Obama bumps up against egos in Congress

Obama was mindful of the week's perils and, in several cases, managed to resolve the conflicts. But others remain in play to varying degrees of tension. For one thing, even some Senate committees had to scramble to learn Obama's Cabinet choices. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee, led by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), never got official notice of two Cabinet nominees within its jurisdiction: Energy Secretary-nominee Steven Chu and Interior Secretary-nominee Ken Salazar. Rather, the staff of the committee pestered aides on the Obama transition team for clues as to whom the picks might be, ultimately ferreting out the names through their own efforts. "Did Bingaman receive a phone call from Obama, Biden or [transition co-chairman John] Podesta? No, he did not," a committee aide said. "We were very curious and wanted to keep our chairman informed. At our initiative, we pressed these [Obama staff] guys pretty hard. And through breaking news and leaks and our own undisclosed sources and through our own people working on the inside, we did know in advance."...Hat Tip Mathew Reichbach.