White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs Announces Resignation …
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is set to resign in February, reports The AP. While “Gibbs is leaving to become an outside political adviser to Obama and to give speeches in the private sector,” many expect him to return to his 2008 role as President Obama’s campaign spokesperson. No replacement has been named.
… While Obama Nears Choice for Chief of Staff
While Gibbs is set to resign, Obama is close to naming a new chief of staff, a source familiar with the issue told The AP. Among the top contenders is former Secretary of Commerce William Daley, brother of outgoing Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley – and a former lobbyist for the US Chamber of Commerce. Daley was an opponent of health care reform as well as the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, as ThinkProgress reports.
Republicans Remove “Labor” From Committee Name
Under the new Republican Congress, the House Committee on Education and Labor is now the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, according to the AFL-CIO NOW blog. The committee “was founded in 1867 and retained that name – except for a brief time when it was split into separate Education and Labor committees – through both Democratic and Republican majorities for 122 years.” But when Republicans last took control of the House in 1995, they “stripped the word ‘labor’ from the committee door” until 2006, when Democrats restored it.
Obama Administration Alters Rule Allowing End-of-Life Care
Days after the new policy allowing Medicare coverage for end-of life care planning, also known as “advance care planning,” has taken effect, the Obama administration is taking steps to remove all references to it, The New York Times reports. Written into the Federal Register in late November “as part of the annual physical examinations covered under the new health care law,” the rule nonetheless was not included in proposals that requested public comment. “We realize that this should have been included in the proposed rule, so more people could have commented on it specifically,” an administration official said of its removal.
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