“The chairman of the House Democratic Caucus said Sunday that lawmakers will meet for a special joint conference on Wednesday to discuss security measures and concerns in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in her home district Saturday,” The Hill writes.

“Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.) reportedly plans to introduce legislation that would make it a federal crime to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a federal official or member of Congress,” The Hill notes. Brady said referring to Sarah Palin’s map, "You can't put bull's-eyes or crosshairs on a United States congressman or a federal official," he said, adding, “"The rhetoric is just ramped up so negatively, so high, that we have got to shut this down.”

But “Freshman Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who was elected to office with significant Tea Party backing, said it would be ‘disrespectful’ to use the recent shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) for political gain,” The Hill adds.

An Ultimate Fighting Champion fighter, Jacob Volkmann, got a visit from the Secret Service after he said he next wanted to fight President Obama. "Someone's got to knock some sense into that idiot," he said. "I just don't like what Barack is doing....I know the health care situation is not good, but he's making it worse."

Politico: [T]he shootings in Tucson on Saturday, which [Obama] has decried as a “national tragedy,” present a critical opportunity to a president at a crossroads, a chance for Obama to elevate the debased tenor of politics, much as President Bill Clinton attempted in the aftermath of the 1995 terrorist attack in Oklahoma City.”

The New York Times adds, "Mr. Obama was considering delivering a speech about the greater context surrounding the shooting, but advisers said it was premature to do so until Ms. Giffords’s condition stabilized and more became known about the gunman’s motives. The shooting could also become a theme of the State of the Union address."

GIULIANI: “Unless the dominant issue in the 2012 Republican primaries is blizzard management, then -- an area in which Mr. Giuliani excelled and which might win him a few votes in New York and Minnesota -- it is hard to see how a presidential bid in 2012 would amount to much more than a vanity candidacy, if Mr. Giuliani chooses to mount one at all,” the New York Times says.

HUCKABEE: A new Gallup poll finds that Mike Huckabee “has the highest net favorable score among Republicans nationwide in a field of potential GOP candidates for 2012, while former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the most recognized. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are also widely recognized by Republicans, and have favorability numbers similar to Palin's.”

Huckabee will appear in Tennessee to “speak at a fundraising dinner for the anti-abortion movement on college campuses at the Knoxville Convention Center on Feb. 14,” Knox News writes.

PALIN: “An aide to Sarah Palin is defending the former Alaska governor's controversial campaign target map, saying the circles over certain districts were never meant to be gun sights. However, Palin herself described the symbol as a ‘bullseye,’” the Washington Post writes.

“Sarah Palin is charging that President Barack Obama is ‘hell-bent on weakening America’ by pushing to raise the national debt ceiling,’ Politico says. Appearing Friday on Laura Ingraham’s radio show, Palin “accused the president of ‘purposefully’ trying to harm the country and acknowledged that her stinging comments might ‘get some people all wee-weed up again.’”

PAWLENTY: “In what's a tricky issue right now, Tim Pawlenty tells the National Review if the debt ceiling has to be raised, it has to be raised, but only if it has to be raised,” GOP 12 writes. “I think they should exhaust the possibility of cuts before raising the debt ceiling again,” Pawlenty said in the interview.

The former governor writes in his new book that he watches hockey fights to relax, Politico notes. “Pawlenty has often used hockey metaphors during his tenure as governor. He says in the book that there are ‘unwritten rules and traditions at play in those fistfights on ice.’”

ROMNEY: “Former Governor Mitt Romney is on a weeklong trip to the Middle East for a series of high-level meetings, a trip that could help bolster his foreign policy credentials as he weighs a presidential run,” the Boston Globe reports. “Romney left on Friday for Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, according to senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom. He is planning to meet with President Karzai of Afghanistan, Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, and King Abdullah II of Jordan.”

SANTORUM: “Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum’s eighth exploratory trip to the state will include Tuesday night as the first guest at the home of Republican Senate candidate Ovide and Bettie Lamontagne starting a series of meet-and-greets with GOP wannabes,” the Nashua Telegraph reports.

IOWA: “Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are in a close contest for the hearts and minds of likely Iowa caucus-goers, according to a new poll of Iowa Republicans conducted by the GOP firm Neighborhood Research,” Politico reports.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: “New Hampshire may have to dig in its heels a bit to protect its first-in-the-nation primary status,” the Laconia Citizen writes. “But with a set date from the DNC and no specific mandate from the RNC, Nevada's Republican and Democratic caucuses have both been scheduled for Feb. 18, just four days after New Hampshire's Primary and, thusly, in conflict with New Hampshire state law. That law states that New Hampshire's primary must fall at least seven days before another state's.”

Carrie Dann writes: Media coverage of the shootings of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and at least 18 others over the last 24 hours has drawn parallels to wrenching examples in recent U.S. history, from the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (the gunning down of a charismatic young politician), to the Virginia Tech campus shooting spree (committed by a disturbed young man who left a clutter of disjoined digital ramblings to justify the unjustifiable).

But perhaps the most accessible comparison made in the aftermath of the gun rampage was to the 1995 bombing of an Oklahoma City federal building by a former soldier outraged at the government's handling of two raids on militia groups.

Similarities between the atmospheres surrounding both events were mentioned almost immediately.

On Saturday, Tea Party Nation leader Judson Phillips condemned the attack but warned that liberal voices would immediately blame political forces on the right - as he contends they did in the days after the 1995 attack.

"While we need to take a moment to extend our sympathies to the families of those who died, we cannot allow the hard left to do what it tried to do in 1995 after the Oklahoma City bombing," Phillips said.

