Senate to Consider Tax-Cut Bill That Would Add $857 Billion to U.S. Debt

Pentagon official says Rahm Emanuel is 'direct' - not 'profane'
Adm. , who chairs the Joint Chiefs of Staff, didn't have an opinion today on Rahm Emanuel's possible bid for Chicago mayor -- but he did try to change the White House Chief of Staff's image as a potty-mouth. Our colleague Tom Vanden Brook, who attended a reporters' breakfast for Mullen, sent us this: Incisive, direct, engaged, undeterred. That's how Mullen described Emanuel's demeanor at top-level strategy meetings on Afghanistan after a question from Lynn Sweet of the Chicago...

Emanuel plans neighborhood 'listening tour'
Washington -- White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel will kick off his Chicago mayoral campaign with a ''listening tour'' of the city's neighborhoods -- to start when he jumps into the high-stakes race over the weekend. If all goes as planned, President Obama is expected to personally announce Emanuel's departure Friday from the White House -- perhaps the Rose Garden, weather permitting. » Click to enlarge image Rahm Emanuel, pictured in 2008, is due here this weekend to launch his...

Obama to Announce Rahm Emanuel's Departure; Admiral Mullen on Emanuel
White House insiders expect President Obama himself to announce Friday the departure of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, with Emanuel leaving over the weekend for Chicago to start his run for mayor of that city. At the same time that Obama says goodbye to Emanuel -- either from the Rose Garden or inside the White House -- he is expected to announce that senior adviser Pete Rouse will be tapped to be interim Chief of Staff. Don't expect any formal announcement from Emanuel on Friday: he...

Rahm Emanuel, Wimp
This shatters my image of the fearsome, profane, soon to be ex-chief of staff: If Rahm Emanuel is running for mayor in Chicago, he won't be welcomed into the home where he used to live. Emanuel spokesman and close friend Rick Jasculca says the White House Chief of Staff has tried to persuade the couple leasing his home on Chicago's North Side to move out so he could move back in — but the couple said no. He can't simply have these people killed? What good is Chicago-style politics if you...

Rahm Watch: Another Sign He's Leaving Town?
For those keeping tabs, there's yet another sign Rahm Emanuel is headed to Chicago - he's no longer attending an annual event at Washington National Cathedral scheduled for next Tuesday. The Cathedral announced early Thursday morning that David Axelrod will take Emanuel's place at the 2010 Nancy and Paul Ignatius Program, "Governing across the Divide." This is just the latest signal that Obama's Chief of Staff is wrapping up his D.C. duties and heading to Chicago where he's expected to throw...

Rahm Emanuel To Leave WH Post Friday, Rouse Stepping In?
Via TRScoop on Twitter to this Jake Tapper item . Although no final decision has been made because of family considerations, ABC News has learned that White House officials are preparing for Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to announce on Friday -- as Congress adjourns for recess -- that he is leaving his post to explore a run for mayor of Chicago. White House officials expect that President Obama will also name an interim Chief of Staff, perhaps senior adviser Pete Rouse, at the announcement.

Rahm Emanuel Chicago House
Rahm Emanuel may be leaving the White House, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be back in his House. Chicago Sun-Times columnist and talking in the third person enthusiast Michael Sneed is reporting that the tenant Emanuel leased his Chicago home to has no intention of moving out now that the Chief of Staff is returning from Washington. We can only imagine the barrage of four letter words this development has incurred. From the Chicago Sun-Times : “The upshot: Sneed...

Tenant refuses to leave Emanuel's Chicago house
Chicago — If Rahm Emanuel is running for mayor in Chicago, he won't be welcomed into the home where he used to live. Emanuel spokesman and close friend Rick Jasculca (jas-KUHL'-kuh) says the White House Chief of Staff has tried to persuade the couple leasing his home on Chicago's North Side to move out so he could move back in — but the couple said no. As first reported in the Chicago Sun-Times, Jasculca says the former congressman left the House when he went to work for President...

Rahmie Go Bye-Bye?
Will Rahm Emanuel be the latest rat to flee the wreckage of the S.S. Hope ‘N’ Change? Jake Tapper has a tip that he’ll bail out soon . Although no final decision has been made because of family considerations, ABC News has learned that White House officials are preparing for Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to announce on Friday — as Congress adjourns for recess — that he is leaving his post to explore a run for mayor of Chicago. White House officials expect that...

Emanuel Has a Campaign Manager
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel will have a Campaign team ready when, as expected, he announces Friday he's leaving Washington to run for mayor of Chicago.  Unless Emanuel changes his mind at the last minute, which associates say is highly unlikely, he will return to Chicago as early as Sunday to begin to collect signatures necessary to put his name on the ballot next Monday. A Campaign Manager has been hired, aides have a plan to get Emanuel on the ballot, and Emanuel has secured...

Rahm's power lunch
(CNN) - A Washington insider Wednesday noticed White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel lunching at DC hot spot Central Michel Richard with none other than Billionaire businessman Samuel Zell, who serves as the chairman of the Tribune Company - the company that owns and operates Chicago's influential Chicago Tribune. The afternoon meeting fuels speculation over Emanuel's possible run for mayor of Chicago . Senior White House officials have confirmed to CNN they expect Emanuel to step down from...

