He who laughs last runs for mayor of Chicago (ap photos)
Two, unnamed White House officials have been busily confirming off the record for days now that Rahm Emanuel will resign as chief of staff on Friday.
Since the Examiner doesn’t publish on Saturday, we feel all left out and bypassed by news most Fridays — all the jobs reports, devastating ethics revelations and juicy items of bad news the administration wants to bury all come out on Fridays. Also resignations.
So — we’re telling you now. Rahm — so colorful! So profane! We are actually sad about his departure (because sometimes the Obama administration, and let’s just say it, is a little boring).
Senior advisor Pete Rouse will reportedly take over the thankless-yet-powerful job of chief gatekeeper and “no” man at the White House. Apparently, he’s not even all that jazzed about it. From the NYT:
Mr. Rouse will not be named interim chief of staff, but rather will formally take over Mr. Emanuel’s title. While Mr. Rouse has expressed reservations about holding the chief of staff job for an extended period, he has agreed to do the job – for now.
Mr. Rouse has a low profile outside the White House and across Washington, but he is extraordinarily close to the president and is respected inside the West Wing and on Capitol Hill, where he was known as the “101st Senator” during his role as an adviser to Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, then the Democratic leader.
Press secretary Robert Gibbs declined to confirm, but said cryptically that the president will have a personnel announcement on Friday.
