111th Congress Sworn-in, Pelosi Repeats as House Speaker; Israel Hits UN School in Gaza Strike; Obama Names Panetta to CIA Post
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Related subjects: Africa, Diplomacy & Politics, DR Congo conflict, Humanitarian Crisis, Middle East, Security & Surveillance, The Global Intercept, United Nations, Vote 2008 Comments Off
The 111th United States Congress was sworn-in today, including 34 senators —absent Roland Burris and Al Franken, whose status is still in dispute— and 434 members of the US House of Representatives —absent a replacement for Rahm Emanuel, who will be Pres.-elect Obama’s chief of staff—; Nancy Pelosi has been sworn in to serve another term as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader, has called on Franken’s opponent in the Minnesota Senate race, and the incumbent, to withdraw his legal challenges and allow Minnesota to have full representation, as the state Canvassing Board has finalized a recount which gives Franken a 225-vote lead.
In Israel’s sea, air and land offensive against Hamas-controlled Gaza, the United Nations has announced an Israeli attack hit a UN school, where Palestinian civilians were sheltering, killing at least 40. Israel says the attack was a response to hostile fire and claims its forces have been fired upon repeatedly from schools in Gaza. Its forces hit another school earlier in the day, according to MSNBC, killing 4 Palestinian men.
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Rebel general Laurent Nkunda, who controls the rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu region was reportedly ousted by top officers, on the grounds of “bad governance”, according to BBC reports yesterday. Initially, there was no comment from Nkunda’s camp, and one of the officers opposing him was his own chief of staff, but Nkunda later delivered a statement denying that he had been removed from command.
President-elect Barack Obama has named Leon Panetta —a former California Congressman and Clinton White House chief of staff, with long experience in Washington politics and policy— to head the CIA; the selection has been criticized by some, including Senate Democrats, who believe the CIA needs a seasoned intelligence operative to lead in these times; supporters say Panetta has rich experience as a “consumer” of intelligence, as White House chief of staff, and that his perspective as intelligence consumer and seasoned administrator, will allow him to bring meaningful reform to an agency embattled by high-profile failures over recent years.
The New York Times is reporting:
Mr. Obama said he would nominate David W. Ogden, a Washington lawyer in private practice, as deputy attorney general; Elena Kagan, dean of the Harvard Law School, as solicitor general; Thomas J. Perrelli, a Washington lawyer, as associate attorney general; and Dawn E. Johnsen, an Indiana University law professor, as head of the Office of Legal Counsel. All four held senior legal posts in the Clinton administration.
Negotiations with House Republicans and Democratic Congressional leaders have begun for Obama’s proposed economic stimulus package, which is estimated to cost at least $775 billion, and possibly more, and to include at least $300 billion in business-oriented and worker-targeted tax cuts.
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