Yahoo! News: Politics News
- Finger-pointing begins as Senate nixes auto vote
(AP)
AP - A Democratic Congress, unwilling or unable to approve a $25 billion bailout for Detroit's Big Three, appears ready to punt the automakers' fate to a lame-duck Republican president. - Fed sees economic woes persisting into next year
(AP)
AP - Pounded by a fierce financial crisis, the country is sinking deeper into economic despair and is likely to be in the hole well into next year, forcing more Americans into the ranks of the unemployed. - Daschle to take health post, another familiar face
(AP)
AP - Barack Obama is enlisting former Senate leader Tom Daschle as his health secretary, embracing a third Washington insider in the early stages of Cabinet-building by the president-elect who promised change. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the capital's most famous woman for two decades, seemed ever more likely to be his secretary of state. - Hillary Clinton weighing secretary of state post
(AP)
AP - Former President Bill Clinton has agreed to publicly disclose the names of most donors to his presidential foundation and library, a significant concession aimed at helping smooth the path for his wife to become the next secretary of state. - Arizonan will head Homeland Security
(Politico)
Politico - Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) has been chosen to serve as secretary of the vast and troubled Department of Homeland Security for President-elect Obama, Democratic officials said. Napolitano is a border governor who will now be responsible for immigration policy and border security, which are part of Homeland Security’s myriad functions. - Beau Biden won't accept Senate appointment for father's seat
(AP)
AP - Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden says he plans to fulfill his National Guard duties and won't accept an appointment to his father's U.S. Senate seat. - McCain wins Missouri in close race against Obama
(AP)
AP - Republican John McCain has defeated President-elect Barack Obama in Missouri — the last state to be decided in the 2008 presidential election. - Prospect for auto bailout dims as Senate races clock
(Reuters)
Reuters - Chances dimmed that a last-minute plan being crafted by Republican senators, with White House support, to provide $25 billion to bail out U.S. automakers would receive enough backing from Democrats to pass before the end of this week. - Former top officials urge stronger ties to UN
(AP)
AP - A wide array of former top U.S. officials urged President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday to make the United Nations a close partner in confronting global threats and environmental challenges. - California court to hear gay marriage ban case
(Reuters)
Reuters - California's Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a legal challenge against the state's voter-approved ban on gay marriage and let the ban stand in the meantime. - Spain: detained Basque militant was top ETA leader
(AP)
AP - A young gunman arrested this week turns out to be the head of the Basque separatist group ETA — the first member of an uncompromising and ultra-violent new generation to lead the organization, Spanish officials said Wednesday.