Obama’s Wars: Book paints Graham as major player
Washington — A new book by The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward describes U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham as playing a central role in the formation and execution of President Barack Obama’s war policy in Afghanistan through his close ties to Vice President Joe Biden, Gen. David Petraeus and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. The book by the former Watergate reporter, “Obama’s Wars,” contains vivid and previously undisclosed portrayals of Graham’s...

You Would Cry Too: In Defense Of Hamid Karzai -- By Joshua Foust
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has come under considerable criticism in the U.S. for his emotional outbursts and cantankerousness. Foreign Policy managing editor Blake Hounshell mocked Karzai recently for crying over the prospect that his son, Mirwais, might leave the country to live a better life. Bob Woodwards newest book alleges that Karzai has received treatment for manic depression and smokes Marijuana -- leading commentators to speculate that the Afghan president has lost...

Rahm Emanuel expected to leave White House
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is expected to leave the White House soon — perhaps as early as this Friday — to explore a run for mayor of Chicago, according to two people familiar with the situation. “Rahm is nearing a decision on whether to leave the White House and explore a run for mayor of Chicago — an announcement could come as early as Friday,” said a person close to Emanuel. “Because of family considerations, no final decision has...

Valerie Jarrett: The real center of Obama's inner circle
The capital is abuzz this week over who would be the new White House Chief of Staff if Rahm Emanuel goes home to Chicago to pursue his mayoral dream. While that's an interesting question (the likely answer, at least on an interim basis, is longtime Hill Staffer Pete Rouse , now a White House adviser), it doesn't tell you where the real power would be in the West Wing. It would reside upstairs from the Oval Office, in the second-floor quarters of Valerie Jarrett . The departure of Emanuel and...

Bob Schieffer: Tom Daschle an "Interesting Choice" for Obama Chief of Staff
While speculation has wielded mostly around senior advisor Pete Rouse as White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's replacement should he run for mayor of Chicago , CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer went on the record Tuesday with another pick-- former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. "The president could do worse than Tom Daschle," Schieffer said. "I'm not in the business of advising presidents on who to hire or what to do, but he would be a very interesting...

Lack of unity could help Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Emanuel, in a run for mayor, has a problem in Chicago wards south of Madison Street, according to a number of black Democratic committeemen I talked to last week. And Friday's report by Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed that Terry Peterson, the prominent African-American head of the CTA and former Daley Campaign Manager, may be signing on to run an Emanuel Campaign, doesn't seem to make much difference. » Click to enlarge image Carol Marin "I've heard no one on the South Side...

The rough draft of a history that's already been drafted
Posted by Paul at 8:35 AM "The Speech [by President Obama on his new strategy for Afghanistan] sounded to me like a slick lawyer trying to sell a dubious settlement to a skeptical. . .set of clients." Power Line , December 1, 2009 "Obama ended up designing his own [Afghanistan] strategy, a lawyerly Compromise among the feuding factions." Bob Woodward , Washington Post, September 27, 2010 Bob Woodward began his career in journalism by breaking stories that otherwise might never have seen the...

That’s no war-time leader
Be very scared about the man who in fact ultimately leads the coalition forces in Afghanistan . Does Barack Obama even understand what it is that he’s got only half a mind to do?  The Compromise option Obama came up with apparently was not advocated by anyone who claims expertise in this area. Finally, (author Bob) Woodward confirms what has been painfully obvious from Obama’s language (including body language) for months. The U.S. President doesn’t much believe in the...

Emanuel Likely to Announce Chicago Mayoral Run Friday
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel will announce as soon as Friday whether he is going to run for Chicago mayor, a source close to Emanuel said Monday night.

Say goodbye to Rahm Emanuel
Multiple outlets are reporting that Rahm Emanuel is set to leave as President Obama's Chief of Staff this Friday in order to run for mayor of Chicago. Citing three sources, CNN claims that Emanuel, who represented a Chicago-based House district for six years before signing on with Obama, is telling colleagues that he's "all but certain" to pursue the mayoralty and that his associates are already assembling a campaign team. ABC News cautions that "no final decision has been made because of...

Rahm Emmanuel - Why So Soon? (It just doesn't seem right)
From Talking Points Memo , where they are feigning confusion over why Staffers are leaving the White House like rats leaving a sinking ship: The word out tonight is that Rahm Emanuel is leaving the White House (to run for mayor of Chicago) and his departure will likely happen this week. I know people have strong feelings on both sides about Rahm. But I must say I find it somehow unseemly and almost bizarre what a rapid departure he's making. Chief of Staff is usually considered a pinnacle...

Morning Must Reads: Pack
--President Obama has a long chat with Rolling Stone . --Vice President Biden doesn'tmince words with the base . --CNN reports Rahm Emanuel will pack his bags Friday and Pete Rouse will likely serve as interim Chief of Staff. --Republicanindependent expenditure groups out gun Democratic ones . -- Linda McMahon inches closer inConnecticut'sSenate race. --The National Republican Senatorial Committee pares back operations in Kentucky . --Attorney General and quixotic...

Sun-Times: Rahm Will Announce Friday
Watch for Rahm Emanuel to hit the bricks running for Chicago’s mayoral mantle this weekend after his formal announcement Friday he is leaving his job as White House Chief of Staff. A top Washington source tells Sneed: “Rahm will end the week leaving the White House, move to Chicago this weekend, and begin campaigning like a galloping horse next week. He is not worried about not meeting a residency requirement. He has had top election experts advising him, and he doesn’t have a...