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Violating its own guarantee of unprecedented transparency, the White House is blocking an investigation into the controversial firing of an inspector general who exposed one of President Obama’s political supporters—a California mayor—for misusing federal funds. First Lady Michelle Obama was reportedly behind the contentious June dismissal of AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin and congressional investigators want to interview the aide (Jackie Norris) who may have given the order. At the time Norris was the First Lady’s chief of staff but the White House counsel’s office has blocked investigators from interviewing her, according to a national news report. Norris is currently...

A former INS official who attended meetings with Rahm Emanuel when Emanuel was a White House aide says the hard-charging Democrat relaxed rules to naturalize even criminal immigrants and secure their votes for President Clinton ahead of the 1996 presidential election. President-elect Barack Obama, who has chosen Emanuel to run White House operations as his chief of staff, has promised to sign legislation that loosens immigration and puts even illegal aliens on a fast track to citizenship. Emanuel coordinated with Hispanic community organizers in Chicago to rubberstamp immigrants for citizenship, the INS official said in an exclusive interview with WND....

Barack Obama had begun thinking about his Senate successor even before the presidential election, and dispatched Rahm Emanuel days after the vote to contact aides of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to begin talking up Mr. Obama's preferred candidates, associates of Mr. Emanuel said this weekend. Mr. Emanuel, a congressman from Chicago, had been approached about being Mr. Obama's White House chief of staff the week before the election, though he hadn't yet officially decided to take the post. Nonetheless, the issue of Mr. Obama's Senate replacement was sensitive enough that senior Obama aides wanted to keep the matter within the...

DETROIT - Christine Beatty, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's chief of staff, said Monday she is resigning amid allegations that she and the mayor lied under oath about an affair. In a letter to Kilpatrick that was released by his office, Beatty said she believes she can no longer effectively carry out her duties. Her resignation takes effect Feb. 8. "I painfully regret the devastation that the recent reports have caused to the citizens of Detroit, to my co workers, to the Mayor's family and to my family and friends," Beatty wrote in the letter. Kilpatrick spokesman James Canning said the...

Gen. Peter Pace -- the first Marine Corps officer to serve as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- is being precipitously let go. In a surprise announcement last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that Pace wouldn't be renominated to a second term. In his place, Adm. Mike Mullen, current chief of naval operations, would take over when Pace's term expires Sept. 30. As the highly qualified, deeply respected Pace is being ushered out the door, it is reasonable to wonder why.

A former top aide to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's new chief of staff was appointed the governor's deputy cabinet secretary Wednesday. Brian Prusnek, 28, of San Francisco, was Susan Kennedy's chief of staff last year and her energy adviser for two years when she was a member of the California Public Utilities Commission. The Republican governor sparked anger from conservatives in November when he appointed Kennedy to lead his staff. Kennedy previously was executive director of the state Democratic Party and a top aide to Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, who Schwarzenegger replaced in the 2003 recall election. Prusnek is registered as...

WASHINGTON — Signaling a possible shake-up among President Bush's senior advisers, the new White House chief of staff told top presidential aides Monday to expect changes that "refresh and re-energize the team." He invited anyone who is thinking of leaving before year's end to do so now. Joshua Bolten, who took over the top staff job late Friday, did not ask for anyone's resignation in his first Monday morning staff meeting with the president's senior aides, presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said. No one stepped forward to say they would leave, either, McClellan said. But Bolten has Bush's full authority to...

WASHINGTON -- Everybody in Washington's Republican political community was well aware that any changes George W. Bush made in his White House staff would not constitute a shake-up. What nobody expected was that Josh Bolten, in essence a professional bureaucrat, would be promoted to chief of staff. Yet, this selection becomes understandable as a confirmation of Karl Rove's supremacy in the White House.Rove holds the mundane titles of senior adviser to the president and deputy chief of staff, but scarcely anything happens in the Bush administration without his approval. Now he is more influential than ever. Andrew Card, the departing...

by Mark Finkelstein March 29, 2006 A quick take on a morning when I'm headed to Washington, DC. Sometimes, you just can't win with the MSM. For weeks, the MSM has been calling for a White House shake-up. So when it came in spades yesterday with the resignation of chief of staff Andy . . . Card [spades, Card. Come on, tough room here!], naturally the media applauded the bold move. Or not. Veteran NewsBusters readers know better. There is no appeasing the liberal media. They recalibrate their line of attack and move on. But who could have predicted the...

