Sen. Joe Lieberman will keep his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee despite hard feelings over his support for GOP nominee John McCain during the presidential campaign.
The Connecticut independent will lose a panel post on the Environment and Public Works panel as punishment for criticizing Obama this fall.
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The top US military officer said Monday he was “stunned” by the reach of the Somali pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker off the east coast of Africa, calling piracy a growing problem that needs to be addressed.
But Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there were limits to what the world’s navies could do once a ship has been captured because national governments often preferred to pay pirates ransom.
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Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Congress on Tuesday that the administration remains firmly opposed to dipping into the government’s $700 billion financial bailout fund for a $25 billion rescue package for Detroit’s Big Three automakers, no matter how badly they need the help.
“There are other ways” to help battered automakers, Paulson told the House Financial Services Committee as the bailout bill clung to life support on Capitol Hill.
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U.S. auto executives were set to take their case for a $25 billion industry bailout to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday as they hope to overcome political opposition from influential congressional Republicans and the White House.
The hearings come as government and business officials around the globe look for new ways to bolster struggling automakers.
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The chiefs of the “Big Three” US automakers travel to Congress Tuesday to plead with lawmakers to save their talismanic American industry, despite fading hopes for a quick congressional bailout.
The chairmen and CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler will testify to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee as Democrats mount a long-odds bid to pass a 25-billion-dollar rescue package.
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Barack Obama’s first televised post-election interview gave Sunday night’s “60 Minutes” its biggest audience in at least nine years.
The CBS News program was seen by 24.5 million viewers and earned a 6.4 preliminary adults 18-49 rating. That marks the show’s largest viewership since 1999.
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President-elect Barack Obama and vanquished rival John McCain met for the first time since the November 4 election on Monday, pledging to work together to face the financial crisis and other national challenges.
“We’re going to have a good conversation about how we can do some work together to fix up the country,” Obama said, adding that he wanted to offer his thanks to McCain for his “outstanding service” to the country.
Continue reading ‘Obama, McCain meet for first time since election’