With only a sliver of information yet known about the motivations of Tucson shooter Jared Loughner, any lines drawn between the 22-year old gunman and Oklahoma City mastermind Timothy McVeigh are sketchy at best. But the similarities between the political climate of the mid 1990s and now seem plain.

The Oklahoma City bombing - the 15th anniversary of which was commemorated last spring -- occurred not long after a wave election during which midterm voters rewarded Republicans who advocated for shrinking the role of the federal government. The bombing's chief architect, former soldier McVeigh, railed against government intrusion in American life but was spurred to violence after the federal government's siege of a white supremacist's cabin in northern Idaho and a subsequent fatal raid of the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, TX.

The truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building on April 19, 1995, killed 168 people, including 19 children. (McVeigh later told biographers that he considered assassinating elected officials but targeted the building instead because he believed that images of the carnage would make a bigger impact.)

Distrust of government, then and now
"What is it going to take to open the eyes of our elected officials? America is in serious decline!" McVeigh wrote in a 1992 letter to a New York newspaper.

Similar sentiments were not in short supply. Between late 1992 and October 1995, citizens' faith in their government had sunk to an all time low, with no national poll finding over 28 percent of respondents saying that they trusted federal authorities.

The lowest point in that era - a Gallup poll in April 1994 finding only 17 percent of Americans saying they trust the government -- was matched in 2008, and trust remains at historic lows among Republican voters today.

National sentiment about the Democratic president reflected that discontent. President Bill Clinton's approval ratings languished well below 50 percent in early April 1995, and, just one day before the Oklahoma attack, the president struggled to argue that he was still "relevant" after the midterm backlash the previous November.

Post-"shellacking" - Obama's chosen word for the beating Democrats took in the 2010 election - the president's approval ratings remain similarly stuck in the mid-40s.

Clinton's reaction
The political implications of the 1995 violence have obviously been on the minds of leaders of all ideological stripes.

The Tea Party Nation's Phillips alluded in his Saturday statement to accusations that Democrats, reeling from the "Republican Revolution" of 1994, unfairly pinned an attack by an unhinged extremist on bombastic right-wing commentators whose gleeful needling of the administration had focused anti-government sentiment.

In a speech in Minneapolis the week after the bombing, Clinton - without singling out any commentators by name -- denounced the "loud and angry" voices that aim to "keep some people as paranoid as possible and the rest of us all torn up and upset with each other."

"They spread hate, they leave the impression that, by their very words, that violence is acceptable," he said.

Radio host Rush Limbaugh responded by accusing Clinton and others of turning a massacre perpetrated by individuals into a means to target an entire political movement.

"Liberals intend to use this tragedy for their own political gain," he said.

In the days after the bombing, Clinton's approval rating jumped five percent, per Gallup's daily tracking number.

At least some voices on the left have noted that the 1995 attack opened the door for then-President Bill Clinton to vilify voices of discontent with the federal government -- a lesson that the White House could draw upon now.

"They need to deftly pin this on the tea partiers," a unnamed veteran Democratic operative told POLITICO, "Just like the Clinton White House deftly pinned the Oklahoma City bombing on the militia and anti-government people."

Near the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing in March of last year, Clinton again ruffled feathers on the right when he cautioned that suspicion of government that has energized some conservatives in recent years could echo the environment that spawned McVeigh.

"There can be real consequences when what you say animates people who do things you would never do," Clinton told the New York Times, adding that the proliferation of political messages on the Internet can activate individuals who are both "serious and seriously disturbed."

Chilling words
In remarks Saturday in the aftermath of the Tucson carnage, Obama shied away from characterizing the shooter or his motivations, and initial indications show that Loughner's anti-government ramblings appear to have been more vague and less targeted than those of the Oklahoma City bomber.

But Americans' understanding of McVeigh's actions and motives are likely to continue informing how the tragedy in Tucson is interpreted, and McVeigh's chilling words will continue to ring in the looming debate over the security of America's elected officials.

"You can't handle the truth," McVeigh told reporters shortly before his 2001 execution. "Because the truth is, I blew up the Murrah Building and isn't it kind of scary that one man could wreak this kind of hell?"

If one word summed up the past two years in American politics, it was this: anger.

Anger at the nation’s unemployment and all the foreclosures. Anger at President Obama and his health-care effort. Anger at the Tea Party.

And this anger sometimes manifested itself into over-the-top vitriolic rhetoric, especially coming from the right.

In the summer of 2009, we saw those rowdy, contentious town-hall meetings protesting the health legislation. We saw a few protestors carrying weapons and reciting Thomas Jefferson’s quote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

During the campaign season, we saw a Tea Party candidate for Congress produce an advertisement with the message “gather your armies”; we heard Nevada GOP Senate candidate Sharron Angle talking about “2nd Amendment remedies”; and we saw former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) create a “target” list with bulls eyes around vulnerable Democrats who voted for the health-care bill.

And in Arizona, Republican Ben Quayle, who won his congressional contest, ran an advertisement calling Obama the worst president in U.S. history and vowing to “knock the hell” out of Congress.

Of course, not all the over-the-top rhetoric came from the right (liberal Congressman Alan Grayson, who lost his bid for re-election, described his GOP opponent as “Taliban Dan” in one TV ad), and some of it wasn’t new (there were plenty of angry protests directed at George W. Bush’s presidency, and political duels and canings are chapters in the nation's history).

But the recent accumulation of political anger -- in addition to all the attention it received -- created a potent powder keg that was ripe to explode, as it did yesterday in Arizona, when a man opened fire at Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ (D) event for constituents, killing six and wounding 14 others --including Giffords, who remains in critical condition.