Will President Bush’s decision to replace his chief of staff improve his ratings? Ye 8% 10083 votes No 92% 112126 votes Total: 122209 votes

Now the question is whether Card wanted to quit his job or whether he needed to. The White House announced Card’s resignation on Tuesday and his replacement, budget director Joshua Bolten. Card first offered his resignation three weeks ago, according to the White House. That was just after the first polls showed just how much the White House was bleeding support after the Dubai ports story. A CBS poll gave Bush a job approval rating of only 34 percent and a personal favorability rating of 29 percent. (NEWSWEEK’s poll later showed the president with a 36-percent approval rating.) Bush won...

This morning, President Bush announced from the Oval Office at the White House, the resignation of long time friend, and 5 year Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, and the appointment of Josh Bolten, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, to that position. Later, following a Cabinet Meeting, the President made a statement in the Rose Garden, surrounded by Cabinet members, about the progress in the government of Iraq, and the commitment of his administration to work with their counterparts in Iraq in the future.In news of significance to all conservatives, both Lyn Nofziger (81), Reagan press...

Andy Card has resigned.

This isn't a rumor or any of the latest buzz, just purely my speculation. What do you guys think of Newt Gingrich for White House cheif of staff. I think Newt maybe the most politically astute individual out there. He is also the most conservative. He would greatly help Bush's presidency.

Susan Kennedy has been described as Satan, a sellout, a traitor, a spy -- and a brilliant political operative. And if that's not enough, Kennedy -- the Democratic workhorse who has become Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's chief of staff -- has recently assumed one more title: head campaigner. As she goes around the state -- from boardroom to business group, talking up Schwarzenegger's $222 billion Strategic Growth Plan -- the former top aide to Democratic Gov. Gray Davis is unapologetic about her chief priority these days: "To get Arnold Schwarzenegger re-elected.'' --snip-- In an unusual arrangement, she is paid as...

Angry Republicans request meeting with governor over appointment By Tom Chorneau ASSOCIATED PRESS 5:39 p.m. December 7, 2005 SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to hire a prominent Democrat as his chief of staff has sparked a growing uprising among Republican Party loyalists, who have requested a meeting with Schwarzenegger to hear him explain the choice. The governor has agreed to meet next Thursday with leaders of the California Republican Party to hear their concerns that Susan Kennedy, an aide to former Gov. Gray Davis, is now positioned to learn critical details of GOP campaign strategy and political policy. Some...

There may be 26 holiday parties in 21 days at the White House this month, but the mood in the West Wing is anything but merry. True, President Bush's recent Iraq speeches have put the White House back into comfortable blasts of campaign mode, but a lot of staff members say that they are feeling burned out and beaten down. So talk has intensified after a miserable year - Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, the C.I.A. leak investigation, Iraq - about staff changes and who may be leaving in January. "I hope you know that coming into a new year, some people...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday took the first step to shaking up his administration after his resounding special election failure, appointing a longtime Democratic activist as his chief of staff. The move to replace Patricia Clarey had been widely expected since voters defeated all four of the governor's "year of reform" measures Nov. 8. Clary was campaign manager for the effort. But the announcement of state Public Utilities Commissioner Susan Kennedy as Clarey's replacement caught many Republicans and Democrats off guard. Kennedy was Cabinet secretary to former Gov. Gray Davis, who was ousted in the 2003...

Arnold to tap major Democrat to be his Chief of Staff by Jon Fleischman - Publisher 11-29-2005 6:02 pm The rule of six (if I hear at least six credible people tell me something, then as a confirmed rumor, I run with it) has struck again. I previously reported on rumors that Pat Clarey, the Governor's Chief of Staff (and a loyal Republican) would be stepping aside after the special election. Read that story here. Well, apparently the Governor has decided to name Susan Kennedy as his Chief of Staff. I am sure that if this plays out, Kennedy will...

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has hired Susan Kennedy, a top aide to former Gov. Gray Davis, as his new chief of staff, Capitol sources in both major parties said. The chief of staff's position is considered the most powerful administrative position in state government, with broad authority over policy-making and the sprawling bureaucracy. The decision was made following two days of intense, closed-door meetings that included negotiating sessions across the street from the Capitol in the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where Schwarzenegger stays while in Sacramento. Kennedy's hiring was the culmination of a five-hour meeting, sources said, at which Kennedy demanded--and...

