By MICHAEL FALCONE ( @michaelpfalcone )

NOTABLES

• CONGRESSMAN AARON SCHOCK ON HIS ALLEGED 'DOWNTON ABBEY' OFFICE: 'HATERS ARE GONNA HATE.' He insists he's not trying to be Lord Grantham, but Rep. Aaron Schock's office bears a striking resemblance to the decor featured in the popular PBS British drama series, "Downton Abbey,"complete with dark red walls, gold-trimmed photographs and black candles mounted on the walls, according to ABC's JEFF ZELENY and JOHN PARKINSON. Schock, who at 33 years old is one the youngest members of Congress, explained that he's "never been an old crusty white guy" so he employed the services of a local interior designer, Annie Brahler, who he entrusted with an office make-over. Schock told ABC News that he will pay Brahler for her professional services personally once he receives an invoice. (Accepting the services as a gift would potentially be a violation of House rules.) http://abcn.ws/1F7hHRF

• NEVERTHELESS, THE REDESIGN PROMPTED AN ETHICS COMPLAINT from the Washington, DC-based watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "I'm different. I came to Congress at 27," Schock said. "When I go take a personal vacation I don't sit on the beach, I go do active things. And so, I'm also not going to live in a cave. So when I post an Instagram photo with me and my friends, as Taylor Swift said, 'haters gonna hate.'" WATCH: http://abcn.ws/1F7hHRF

• TOP OBAMA AIDE GETS READY FOR HILLARY. White House Communications Director Jen Palmieri plans to leave the White House next month. While the White House won't comment on where she is going, knowledgeable sources say she will be join the yet-to-be-announced Hillary Clinton presidential campaign as communications director, ABC's JONATHAN KARL reports. Palmieri, who worked for President Bill Clinton and for the John Edwards campaign in 2008, has a good relationship with White House and political reporters. Her hiring is indication that Clinton may want a less combative relationship with the press than she had last time around.

ANALYSIS

ABC's RICK KLEIN: Jeb Bush called it his "interesting challenge" in his Detroit speech on Wednesday. It might also be described as his central challenge, or even his existential challenge, at least as it pertains to his likely presidential campaign. That challenge is his last name, the four letters that cast a long shadow over everything the former Florida governor seeks to do in national political life. When he talks about the need for more robust growth, it invites comparisons with the economy under his brother's stewardship. When he talks about world affairs, two presidencies stand as markers. Most fundamentally, a Republican Party that is eager to look forward will be forced to confront its recent, sometimes battered past so long as Bush is a candidate. He may have the talent and the ideas to transcend his name, and perhaps recreate a brand his brother made famous. In Detroit, Bush said he would seek to "offer ideas that are important to people, so that when they think of me, they think that I'm on their side." Can compassionate conservatism rise again?

THE BUZZ

with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

5 THINGS JEB BUSH JUST REVEALED ABOUT HIS LIKELY 2016 RUN. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush kicked off his campaign before the campaign Wednesday, speaking at the Detroit Economic Club and laying out his "reform conservative" agenda ahead of a likely 2016 run for the White House. So, what did he reveal about his potential 2016 run? The Bush family name - love them or hate them, American voters all have an opinion on the Bush family and the former Florida governor knows he will have to distinguish himself from the Bush name and legacy. He recounted how he did it during his 1998 run for governor of Florida, telling the audience he had to "share my heart" and show voters "you've got to care for people before you can get their vote." Bush said he visited 250 schools during that campaign: "By the end of that journey people knew I wasn't just the brother of George W. and the son of my beloved dad. I was my own person." Bush stressed that he "loves my dad," joking that if anyone disagrees he would be willing to "go outside" unless they are much bigger or younger, and then they could "negotiate," ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE reports. "And I love my brother, I think he was a great president," he said. "And I'm proud of them and I love them." But he said he knows if he does run for president he's going to have to "do it on my own." http://abcn.ws/1DHOU51