"We need to do some soul searching," Pima County (AZ) Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, a Democrat, said yesterday. "It's the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business.”

Dupnik added, "People tend to pooh-pooh this business about the vitriol that inflames American public opinion by the people who make a living off of that. That may be free speech but it's not without consequences."

To be sure, it appears that the alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, wasn’t a Tea Party protestor. A YouTube site that’s apparently his contains political rhetoric that’s far removed from either the political right or left. ("... I know who's listening: Government Officials, and the People. Nearly all the people, who don't know this accurate information of a new currency, aren't aware of mind control and brainwash methods. If I have my civil rights, then this message wouldn't have happen," the YouTube page says.)

And members from both political parties quickly -- and strongly -- condemned yesterday’s violence. "An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serves,” House Speaker John Boehner said on Sunday morning. “Such acts of violence have no place in our society.”

But the tragedy in Arizona raises this question: Does the political rhetoric from both sides now begin to change, at least in the short term?

Already, House Republicans -- who gained control of the chamber last week and who are committed to rolling back some of Obama’s legislative achievements -- have suspended all legislative activity for the coming week, including their vote to repeal the health-care law.

Or does the rhetoric worsen? As the New York Times’ Matt Bai writes, “The more pressing question, though, is where this all ends — whether we will begin to re-evaluate the piercing pitch of our political debate in the wake of Saturday’s shooting, or whether we are hurtling unstoppably into a frightening period more like the late 1960s.”

The shocking shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has Washington and the nation reeling, but the threat of violence is nothing new to the rising young star of the Arizona delegation.

The Arizona representative was among several members of Congress whose vote in favor of Obama's health care legislation sparked vandalism and threats by opponents of the bill.

Just a few hours after legislators - including Giffords - voted to approve Obama's controversial health care bill in March 2009, the front door of Giffords' office in Tuscon was smashed in by vandals.

Last August, Giffords aides called the police after a man dropped a gun at a similar town hall style event at a Safeway.

She was among at least 10 congressional Democrats who expressed concern about their personal security in the face of anonymous threats after voting in support of the health bill. Reps. Bart Stupak of Michigan, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, and Democratic congressional candidate Tom Periello of Virginia were among those receiving threatening messages related to their support of the bill.

At this time, Republicans noted that members of the GOP have also been the target of threats. Newly-named Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor said at the time that a bullet had been fired into his office, although the Richmond Police Department later determined that the gun had been fired into the air and not directly into the office window.

The AP on the horrific news from Arizona:

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in the head and an unknown number of others were wounded Saturday when
an assailant opened fire in an area where the lawmaker was meeting with constituents in Tucson, congressional officials said.

These officials said one of the victims died soon after the attack, and others were taken to a nearby hospital.

The officials said the wounded included some of Gifford's aides who were with her at the time. One official added the attack was carried out with an automatic weapon.

There's contradictory information about Giffords' status. As of 2:30 pm ET, sources told NBC News that she's in surgery and critical condition. But around 3:00 pm ET, the AP quoted someone from Giffords' office saying the congresswoman passed away.

Giffords first won her congressional seat in the Democratic wave in 2006, and she narrowly won re-election in the GOP wave last November against Tea Party-backed candidate Jesse Kelly, 49%-47%.

Giffords voted for the health-care legislation, as well as the cap-and-trade bill. But she voted against the stimulus.

McCain won her congressional district over Obama in 2008, 52%-46%.

*** UPDATE 4:00 pm ET *** At a press conference, it was revealed that Giffords is not dead. She is in critical condition. out of Surgery.

One patient dead is a child.

From NBC's Political Unit
Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro give their thoughts on which possible GOP presidential candidates might be the top contenders in 2012. The two also weigh in on the NFL playoffs.

Thanks to Pat Boston MA for submitting the topic via First Read.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Don't forget to submit questions for upcoming Boiler Room segments. Write questions below, post them on our Facebook page, or tweet them @NBCFirstRead or @mmurraypolitics or @DomenicoNBC.

Edited by Ali Weinberg. Video was shot by Alexandra Moe and Ali Weinberg.

From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and Mark Murray
GOP aides say Republican Congressmen Pete Sessions (who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee) and Mike Fitzpatrick sent this letter to colleagues late today to apologize for not being sworn in to the 112th Congress, but later participating in votes. They were sworn in later.

Dear (colleague)
As Members of Congress, we have no greater honor than the opportunity to serve our country by representing our constituents in the House of Representatives. The solemn trust we are elected to uphold - codified by our Constitution and sustained through generations of sacrifice - is a privilege we cherish and hold in the utmost regard.

As such, we are deeply committed to fulfilling our role in our constitutional democracy by
maintaining the integrity of the People's House. Our absence on the House floor during the oath of office ceremony for the 112th Congress - while not intentional - fell short of this standard by creating uncertainty regarding our standing in this body.

While we immediately took steps to rectify the situation, we understand that our error allowed the integrity of this great legislative body's proceedings to be called into question. We regret that this incident adversely affected House proceedings and apologize for any individual inconvenience our actions may have caused.

Pete Sessions (TX-32)
Member of Congress

Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08)
Member of Congress

A preview of the week ahead in politics: A new RNC chairman is likely, a vote on a repeal of health care, President Obama gets outside the Beltway, and Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) launches his national book tour.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

From NBC's Athena Jones
President Obama touted the lowest unemployment rate in 19 months during a visit to a Maryland window manufacturer, where he also announced changes to his economic team.

The jobless rate fell to 9.4 percent in December as a strong holiday shopping season helped boost hiring among retailers and the manufacturing, health care and hospitality sectors added jobs.

