Bailout cash: Despite widespread dissatisfaction with the way the Bush administration used the first half of the $700 billion financial bailout fund, the Senate on Thursday voted to trust President-elect Barack Obama’s vows to use the money differently and gave him access to the remaining $350billion. “We must give our new president every tool to try to fix this economy,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Senators voted 52-42 against a Republican-sponsored bill to block the second half of the money. In defeating the resolution, the Senate prevented Congress from blocking the money and handed Obama a major legislative victory just days before his inauguration.
Confirmation: Nominated to lead the Interior Department, Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) appeared Thursday before a Senate committee that still technically counts him as a member — and treated him more than sympathetically. Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona, at times a vocal critic of the federal government’s response to illegal immigration, faced little questioning on the topic Thursday as senators considered her nomination to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Atheists lose: A federal judge on Thursday refused a request by a group of atheists to order the words “so help me God” taken out of President-elect Barack Obama’s oath of office next week or to prevent ministers from praying at the inauguration.
Temporary home: Barack Obama arrived Thursday at his new temporary home at Blair House. Obama and his family will be staying at the guesthouse until they move into the nearby White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. next week.
The Swamp is where it’s at
When political news breaks, it’s on the Tribune blog at chicagotribune.com/swamp
