Results tagged “obamaadministration”

Obama is set to nominate appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court seat vacated by David Souter at press conference this a.m. Sotomayor has been a front-runner for several weeks and received some, er, enthusiastic critiques from legal observers, like TNR's Jeffrey Rosen, who quoted anonymous law clerks to portray the Yale and Princeton grad as "not that smart." Sotomayor made her way to the Ivies after growing up in a housing project in the Bronx. Should make for interesting confirmation hearings. If she makes it, Sotomayor will be the third woman in the history of the court, the second on the current bench, and the first Latina.

On the heels of Nikita Stewart's scoop last night that people have been getting vetting calls from the FBI about D.C. City Administrator Dan Tangherlini, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty called a 3 p.m. press conference today to announce a “Cabinet-level” personnel announcement. And the word has just come down: Tangherlini is off to Treasury, where he'll serve as assistant secretary for management, chief financial officer, and chief performance officer. That's sure a lot of titles, DanTan!

All day I've been trying to think of an angle for a quick post on the news that actor Kal Penn (The Namesake, Harold & Kumar) is leaving Hollywood in favor of D.C. and a job inside the White House Office of Public Liaison. We could speculate where he should probably live (Dupont seems the most likely candidate, close enough to walk to work but still young and fun and overpriced), or something like that. But frankly, I've been too pissed that I managed to absolutely ruin the episode of House that's still sitting on my TiVo by skimming the comments in this Lynn Sweet blog post (EW.com was the first to report the news). I'm always happy to welcome another L.A. transplant to town, but Penn couldn't have waited a couple days to announce this one? Gah. He's lucky we went to the same college, so I can't really stay mad for long. Welcome to D.C., Kal. If you're anything like me, you're not going to miss Los Angeles for a second.

We mentioned it briefly in the roundup, but it's worth repeating yesterday's announcement from the White House of the creation of a new internship program aimed specifically at D.C. public high school students. According to the Post, the D.C. Scholars Program will place students in "part-time, unpaid positions in White House offices and departments this summer." Not exactly a Charlie Young level of opportunity, but extraordinary nonetheless.

Vivek Kundra, D.C.'s former Chief Technology Officer, has returned to his job as federal chief information officer for the Obama administration after being placed on leave in the wake of the OCTO arrests, the Washington Times reports. White House officials told the Times that Kundra was reinstated after they were reassured that he is not a target of the federal investigation of his former office. The story makes sure to mention the recent revelation that Kundra was cited on a minor theft charge in Montgomery County in 1996, when he was 21. The White House said they were aware of the criminal theft case and were unconcerned, calling it a "youthful indiscretion." See also the New York Times' Caucus blog, which reports that Va. Gov. Tim Kaine intervened on Kundra's behalf.

At the beginning of February, D.C.'s Chief Technology Officer, Vivek Kundra, was reportedly the choice of the Obama administration as the new Office of Management and Budget administrator for e-government and information technology. But this morning he's been bumped up, with an announcement from President Obama that Kundra will become the nation's first Federal Chief Information Officer.