But the report was mixed. Overall, the economy created a lower-than-expected 103,000 jobs during the month, and it's unclear whether the drop in the unemployment rate will be sustained. The economy added 1.1 million jobs over the course of the last year, amounting to an average of 94,000 a month, a pace that many economists say must be doubled to significantly bring down the unemployment rate.

After touring Thompson Creek, a company that plans to take advantage of new tax provisions passed during the lame-duck session of Congress, Obama talked up the performance of the private sector.

"We know these unemployment numbers can bounce around from month to month, but the trend is clear," he said. "We saw 12-straight months of private-sector job growth. That's the first time that's been true since 2006."

The White House has said that jobs and the economy will take center stage this year as the president looks to accelerate recovery from the worst recession since the Great Depression.

He's almost certain to face resistance in the Republican-controlled Congress to any new spending to spur growth. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) called today's job numbers "encouraging," but said new policies were needed to reduce uncertainty, restore confidence, cut spending and grow the economy.

Economic team moves
Today, the president looked to a veteran presidential adviser who has had success in the area of economic policy in the past. He named Gene Sperling, currently serving as counselor to the treasury secretary, to replace Larry Summers as head the National Economic Council. Sperling served in the same role under President Clinton.

"One of the reasons I've selected Gene is he's done this before," Obama said. "In his tenure in the Clinton administration in the late 90s, he helped formulate the policies that contributed to turning deficits to surpluses and a time of prosperity and progress for American families in a sustained way."

Jason Furman, who was already on the president's economic team, has been promoted to assistant to the president for economic policy and principal deputy director of the National Economic Council. Obama also nominated Katharine Abraham as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers and Heather Higginbottom as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The new staff announcements are part of a "major retooling" meant to breathe new energy and bring new ideas and fresh perspectives to the White House as the president looks ahead to the 2012 presidential campaign.

Yesterday, Obama tapped William Daley, who served as commerce secretary in the Clinton administration, as his new chief of staff. That move was expected to help strengthen ties with the business community -- which has nearly $2 trillion sitting on the sidelines that the White House wants to see invested to help jumpstart job growth.

The president plans to continue his outreach to the business community with a speech Feb. 7 at the Chamber of Commerce and he made a point at the Daley announcement of saying his fellow Chicagoan had led major corporations and had "a deep understanding of how jobs are created and how to grow our economy."

"Making it possible for businesses to succeed is how we ensure that our economy succeeds and all our people succeed. It's how we create jobs and that's what's guided my administration over the past two years," Obama said Friday.

More staff changes will be announced in the coming weeks, including a replacement for White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who is moving to an office a few blocks away to become a paid consultant to the president.

Obama also used his trip to the window manufacturer to urge more companies to follow its lead in taking advantage of a new tax provision that allows companies to deduct 100 percent of investments in equipment for the next two years, a provision the Treasury Department estimates will accelerate $150 billion in tax cuts for 2 million businesses over the next two years and help lower the average cost of investment by more than 75 percent.

"It is a great opportunity for companies to grow and add jobs," he said. "Now is the time to act. Companies who are listening out there, if you are planning or thinking about making investments some time in the future, make those investments now and you're gonna save money and that will help us grow the economy."

From NBC's Shawna Thomas
The four minutes of debate on NRCC Chair Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Rep. Mike Fitzptrick's (R-PA) "Oath Oops" were led by a spirited Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and Rules Chairman David Dreier (R-CA)

Weiner contended that the resolution was not in compliance with the GOP's own rules because it was not posted for three days for members and the public to peruse. One GOP aide said the three-day rule doesn't apply to this resolution, because "it deals with internal House business."

Weiner took it a step further by saying even the resolution acknowledges that the House "violated the Constitution" on the very first day because two people who were not Members of Congress took votes.

Dreier said in his brief remarks, "Any member that does not vote in favor of this resolution is allowing the problem to persist."

The resolution passed on a vote of 257-159 with Sessions, Fitzpatrick and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) voting present. A few moderate Democrats like Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) and Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) voted in favor of the resolution.

With the passage of the resolution, Oath-gate is resolved. What doesn't seem to be resolved though is the nature of the event both members were at when they missed the oath on the floor.

Fitzpatrick's office said the event "was not a fundraiser, it was a reception for folks who traveled to DC to watch the swearing-in." But an invitation for the event appears to solicit donations and the Sunlight Foundation is now asking questions about the nature of the event and whether Fitzpatrick broke House Ethics rules on the first day of Congress.

But if he technically wasn't a member when the event was happening, it's unclear if the Ethics Committee has any jurisdiction.

New year... new Congress... new Inside the Boiler Room! Got a question for Mark and Domenico? Post it below!

From NBC's Shawna Thomas
Currently, the House is debating the rule for the repeal of health-care reform. We expect the vote to happen around this morning. This is a procedural vote and will pass. It will clear the way for debate to start on the health-care repeal bill on Tuesday. The debate will conclude on Wednesday, which is when we expect the final vote on repeal to happen.

Once the rule passes, the House will take up four minutes -- yes, four minutes -- of debate on a resolution to deal with the fact that Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) weren't sworn-in when they participated in legislative actions on Tuesday and Wednesday. That resolution is expected to disqualify any votes they took before they were sworn in.

*** UPDATE *** The rule for the health care repeal passed.
Yeas: 236
Nays: 181
Present: 2

From Msnbc.com's Carrie Dann
The good government nerds are not happy.

President Barack Obama’s selection of Bill Daley -- a former JP Morgan Chase and SBC Communications executive with the most famous last name in Chicago -- to be his top aide has re-assembled a bevy of critics on the left who have recently griped about Obama’s recent overtures to business groups.

