PM Note: Be Happy, GOP, So Long, Saxby, Immigration Ho!, 'Recess' Appointments Rejected
A 'Where's Waldo' For Denis McDonough - People may not instantly recognize President Obama's new chief of staff, like they do other White House advisors, but take a look, he's been there to guide the president through many important milestones during his first term: http://abcn.ws/WZ6Z7e
Rejecting Recess Appointments - A Recess House of Cards - http://abcn.ws/14elJGx
Terry Moran Dug Into the Recess Numbers and History and says this about today's court ruling - This is a very big deal in constitutional law and contemporary politics.
"…Today, the DC federal appeals court said presidents have to stop all this flim-flammery about the word "recess."
"… And one more thing: perhaps now senators might be able to bring to an end what is one of the weirdest of all Washington rituals: The 30-second session, when the Senate is gaveled in and out of order by one member in an empty chamber-just to say they were there, "conducting business," so the president can't make a "recess" appointment. Even on the day Washington was struck by an earthquake in 2011, and the Capitol evacuated, the Senate came to order for 22 seconds, one senator present, in a conference room in the basement of the Postal Square building next to Union Station."
Becoming The Happy Party (Without Saxby Chambliss) - Strange set of facts: Michael Steele runs the party to a historic turnaround.
Reince Priebus runs it in a really bad year.
Which guy gets re-elected and which gets run out of town?
That's probably an unfair comparison. But it should also be noted that on a day the party elders are in North Carolina preaching inclusion and looking inward, two states away one of their few remaining elected moderate national voices - Saxby Chambliss of Georgia- is choosing to resign rather than face a primary.
(Chambliss, by the way, is moderate in the GOP through attrition).
"This is about frustration, both at a lack of leadership from the White House and at the dearth of meaningful action from Congress, especially on issues that are the foundation of our nation's economic health," the senator wrote. "The debt-ceiling debacle of 2011 and the recent fiscal-cliff vote showed Congress at its worst and, sadly, I don't see the legislative gridlock and partisan posturing improving anytime soon."
More on Chambliss here - http://abcn.ws/Y4d9Wt
Michael Falcone has been down in Charlotte for the entire Republican course correction. Reince Priebus, elected to another two-year term, wants the GOP to be the "Happy Party." http://abcn.ws/14e1Ora
Smile, people!
Falcone: CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Nearly three months after losing the 2012 presidential election, Republicans seem to have a simple prescription for what ails their party: Turn those frowns upside down.
No, seriously.
"We want to build a massive party that's exciting, that smiles, has a good message across America, and that's what you're going to see," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told reporters at a news conference shortly after he was re-elected to another two year term.
Priebus may be following the advice of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who told his fellow Republicans at the same gathering on Thursday to "learn to be a happy party" and to try to be "cheerful and persistent."
"Angry persistence doesn't work very well," he noted. "Depressed persistence doesn't work at all." (Recall that it was Gingrich, who at a Republican primary debate last February, used the word "cheerful" to describe himself).
White House, Senators to Begin Push on Immigration Reform - President Barack Obama will make an announcement on immigration during a Tuesday trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, the White House said on Friday. The Senate group is expected make their plans public around the same time, the Associated Press reported. http://abcn.ws/UquyZS (Jordan Fabian) White House Makeover: Plouffe Out, McDonough to Chief of Staff - President Obama is giving his West Wing team an extreme make-over for the second term, with the departure of top strategist David Plouffe and the naming of Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough to be his next chief of staff. http://abcn.ws/XF95Ke (By ANN COMPTON and MARY BRUCE)
Romney's Secret Lunch - The former nominee dined with donors & senators in Washington, D.C. today - just blocks from the W.H. http://abcn.ws/14ess3d (Walshe and Parnass)
Where Does It Hurt? Poll Says Energy, Food Prices Dent Wallets - Energy and food prices top the list of financial concerns for most Americans, according to the latest Gallup poll. http://abcn.ws/14iTZzx (Chris Good)
Foster Friess Says Spending Millions on Losing Candidates w as Worth It - http://abcn.ws/W8znHF (Good)
Cory Booker Responds to Tweet to Help Cha Cha the Dog - http://abcn.ws/UqAD8C
Clinton's Post-Concussion Glasses Help With Double Vision - http://abcn.ws/Ty8Dlu
Former CIA Officer Gets 30 Months in Prison for Leak - A former CIA officer who pled guilty to revealing the identity of a covert officer was sentenced today to 30 months in prison, becoming the first person convicted under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act in three decades. http://abcn.ws/WWlBpJ (Schone)