President

U.S. Sen. John Kerry announced on Wednesday that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which he is the incoming chair, will hold confirmation hearings for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton to become secretary of state next Tuesday, Jan. 13.

Kerry, a Boston Democrat, also announced that the committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Susan Rice to become United Nations ambassador on Thursday, Jan. 15.

"When President-Elect Obama announced his nominations of Sen. Clinton and Susan Rice for the positions of Secretary of State and Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, I said he's chosen an extremely talented team to help rebuild our alliances and advance our agenda in the world," said Kerry. 

President Bush made some last minute appointments that included three New Jerseyans: U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and GOP fundraiser Cheryl Halpern were appointed to five-year terms on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. And the general manager of the New York Mets, Omar Minaya, was named to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Congressman Barney Frank sharply criticized how President George W. Bush's administration has spent the first half of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout and said that Congress is currently keeping the administration from having access to the second half.

"We were very unhappy, many of us, with the way that the Bush administration spent the money," Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said Tuesday morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

"For example, we had assurances from them, we wrote it into the law, that a big chunk of the money would go to reduce foreclosures because foreclosures aren't just tough for the individual who is foreclosed; they hurt the neighborhood; they hurt the whole city and they hurt; they hurt the whole economy. Sec.[Henry] Paulson to my disappointment, and I generally admired what he did, refused to use it for that."

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) will be in Philadelphia Wednesday night for a fundraiser, as she looks to retire as much of her campaign debt as possible before being confirmed as the incoming Obama administration's Secretary of State.

The event is being held at the home of local political dynamo and Democratic fundraiser David Cohen, who is also an executive vice president at Comcast. Vice President-Elect Joe Biden, Gov. Ed Rendell, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter are all expected to attend.

Clinton has already given up on getting back the more than $13 million that she and former President Bill Clinton lent her failed presidential campaign. But she still has more than $6 million in outstanding debt, almost all of which is owed to the firm formerly owned by her longtime chief strategist and pollster Mark Penn.

With many Clinton supporters already having donated the maximum of $2,300, most of the money she can hope to pull in will have to come from those who supported President-elect Barack Obama during their long and contentious primary campaign.

Once Clinton is confirmed, she can no longer accept campaign contributions.

President Bush is scheduled to appear at a Philadelphia elementary school tomorrow morning to herald the seventh anniversary of his No Child Left Behind law, The Inquirer reports.

Bush will meet with education leaders and give a speech to students at the Kearny School in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia.

U.S. Sen Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) criticized President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Attorney General Tuesday, questioning Eric Holder's political independence, The Times reports.

As the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Specter's support in Holder's confirmation would be crucial if Obama wishes to garner the bipartisan cooperation he has espoused. Holder's confirmation hearing is set for next week.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Specter compared Holder to former Bush administration Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, implying that he questioned Holder's "ability to maintain his independence from the president," The Times reports.

U.S. Sen Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) criticized President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Attorney General Tuesday, questioning Eric Holder's political independence, The Times reports.

As the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Specter's support in Holder's confirmation would be crucial if Obama wishes to garner the bipartisan cooperation he has espoused. Holder's confirmation hearing is set for next week.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Specter compared Holder to former Bush administration Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, implying that he questioned Holder's "ability to maintain his independence from the president," The Times reports.

U.S. Sen Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) criticized President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Attorney General Tuesday, questioning Eric Holder's political independence, The Times reports.

As the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Specter's support in Holder's confirmation would be crucial if Obama wishes to garner the bipartisan cooperation he has espoused. Holder's confirmation hearing is set for next week.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Specter compared Holder to former Bush administration Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, implying that he questioned Holder's "ability to maintain his independence from the president," The Times reports.

U.S. Sen Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) criticized President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Attorney General Tuesday, questioning Eric Holder's political independence, The Times reports.

As the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Specter's support in Holder's confirmation would be crucial if Obama wishes to garner the bipartisan cooperation he has espoused. Holder's confirmation hearing is set for next week.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Specter compared Holder to former Bush administration Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, implying that he questioned Holder's "ability to maintain his independence from the president," The Times reports.

U.S. Sen Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) criticized President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Attorney General Tuesday, questioning Eric Holder's political independence, The Times reports.

As the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Specter's support in Holder's confirmation would be crucial if Obama wishes to garner the bipartisan cooperation he has espoused. Holder's confirmation hearing is set for next week.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Specter compared Holder to former Bush administration Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, implying that he questioned Holder's "ability to maintain his independence from the president," The Times reports.