Daley’s selection has riled many of the same groups -- including MoveOn.org and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee -- who grumbled at Obama’s inability to force the expiration of the Bush tax cuts for top earners. But the selection is also causing unease among another nonpartisan groups in Washington that have typically given the president a fairly favorable report card.

“Good government” organizations -- which advocate for federal transparency, accountability, and independence from special interests -- are fretting that Obama’s decision to install Daley as his top aide shows that the White House is turning a blind eye to its own commitment to clean and open government.

Paul Blumenthal of the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, which advocates for government openness, says that Obama’s selection of Daley violates the spirit of his White House’s promise to choke the easy access of special interests to the highest levels of government power.

And that’s becoming a pattern, he added.

“They choose where to enforce [rules for special interests] and where not to,” says Paul Blumenthal of the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, “And it seems fairly arbitrary in a lot of instances.”

Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for campaign reform organization Common Cause, warned that Daley’s ties to several of the nation’s most prominent corporations could signal a speeding up -- not a jamming -- of the “revolving door” between government and lobbyists.

“We hope that this is not a retreat in any way from when Obama took office and made very significant steps in terms of putting a firewall between special interests and the White House,” said Boyle, “We’ll be watching.”

At the beginning of his presidency, Obama won accolades from ethics groups for instituting a ban on registered lobbyists serving in federal agencies which they had lobbied within the previous two years. He also ordered that political appointees who leave government cannot lobby executive branch officials for the remainder of his administration.

But the author of those directives, ethics counsel Norm Eisen, departed his job as the White House’s transparency “czar” in favor of an ambassadorship. Obama’s OMB Director Peter Orszag, once a champion of more comprehensive public spending data, is now a banking executive at Citigroup.

In recent months, Blumenthal said, some of the most promising online transparency projects backed by those allies in the administration have since fizzled.

“Overall, the language and the intentions have been incredibly positive, but a lot of the initiatives that we’ve seen -- the Open Government initiative, Data.gov, a lot of other things to present information to the public -- have really crashed to a halt,” he said.

Unemployment rate drops to 9.4%, as economy added 103,000 jobs last month… Obama to speak on the economy at 11:35 am ET, and to unveil Gene Sperling as his new top economic adviser… The House GOP’s lost second day in power… More from the Boehner-Williams interview… The biggest short-term impact of the Daley hire: highlighting the emerging truce between the White House and business… Two other points about Daley: 1) Republicans are happy with the pick, and 2) Daley, as a former Commerce secretary, will probably be effective in utilizing the Obama cabinet… And more on the new Daley-Plouffe regime.

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Unemployment rate drops: As we wrote at the beginning of the week, the most important political story -- at least as it relates to 2012 -- isn’t which party controls Congress or who serves as the White House’s chief of staff. Rather, it’s the strength of the U.S. economy and labor market. And the verdict from today’s December jobs report? Here’s the AP: “Unemployment rate falls to 9.4 percent, lowest since May 2009, as businesses boost hiring.” That’s the good news. The slightly disappointing news was that the economy added 103,000 jobs last month, which was a bit below expectations (though October’s and November’s numbers were revised upward). Yet the unemployment rate is what has the psychological and political effect on the American public. President Obama will deliver remarks on the economy in Landover, MD at 11:35 am ET, and it will be there where he’ll announce Clinton administration veteran (and current Treasury adviser) Gene Sperling is replacing Larry Summers as head of the National Economic Council.

*** House Republicans’ lost day: Wednesday was a triumphant day for House Republicans, as they formally took control of the chamber. Thursday? Well, not so much. The day began with the news of the independent Congressional Budget Office declaring that the House GOP effort to repeal the health-care law would add $230 billion to the deficit over 10 years. (House Speaker John Boehner’s response: “CBO is entitled to their opinion.”) Then came a birther’s highly publicized disruption of their reading of the U.S. Constitution, as well as complaints that the reading omitted some of the document’s controversial past like its three-fifths clause for blacks. And then we found out that two Republicans -- including the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Pete Sessions -- skipped their swearing in, which temporarily threw a wrench into the GOP’s timeline for bringing the health-care repeal to the floor. It was a lost second day for the House GOP; they still had everyone’s attention and stumbled. (UPDATE: By the way, the Democratic National Committee is out with a Web video entitled, "Broken Promises," hitting the House GOP.)

*** An additional gaffe: The Hill reports also the reading of the Constitution got muffed: “The U.S. Constitution has still never been read in its entirety and in order on the House floor. During Thursday morning’s ‘historic reading,’ one member apparently skipped Article 4 Section 4 and part of Article 5 Section 1 when he or she inadvertently turned two pages at once.” Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who was in charge of the reading, “returned to the House floor at 2:23 p.m., more than two hours after the error occurred, read the missing sections, and placed them officially in the congressional record.”

*** More from the Boehner-Williams interview: Here’s more from Speaker Boehner’s interview yesterday with NBC’s Brian Williams. On being an emotional guy: “Listen, it's who I am. You know, there are some things I feel very strongly about. And you probably heard that I don't take myself very seriously. But I take what I do very seriously. And when it comes to kids. When it comes to my own family. Soldiers. You know, I get, I feel very strongly that I want America to be the country that I grew up in.” On what he does for strength: “I pray. I pray from the moment I wake up… I get strength every day just going to my Facebook site.” On what he meant by the “scar tissue” between Democrats and Republicans: “Partisanship. Inability of members to work across the aisle. The heated rhetoric from each side of the aisle.” On his smoking habit: “Well, it just is what it is. That's my take on it. You know, it's a bad habit. I wish I didn't have it. But I have it.”

