January 4, 2011
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WASHINGTON — President Obama is considering naming William Daley, aJPMorgan Chase & Co. executive and former US Commerce secretary, to a high-level White House post, possibly as his chief of staff, people familiar with the matter said.
Such a move, which is still under discussion and which White House officials wouldn’t confirm, would bring a Washington veteran — and someone with strong business ties — into the administration as Obama enters the second half of his term. The president is faced with a Republican majority in the House of Representatives and is trying to accelerate the economic recovery while addressing the budget deficit.
Daley, 62, did not respond to requests for comment yesterday. White House officials declined to discuss the matter.
“I’m not going to comment on personnel speculation,’’ White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in an e-mail.
As he remakes his staff at the midway point of his presidency, Obama also is seeking to address complaints from some executives that the Democratic administration is antibusiness. Daley is JPMorgan’s Midwest chairman and the bank’s head of corporate responsibility.
Among the pressing personnel decisions Obama must make is naming a successor to Lawrence Summers as head of the National Economic Council, which could come as early as this week. Gene Sperling, a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, has emerged as the leading candidate for the post.
Yale University President Richard Levin and Roger Altman, the founder ofEvercore Partners Inc. , are under consideration for the NEC post as well. —BLOOMBERG NEWS
House Republicans set vote on health care law repeal
WASHINGTON — Republican leaders in the new House say they will hold a vote next week to repeal President Obama’s health care overhaul.The announcement of the Jan. 12 vote by the number two House Republican, Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, sets the stage for a showdown with the Democrat-led Senate.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada said earlier yesterday that Democrats in that chamber will block any attempt to repeal the legislation extending coverage to more than 30 million uninsured people. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
King Center to honor the late Senator Kennedy
Edward M. Kennedy will receive a posthumous award for his decades of work advancing the cause of civil rights and preserving the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., the King Center said yesterday.“No US senator worked harder to secure the kind of social, economic, and humanitarian reforms needed to fulfill my father’s dream,’’ said Martin Luther King III, president of the center, in a statement.
The Salute to Greatness award is an annual honor but this year’s commemoration also recognizes the 25th anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday. Kennedy was a leading sponsor of the congressional measure declaring the holiday, which was first observed Jan. 20, 1986.
Kennedy’s first major speech on the Senate floor was in support of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition, Kennedy is credited with protecting many civil rights acts of the 1960s, including the Voting Rights Act, from the Reagan administration’s attempts to dismantle them.
Kennedy died of brain cancer in 2009. His widow, Victoria Kennedy, will accept the award Jan. 15.
Also, the Atlanta center announced that the corporate greatness award will go to Ben and Jerry’s, with cofounders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield accepting the award. The firm is based in Vermont. — GLOBE STAFF
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