators pictured with the alleged third White House party crasher include Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

Late last year photos with suspected gate crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi with Vice President Joe Biden and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel were widely circulated on the Internet and on cable news networks.

Michaele Salahi visited to Gomez's Georgetown salon to prep for the November evening.

On Monday, Allen told Good Morning America that he deleted photos of himself at the dinner from his website after seeing the reaction Tareq and Michaele Salahi received when their photos from the dinner were circulated.

Unlike the Salahis, Allen claims to have received an invitation to the state dinner in the mail, a claim disputed by the Secret Service.

Invited or not, Allen certainly rubbed elbows with some famous folks, among them:

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and his wife Jackie 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.)

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) 

Sec. of State Hillary Clinton

Attorney General Eric Holder

Gen. Colin Powell (ret.) 

Senior White House Advisor David Axelrod

The Senate's embattled majority leader is moving ahead with an “African Americans for Harry Reid” event this week as he seeks to weather a political firestorm sparked by his racially insensitive remarks about President Barack Obama.
 
The timing of the launch of the “African Americans for Harry Reid” campaign group, which is scheduled for Thursday in Las Vegas, is coincidental. The luncheon had been scheduled for weeks.
 
Reid has apologized for remarks he made in 2008 that described Obama as "light skinned" and "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." The comments were reported in a new book titled, “Game Change.”

Despite the controversy playing out in the national media, Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile is scheduled to headline the group's launch event in Nevada.  She told The Hill in an e-mail Monday that the launch "is still on, and I'm still on track to go."

The Reid staffer who's number is listed as the RSVP line for the luncheon said her phone has been "ringing off the hook all day" with replies for the event.

Reid's campaign told The Hill that the senator has been reaching out to leaders in the African American community over the past few days. Reid is facing a challenging reelection race this year.

There's also a Facebook group called African Americans for Harry Reid where details of the launch are posted, but Reid's campaign characterized the Facebook group as a "community group," not an official campaign entity.

Reid's campaign would not speculate on how many guests they expect, or how many had been invited. The guest list for the Facebook group is also hidden. The event is free of charge.

H/T: Bob Cusack

More headlines:

Was ABC News duped by third White House crasher's phony invitation?  

New book claims Bill Clinton's extra-marital affairs plagued Hillary's '08 campaign

Read all today's gossip at In The Know

The Congressman whose district includes the St. Louis Cardinals' stadium says he's glad Mark McGwire has finally admitted to using steroids. 

The former slugger came clean today, admitting that he used performance enhancing drugs when he broke baseball's single season home run record in 1998.

Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) says McGwire's confession puts the issue to rest.

"I spoke with Cardinals management today and they briefed me on Mark McGwire's admission.  I'm glad he finally told the truth and has taken personal responsibility for his mistakes," Clay said in a statement.

"He owes that to the Cardinals and to baseball fans everywhere. From my perspective, the issue is now closed and we move on. I wish him well in his return to the dugout as the Cardinal's new batting coach."

Clay had questioned McGwire about possible steroid use when the star was called before a congressionall committee in 2005.

At the time, McGwire declined to answer.

"Like I said earlier, I'm not going to go into the past and talk about my past," he said.