*** Boehner on Obama and the BP spill: Here’s Boehner on Obama: “Well, I have a good relationship with the president. We get along fine. I wouldn't say we're particularly close. But I want to have a good relationship with the president. As I said yesterday, I do believe there are ways to disagree without being disagreeable to each other. And I would hope that we would be able to find common ground.” And Boehner on the BP spill: “We've got the Minerals Management Service that was charged with hundreds of laws when it comes to offshore drilling. Not only did BP fail, but the federal government failed as well. There has to be a better way of protecting our environment without driving up and having excessive cost.”

*** The Obama-business truce: The biggest short-term impact the Bill Daley hire is having so far is highlighting the emerging truce between the Obama White House and business. In fact, the Wall Street Journal notes that the détente began with the South Korean free-trade agreement. "The administration took some positive steps recently, striking a bipartisan agreement to extend current tax rates, moving the ball forward on the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement, and reaching out to the business community," U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue told the Journal. "We're not going to agree on everything, but there's a lot we can get done for the American people." This budding truce probably is beneficial for both Team Obama (because it realizes that it can’t win re-election with the perception that it’s anti-business) and the Chamber (because not all of its members were 100% behind its scorched-earth campaign in ’10).

*** Two more points on Daley: A couple of additional points on the Daley hire. One, Republicans are over-the-moon happy with the selection. Here was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, per NBC’s Ken Strickland: “There's nobody down at the White House who'd ever even run a lemonade stand. There all college professors and former elected officials. This is a guy who's actually been out in the private sector, been a part of business. Frankly, my first reaction is that sounds like a good idea." Two, as a former cabinet official, Daley will probably know how to utilize the Obama cabinet better than it’s been utilized over the past two years. As former Clinton CoS John Podesta told NBC News: “I think the choice of a former cabinet secretary himself actually is an important one, and one that represents the thinking of the administration that they have a lot of ability and capacity to move the country -- and it’s not just a congressional Hill game anymore.” Daley will be more of an outside player, not just being responsive to business -- but responsive to mayors, governors, and all of the aspects the executive branch needs to do if they want to get their re-election efforts up to snuff.

*** New Order: Bottom line on the new White House staff shuffle: It’s Daley and David Plouffe -- and then everyone else. Indeed, it will be much more top-down than the previous regime. By the way, it’s Plouffe -- and not Daley -- who will lead the search for a new White House press secretary; Daley will have input, but the communications aspect of the White House falls under Plouffe and he'll have the biggest say.

Countdown to the RNC chair election: 7 days
Countdown Chicago’s mayoral election: 46 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 305 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 395 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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The Washington Post front-pages the Daley hire. "William M. Daley has the deep political experience one would expect in a top White House hire: scion of a Chicago political dynasty, adviser to numerous presidential candidates, former Cabinet secretary who also relishes exerting influence behind the scenes. But in turning to Daley as his new chief of staff on Thursday, President Obama was looking as much at the other pages of his resume. With extensive experience as a businessman and Wall Street executive, Daley comes to the administration positioned to help the president rebuild his frayed relationship with the corporate world."

The New York Times: "Mr. Daley’s recruitment to Pennsylvania Avenue from the corporate boardroom is seen as a smart step by some in Washington, who argue that Mr. Obama has long needed a White House confidant who has the ear of the business community and a record of bipartisanship that might help the president negotiate with Republicans in Congress."

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell praised Obama’s pick of Bill Daley to be chief of staff, calling it a “hopeful sign.”

The New York Daily News’ headline on the Daley news: “Obama swings to center with pick of pro-business Chicagoan Bill Daley to run White House.”

The Hill describes today’s announcement of Gene Sperling as President Obama’s top economic adviser this way: “The appointment is another step by the White House to move to the center and to improve Obama's relationship with business.”

“Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the Pentagon will seek $78 billion in cuts to the defense budget over the next five years in a surprise move that will reduce the size of the Army and Marine Corps,” The Hill writes. “If carried out by the administration, the plan will institute the first freeze on military spending since before the terrorist attacks of 2001.”

Per the New York Times, "The Obama administration offered a proposal on Thursday to allow long-haul Mexican trucks to move cargo in the United States. The proposal, which the Mexican government greeted as a positive step, was the latest sign of a new willingness by the Obama administration to support free-trade measures backed by Republicans and by businesses despite objections from labor unions and other liberal constituencies."

Here’s the Day 2 headline on GOP rule of the House from The Hill: “New House majority hits some turbulence.” “The House GOP majority hit some significant turbulence in its first week in charge, attracting negative headlines for not allowing amendments to the health repeal law and a bizarre chain of events that led to two of its members attempting to be sworn in by watching the ceremony on TV,” The Hill notes.

Pete Sessions and Mike Fitzpatrick, who weren’t sworn in but voted eight times, were attending an event at the Capitol Visitor Center, titled, “Fitzpatrick’s Swearing-In Celebration.” Roll Call notes: “Fitzpatrick’s campaign website listed a $30 fee for transportation costs for the festivities. In addition, more than 200 people who did not ride the buses attended the event for free, Smith said. According to a copy of CVC rules, the space may not be used for ‘political activities, including political campaign, political party, or political action committees activities.’”

“In his scramble Thursday to address votes taken by Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) before they were sworn in to the 112th Congress, Rules Chairman David Dreier proposed nullifying the votes,” Roll Call reports, but adds, “In lieu of a unanimous consent agreement to address the problem, which had been discussed, the committee will continue its work on the repeal bill and deal with the issue as part of the rule Friday, according to Dreier. The committee had met for more than six hours and had heard from several witnesses on the repeal bill Thursday. Committee Democrats questioned the constitutionality of Dreier’s efforts.” Ranking member Louise Slaughter argued they should postpone the hearing and address it on the House floor, but Dreier dismissed that, “saying that ‘the full House will address this’ when it considers the proposed rule.”