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney chose someone in his own likeness to be his new chief of staff. Like Cheney, David Addington shuns the limelight. And like Cheney, Addington already has made a large imprint on the Bush White House. At Cheney's side since the 1980s, Addington has been a behind-the-scenes player in one after another of the hot-button controversies the Bush administration has faced: _The CIA leak probe. _The fight to disclose which corporations advised the White House on energy policy. _The dispute over the treatment of suspected terrorists. _The White House disagreements with the Sept. 11 commission...

WASHINGTON -- Super-lobbyist Ed Gillespie has been given his own office in the West Wing of the White House to manage President Bush's Supreme Court confirmation battle. That raised speculation Gillespie could be chief of staff for the end of the Bush presidency. Republican lobbyists Ken Duberstein and Tom Korologos were given judicial confirmation chores in years past without moving permanently into the West Wing. Insiders believe Gillespie, a protege of Bush political adviser Karl Rove, is being groomed to replace Andrew Card as chief of staff for Bush's last two years as president. Less than a decade ago, Gillespie...

May 19, 1:22 AM (ET) The land crew waits for the arrival of the USS Nimitz into Pearl Harbor, Hawaii May 18, 2005. The... Full Image Google sponsored links Eliminate Your Debt Today - Consolidate Your Loans Into Easy Affordable Payments & Start Saving! www.next-day-loans.com Get out of Debt - Free consultation on your options from professional counselors Preceptfinancial.com By Vicki Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans on a U.S. House of Representatives committee retreated from a sweeping ban on women in combat support and service units, and instead put into law the Pentagon's policy barring women from direct ground combat...

President Bush has nominated Gen. T. Michael Moseley, the No. 2 officer in the Air Force, to succeed the current chief, Gen. John Jumper. Moseley has been the service's deputy chief of staff since August 2003. After the Sept. 11 attacks, he oversaw the air wars in Afghanistan and the most recent war in Iraq as commander of Central Command air forces. Jumper is due to finish his four-year term as Air Force chief of staff in September and retire. If approved, Moseley would inherit an Air Force that is generally regarded as having succeeded in Iraq and Afghanistan but...

WASHINGTONPRESIDENT BUSH'S emphasis on loyalty as opposed to stature has met its ultimate test. He has saved the biggest of his choices -- the anemic Treasury Department -- for last. The issue can be defined simply: Does he have the nerve to promote his chief of staff, Andrew Card, to the position Card appears to covet? And does he have the nerve to thumb his nose at the tut-tutters who would fault such an appointment on qualification grounds?Recent history would compel a "yes" to both questions, but in an administration in which secrecy is second only to loyalty, recent history...

<p>MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin signed an order Thursday relieving his chief of staff of his duties, the Interfax news agency reported, deepening the political and economic turmoil following the arrest of Russia's richest tycoon.</p> <p>Rumors that Voloshin had resigned had rattled Russian political and business circles for several days.</p>

This afternoon I stood in the office of the Secretary of the Army and was sworn in as the 35th Chief of Staff of the Army. Thirty-four other distinguished leaders have preceded me -- well-known stewards of our Army. It is a great honor to walk in their footsteps. Twenty-three years ago I stood in another place -- in the Iranian desert on a moonlit night at a place called Desert One. I keep a photo of the carnage that night to remind me that we should never confuse enthusiasm with capability. Eight of my comrades lost their lives. Those...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a highly unusual move, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has selected a retired four-star general to become the next Army chief of staff, senior defense officials said Tuesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the selectee is Peter J. Schoomaker, who retired from the Army after commanding the U.S. Special Operations Command from 1997-2000. The choice, which has not been publicly announced and is subject to confirmation by the Senate, may raise some eyebrows inside the military because it is rare for a defense secretary to bypass senior active-duty generals in favor of...

The Men Who Would Not Be King Normally, the position of Chief of Staff of the Army is the ultimate brass ring an Army officer can hope to grab. There is no higher Army job, and merely holding it guarantees a man at least a small place in the history books -- though not necessarily a favorable one. In fact, the last Army Chief of Staff to merit Clio's praise was General "Shy" Meyer, who held the post twenty years ago. Since he left, the Army has been stuck in a Brezhnevite "era of stagnation." It is therefore surprising that...

General Tommy Franks, who led US forces to victory in Afghanistan and Iraq, has turned down a promotion to army chief of staff, it was reported yesterday. Gen Franks had promised his wife he would shortly retire and, after days of intense speculation in Washington, he has now declined the offer of the army's top post, Pentagon officials told CNN television. The general has made no secret of his dislike of Washington and the power struggles and intrigue that dominate life there. His decision leaves the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, without a key ally in his long-running, and often bitter,...