Your Sunday Morning Politics
This past week, the District was filled with worried faces. The tension and uncertainty was palpable. News from the typical "official" sources had been filled all week with rumor and conjecture and the not knowing was starting to take its toll on a nervous city. By the time DCist got to the Wilson Building, you could see the beginnings of panic starting to seep into the voices of the gathered crowd. Above, on a ledge, two men had left certain safety behind to have their demands heard, their fears assuaged. This was the backdrop, then, as DCist ran up alongside the building, frantically calling out the news.
“It’s okay! John W. Snow is staying! Everyone be calm! It’s over. John W. Snow is staying!”
Yes, D.C. It’s going to be a White Christmas now that President Bush has ended his long and uncertain silence on the fate of Treasury Secretary John W. Snow. It was announced this week that Snow would remain at his cabinet post for at least the near and certain future, ending 10 days of speculation that had the entire town on tenterhooks and wondering aloud: "Why has there been no endorsement? Who might replace Snow? And what are tenterhooks exactly?"
Alas, the easy rest we Washingtonians fell into with the news that Snow was staying was shattered mere days later with the announcement that President Bush’s choice to head up the Department of Homeland Security, Bernard Kerik, was turning down the job offer due to "personal reasons." Those reasons, which Kerik elaborated on at some length in a written statement, involved possible illegalities with regard to a "nanny" in Kerik’s employ. Kerik stated that he had "uncovered information" that caused him to "question the immigration status of a person who had been in my employ as a housekeeper and nanny." He further stated that "for a period of time during such employment" the "required tax payments and related filings had not been made." Shocking news, but, DCist reminds you, Mr. Kerik apparently has some sort of law enforcement background, so we’re very certain he’ll use his crack investigatory skills to get to the bottom of this case.
While Bush will have to go back to the drawing board and find a new candidate to lead the Department of Homeland Security, it would appear that the President’s second-term cabinet is starting to firm up. Bush named Jim Nicholson to be the next secretary of Veterans Affairs. Nicholson, who is the current U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, will replace outgoing secretary Anthony Principi. Norman Mineta will remain at Transportation, Gale Norton at Interior, Elaine Chao at Labor, and Alphonso Jackson at Housing and Urban Development.
While the president is busy filling open positions on his staff, across town, The Washington Post is not having the same sort of luck. Wonkette reported this week that the Post is having a bit of trouble finding a new Baghdad bureau chief. Interest was so sparse for this "dangerous but doable" position that the Post is, in their words, "putting out a second call" for applicants. We at DCist seem to remember, however, that President Bush, in a State of the Union address, proposed having immigrant guest workers take the jobs that "Americans did not want" to fill. So, we guess it’s just a matter of time before we’re welcoming new Baghdad bureau chief Eladio Ramirez to The Washington Post. Oye, Eladio! Good luck over there, and keep your head down!