5 POLITICIANS WHOSE FOREIGN TRIPS DIDN'T GO SO WELL. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is back on U.S. soil after a trip to the United Kingdom this week - but his journey across the pond was not entirely smooth. During his visit, Christie became embroiled in a debate back at home, telling reporters that parents should have "a measure of choice" on whether to vaccinate their children. In the middle of one of the worst American measles outbreaks in recent history, Christie's office later clarified in an official statement: "The Governor believes vaccines are an important public health protection and with a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated." On his final day in London, The New York Times published an article describing the governor's taste for luxury, raising a variety of questions that the governor apparently was not in the mood to answer. Christie declined to take press questions before he winged his way back to New Jersey. But according to ABC's STACY CHEN, STEPHANIE EBBS and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI, Christie is hardly alone when it comes to politicians whose trips overseas have turned rocky. http://abcn.ws/1D0O4Sg

MEET ASH CARTER: HE COULD BE THE NEXT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE. Ashton Carter answered questions from lawmakers in the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday as he looks to secure his nomination as the 25th U.S. Secretary of Defense. President Obama nominated Carter in December as the replacement for Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, whose tenure has been largely defined by renewed turmoil in the Middle East, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and rising tensions with China. Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. John McCain told ABC News in December that Carter "is not controversial," and said in a statement that the hearing "will provide a valuable opportunity to fully ventilate all of issues around this Administration's feckless foreign policy, and its grave consequences for the safety and security of our nation." Learn more about the man who could be Obama's fourth secretary of defense. WATCH: http://abcn.ws/1vs8Fyn

JUSTICE GINSBURG PREDICTS 'SENSIBLE' CAMPAIGN FINANCE RESTRICTIONS 'WILL BE THE LAW'…ONE DAY. "One day sensible restrictions on campaign financing will be the law of this land," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg said yesterday afternoon at Georgetown University Law Center. Ginsburg also said she would overturn Citizens United if she could. "I think the system is being polluted by money, it gets pretty bad when it affects the judiciary too and in some 39 states judges are elected at some level," Ginsberg said. "When it takes millions of dollars to fund a campaign for a state supreme court something is terribly wrong." This is not a new opinion, ABC's STEPHANIE EBBS notes, Ginsburg has spoken out before against Citizens United. The oldest Supreme Court justice said yesterday she thought the decision would be reversed and money in politics more restricted.

LONG SERVING OFFICIAL SAYS GOODBYE TO WHITE HOUSE. One of the president's top advisors told Obama yesterday that he will be moving on from his position with the administration in March, according to ABC's JONATHAN KARL and DEVIN DWYER. Senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer has been with Obama since the beginning and is the last serving staffer from the 2008 senior campaign cycle. "Dan has been beside me on every step of this incredible journey, starting with those earliest days of the campaign in 2007," President Obama said. "And through it all, he's been smart, steady, tireless and true to the values we started with. Like everyone else in the White House, I've benefited from his political savvy and his advocacy for working people. He's a good man and a good friend, and I'm going to miss having him just down the hall from me."

SENATE DEMOCRATS BLOCK DHS FUNDING BILL FROM MOVING FORWARD AGAIN. For the second time this week, Senate Democrats stopped the House-approved Department of Homeland Security funding bill, which includes immigration provisions, from moving forward in the Senate. ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ notes that the Senate voted 53-47 on the motion to reconsider the cloture vote on the bill, falling 7 votes short of the 60 votes need to move forward with debate on the bill. The Senate first voted on the bill Tuesday and the House voted on it last month. For the third time this week, Senate Majority Leader McConnell will bring the bill up for a vote again today. The legislation is controversial because it includes provisions blocking President Obama's recent executive actions on immigration. Democratic Senators are pushing their conservative colleagues to pass a clean bill without immigration provisions attached before the end of the day on Feb. 27 when funding runs out.

THE ART OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS, FROM LINCOLN TO OBAMA. Presidential candidates have chosen a variety of different locations and forums throughout history to announce their intentions to run for the White House. The kickoff to a presidential race traditionally consisted of an official public event filled with supporters. Most of them choose their hometowns, symbolic settings or government office to give their formal declaration for their candidacies. Nowadays, candidates are more subtle. In a modern, media-frenzy society, potential candidates will be under intense scrutiny and faced with legal limitations on campaign funding. Therefore, one can't be expected to make such an important decision until you "dip your toe in the water." This exact analogy is used in a Federal Election Commission document, referring to the breathing time prior to an official announcement for the candidates to gather information and "explore the feasibility of becoming a candidate," while being out of the spotlight. As the presidential announcement season for 2016 is fast approaching, ABC's STACY CHEN and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI look back through some of the more memorable ones in history. http://abcn.ws/1D04k69