Blow to Obama as Chief of Staff Resigns
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama’s chief of staff has resigned after a troubled year in one of the most powerful roles in American politics.


Bill Daley, a former Clinton administration official and a member of a Chicago political dynasty, made the surprise decision to stand down less than 12 months into a tenure which saw growing frustration as the President’s agenda stalled in Congress.

Speaking at the White House, the President said the resignation “was not easy news to hear” and that he only accepted it last week after asking Mr Daley to take a day to reconsider.

Mr Obama said that Mr Daley, 63, was leaving to return to Chicago and spend more time with his family but the former investment banker’s frustration with his role has long been public knowledge.

In an interview last October, Mr Daley said that the political and economic climate of the first three years of the Obama administration had been “brutal” and “very, very difficult”, adding: “On the domestic side both Democrats and Republicans have made it very difficult for the President to be anything like a chief executive.” » | Raf Sanchez, Washington | Monday, January 09, 2012

Senate Scandal Snares Obama’s Chief Aide
Rahm Emmanuel, Obama’s choice for Chief of Staff, already engulfed in scandal. Photo courtesy of The Sunday Times
THE SUNDAY TIMES: THE bullish, foul-mouthed but effective Chicago arm-twister Rahm Emanuel has come under pressure to resign as Barack Obama’s chief of staff after it was revealed that he had been captured on court-approved wire-taps discussing the names of candidates for Obama’s Senate seat.

Emanuel’s presence at the heart of the scandal threatens to roil the president-elect’s administration as a Chicago prosecutor builds his corruption case against Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois governor.

Blagojevich has been accused of plotting to sell Obama’s Senate seat - which is in the governor’s gift - in return for financial and political favours.

Republicans are salivating at the prospect of tying the president-elect to the notoriously corrupt Chicago machine in which he forged his career. Grover Norquist, an influential conservative tax reform lobbyist, said: “If Obama wants to be squeaky clean, he is going to have to cut all his Chicago friends loose. His chief of staff has fingerprints on the murder weapon.”

Emanuel ducked out of view last week, avoiding reporters’ questions and complaining of harassment and “death threats” as the news spread that he was the likely unnamed adviser cited by the FBI with whom the tainted Blagojevich hoped to bargain over the appointment.

For the “No Drama” Obama team, the spiralling controversy has been an alarming distraction in the midst of the US economic meltdown. Obama has yet to release a promised timeline of contacts between members of his transition team and the governor's office, while Emanuel is thought to be consulting lawyers. >>> Sarah Baxter, Washington | Sunday, December 14, 2008

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