And how’s this for irony: “Under the Constitution, which was read on the House floor Thursday, only sworn Members of Congress are allowed to conduct official business, and Sessions and Fitzpatrick voted eight times each before the problem was discovered.”

National Journal’s Ron Brownstein calls this the “Benjamin Button” Congress. “Film (and literature) fans will recall that Benjamin Button lived his life backward, from old to young. Likewise, in the months ahead, Washington will relive many of the debates of Obama’s first two years -- only in reverse, as the new GOP majority tries to unravel his key policy achievements.”

“The general assumption in Washington is that this dynamic will place Obama on the defensive through 2012. And it’s undeniably true that the president will be forced to fight many rearguard actions to protect such initiatives as health care reform. But early indications are that the White House also see these Benjamin Button debates as a chance to take the offense for 2012 -- and to launch a renewed and reframed effort to contrast Obama’s vision of government’s role.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he anticipates his caucus to be on offense: “We anticipate that the House of Representatives are going to pass a lot of legislation that virtually all of my Members are going to be enthusiastic about,” McConnell said at a news conference following the retreat. “I think the real question is: How many of the 23 Democrats who are up in ’12 are going to be more interested in cooperating with us in trying to advance an agenda that’s going to come out of the House of Representatives that we think is going to be largely favored by the American people? … So we don’t start with the notion that we’re going to be on defense. We start with the notion that we may well be on offense.”

The House passed a bill to cut 5% of its budgets.

Republicans also “introduced a bill on Wednesday to rein in the various ‘czars’ in the Obama administration.”

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says the goal is to win back the House: "I have been the minority leader before, and I put forth a plan for us to win the House for the American people and we succeeded," she told CNN. "I know how to do that, and we intend to do that again."

In National Journal, former Bush ’04 strategist Matthew Dowd sets the over-under for Obama’s re-election at a 50% approval rating and an 8.4% unemployment rate. “[F]or today, the most important reelection question is where the economy will be in 18 months and whether folks believe that their community is better off. If the jobs numbers don’t improve significantly, neither will Obama’s job-approval rating. If that’s the case, the president could locate his headquarters on Mars and it wouldn’t make a difference.”

GOP 12 notes that on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Karl Rove said Chris Christie and Marco Rubio should pass on 2012 bids. “You know, Governor Christie has been in office for less than a year. Marco Rubio has just taken the oath of office. Both of them are saying 'I got things to do,” Rove said.

BARBOUR: The Mississippi governor addressed Senate Republicans during their annual retreat yesterday at the Library of Congress. He told Roll Call, “Last year’s election was a repudiation of Obama’s policies; pure and simple, there’s no argument about that. Everybody recognizes that. The public expects you to stay true to that. He added, “The Republicans are not in control. We can’t all get together and change laws, change policy -- because we have a Democratic president, we have a Democratic majority in the Senate. People need to align their expectations with reality.”

DANIELS: The Washington D.C. rounds made by the Indiana governor the last few days “came just a few days after another reminder that his family is concerned about the media intrusion that comes along with a presidential bid, and his concern for his family -- a detail that led some media outlets to conclude that he doesn't sound all that interested in the White House,” Real Clear Politics observes. “The back-and-forth continues to keep the political class buzzing.”

GINGRICH: “Potential presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, the former U.S. House Speaker, is scheduled to speak at a St. Patrick’s Day charity breakfast in Nashua, an event organizer tells WMURPoliticalScoop.com... Officially it is called the “Wild Irish Breakfast” and is a must attend joke-fest for the local political community. Previous speakers of the event have included Mitt Romney and Pat Buchanan."

GIULIANI: The New York Post gossip column, Page Six: “Confident that he'd have a chance to win, Rudy Giuliani is rounding up his top political advisers for a possible 2012 presidential run, sources tell Page Six.”

PAWLENTY: Oh, snap. In an interview with Politics Daily, Tim Pawlenty was asked about rumors that his fellow Minnesotan Michele Bachmann might run for president: “"Well, it's a free country. Anyone can run that's over the age of 35. I have respect for Michele Bachm

On ABC’s “Nightline” yesterday, Pawlenty spoke about his presidential ambitions. “There is no doubt in my mind I'd be prepared to be president," he told ‘Nightline.’ I haven't made a final decision as to whether I'm gonna run yet. ... I'll make the final decision and an announcement about running for president probably in March-April time frame.” Asked what he thought about Sarah Palin and being in a potential primary with her, Pawlenty said, “It's fair to say she is somebody who's got a lot of influence and can use it for good, if she chooses to… I've got a long way to go to get people to even know my name, much less worrying about whether I could beat, you know, the force of nature that is Sarah Palin.”

ROMNEY: “Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney holds a commanding lead in New Hampshire in the early stages of the race for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination, according to a new survey commissioned by NH Journal and conducted by Magellan Strategies,” NH Journal writes.

“Despite Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) calling Connecticut GOP Chairman Chris Healy to promote Maria Cino for chairman of the Republican National Committee, Healy has endorsed Saul Anuzis for chairman,” Roll Call reports.

“Six top Republican contributors -- five of them past RNC finance chairmen -- sent a letter [yesterday] to members of the committee detailing the party's financial problems and urging them to pick a new chair to replace Michael Steele,” Politico’s Ben Smith reports.

