The Obama transition team has announced that campaign strategist David Axelrod will be a senior advisor. Some compare Axelrod’s relationship with President-elect Obama to that of Karl Rove and President Bush, or James Carville and President Clinton. During the campaign, Axelrod wore out several BlackBerries because he was emailing, texting and calling so much.

WASHINGTON - In a propaganda salvo by Al Qaeda aimed at undercutting the enthusiasm of Muslims worldwide about the US presidential election, Osama bin Laden’s top deputy condemned President-elect Barack Obama as a ‘house Negro’ who would continue a

There are indications that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to head the Department of Health and Human Services. The transition team won’t confirm that.

Democrats in the Senate decided Tuesday that Joe Lieberman may keep his committee chairmanship — even though he campaigned for Republican John McCain. Democrats secretly voted 42 to 13 to let him remain chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. His only sanction was being removed from the Environment Committee.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama appears to have settled on Congressional Budget Office chief Peter Orszag to be his budget director, Capitol Hill Democrats said Tuesday. It’s among the toughest jobs in Washington, but Democratic aides say

In the U.S. Senate race in Alaska, Democrat Mark Begich has claimed victory over six-term Republican incumbent Ted Stevens. The Anchorage Mayor’s victory moves Senate Democrats within two seats of a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority. Senator-elect Begich tells Renee Montagne that he won because Alaskans were ready to focus on the future.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Barack Obama’s rise to power in the United States has exposed cracks in Brazil’s self-image as a racially integrated society, with many seeing the Latin American giant years away from electing a black president. With only a few

Treasury Secretary Henry Pauson is defending the $700 billion bailout on Capital Hill Tuesday. Meanwhile, the question of whether automakers will get more government money, hangs heavy in the air.

Democrats decided Tuesday to let Sen. Joe Lieberman keep his prized chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee, despite his support for Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Meanwhile, Democrats are bracing for a battle on Wednesday over control of the House energy panel.

Congress and the White House say they want to do something to help the nation’s automakers, which are close to insolvency. Executives from Ford, GM and Chrysler will be on Capitol Hill Tuesday to plead their case. But there is no consensus on what to do for Detroit. It may be next year before Washington [...]