• Naming CIA chief filled with tension
Washington -- For two years on the presidential campaign trail, Barack Obama rallied crowds with strongly worded critiques of the Bush administration's most controversial counterterrorism programs, from hiding terrorism suspects in secret CIA jails to questioning them with methods he denounced as torture.

• New Mexico governor likely Commerce chief
Washington -- President-elect Barack Obama will name New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to head the Commerce Department at a news conference today in Chicago, according to transition sources.

• Obama, Gates generally agree on drawdown' plan for Iraq
Washington -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Tuesday that he had no intention of being a "caretaker" at the Pentagon and that he agreed with what he termed President-elect Barack Obama's "responsible drawdown" plan for American combat troops from Iraq.

• Obama asks governors to help design aid plan for hard-hit states
Philadelphia- President-elect Barack Obama pledged quick work Tuesday on an economic recovery plan to include tax cuts and increased federal spending, and told the nation's governors he wants their advice in designing a package to help their hard-hit states.

• A Clinton signoff eased another's nomination
The path was cleared for Hillary Clinton's nomination when her husband signed an agreement to limit conflicts between his international work -- making money from speeches and on issues such as AIDS -- and his wife's diplomatic work as secretary of state.

• Afghan war poses major challenge for Obama team
Washington- One of the most difficult challenges President-elect Barack Obama's national security team faces is Obama's vow to send thousands of U.S. troops to help defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan.

• Obama will get wish for forceful debate within his team
Washington - President-elect Barack Obama says he wants to lead an administration in which strong-willed senior officials are ready to debate forcefully for differing points of view.

• Bush administration trying to enact rules at last minute
Washington - The Labor Department is racing to complete a new rule, strenuously opposed by President-elect Barack Obama, that would make it much harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on the job.

• Bush girls give Obama girls White House pranks lesson
Washington - Malia and Sasha Obama learned a few tricks from Barbara and Jenna Bush on their recent visit to the White House - like how to slide down the solarium ramp, bottom first.

• Obama family tours a food bank
Chicago -- President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, took their daughters to work at a food bank on the day before Thanksgiving, saying they wanted to show the girls the meaning of the holiday, especially when so many people are struggling.

• Obama's choices reflect strategy Lincoln employed
Washington -- Thousands of Americans have bought Doris Kearns Goodwin's 2005 book, "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," after hearing that it shaped President-elect Barack Obama's thinking.

• Volcker to head recovery board
Chicago -- Paul Volcker, who helped tame runaway inflation in the 1980s during two terms as chairman of the Federal Reserve, has agreed to lead a new White House economic advisory committee, President-elect Barack Obama said Wednesday. He praised Volcker as "one of the world's foremost economic policy experts."