Here’s the latest Hotline whip count for RNC Chair: Priebus 33, Steele 17, Anuzis 14, Wagner 14, Cino 8. 86 declared, 82 undecided. (Wagner picked up two more before its latest whip count was updated.)

From NBC's Shawna Thomas and Domenico Montanaro
The woman, who interrupted the reading of the Constitution during the section on presidential birth requirements to protest President Obama's qualifications to serve in the office, was arrested, according to the U.S. Capitol Police.

Theresa Cao, 48, of New York, was charged with unlawful conduct, disruption of Congress.

Slate reported earlier that Cao is "a birther activist and supporter of court-martialed birther Lt. Col. Terry Lakin. On December 16, she told WorldNetDaily that she was 'taking his message to the White House and Congress.'"

From NBC's Savannah Guthrie and Domenico Montanaro
President Obama will name Gene Sperling head of his National Economic Council, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Sperling, who was the head of the council under former President Clinton, would replace Larry Summers.

Sperling is currently counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

The president will make the announcement tomorrow during his visit to Thompson Creek Manufacturing in Landover, MD, a window manufacturer. While there, the president will also tour the facility and comment on the monthly employment report.

Updated 5:42 pm

From NBC's Shawna Thomas and Domenico Montanaro
Three would-be members of Congress were never sworn in yesterday, including National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, which could have an impact on when the health care repeal bill is brought to the floor.

The Texas Republican is a member of the Rules Committee, which has been engrossed all day in debating how to bring the health-care repeal bill to the floor. Debate on the bill is supposed to begin tomorrow, and it is supposed to be voted on Wednesday.

But the news that Sessions -- who participated in debate and votes today in committee -- wasn't sworn in could throw a wrench into that timeline.

The Rules Committee hastily recessed when Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-CA) found out Sessions never took the oath, and Speaker John Boehner interrupted speeches on the floor this afternoon to swear in Sessions and Republican freshman Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (PA). But any votes either of them participated in during the last day-and-a-half could be null.

(Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) was the third person not sworn in, but he filed a leave of absence with the Clerk's office for yesterday and didn't participate in any votes. He was sworn-in by Boehner before the reading of the Constitution this morning.)

Dreier is now waiting for Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to agree to allow a unanimous consent motion to the floor to retroactively allow everything these two members have already done to stand.

Where were they when the oath was administered yesterday? With supporters in the Congressional Visitor's Center, according to the Bucks County Courier Times. "Wednesday, a sea of about 500 supporters overwhelmed a large room in the Capitol and caught a break when the Bucks County native took the oath of office in front of them rather than on the House floor," the paper writes.

Sessions' office provided this statement:

"During the swearing in of the 112th Congress, Congressman Sessions stated the oath publicly in the Capitol but was not on the House floor. To ensure that all constitutional and House requirements are fulfilled, Congressman Sessions officially took the oath of office this afternoon from the House floor. Public records and votes will be adjusted accordingly."

*** UPDATE *** From NBC's Shawna Thomas and Luke Russert
The Rules Committee has reconvened, and Dreier has attempted to address the problem of one of his members not quite being a member of the House. Dreier said, “Mr. Sessions and Mr. Fitzpatrick took the oath yesterday. However, under Jefferson’s Standard of collegiality, one is to be in the proximity of the Speaker of the House when taking the oath.” He continued, ““When we report out this rule, we will take the steps to vitiate whatever votes were cast by those two members would obviously have not been in order because they were not standing the chamber.”

According to Dreier’s Press Secretary Jo Maney, this will probably be in the form of a resolution that is part of the rule that will have to be voted on separately by the House of Representatives. The resolution should also fix any issues that may arise from Sessions taking part in Rules Committee proceedings.

However, Ranking Member of the Rules Committee Louise Slaughter (D-NY) wasn’t so sure the problem was fixed. Slaughter said that she was “anxious” about the process and did “not want to be in any risk on anything that could go against the Constitution.” She told Dreier that the Committee should “recess and start over.”

Dreier chose to go on with the hearing without Sessions. Since Sessions wasn’t a member yesterday, he isn’t technically a member of the Rules Committee until the resolution is passed to fix this convoluted problem.

From Msnbc.com's Carrie Dann and NBC's Ali Weinberg
Even as it exposes fault lines in the new Republican caucus, a looming clash over the federal government’s borrowing power could serve as a major bargaining chip for Republicans hoping to force President Barack Obama to green light major spending cuts.

Some conservative Republicans have urged their GOP colleagues to resist raising the ceiling -- which currently clocks in at $14.3 trillion -- under any circumstances. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is collecting signatures on her PAC's website "to force our elected officials to stop spending cold turkey," and Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina has advocated for a "big showdown" with Democrats by blocking the raise.

But House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan says that tactic isn't viable. "Just refusing to vote for it, I don't think that's really a strategy," he said, noting that a failure to raise the ceiling could result in the nation defaulting on its debts to investors.

"Will the debt ceiling be raised? Does it have to be raised? Yes," he said at an event sponsored by economics21 and the Manhattan Institute at the National Press Club Thursday.

But Ryan suggested that Republicans can tweak some specifics of the move - how many years the increase covers, for example. And, more importantly, they can tack on requirements for deep spending cuts as a condition of passage. "I want to make sure we get substantial spending cuts and controls in exchange for raising the debt ceiling," he said.

In a letter to Congress Thursday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner called on lawmakers to act swiftly to raise the debt limit, calling a default "unthinkable" and warning that it could cost "millions of American jobs."

Congress may be able to hammer out a deal on a debt ceiling increase, but Republicans have made clear that compromise with Democrats is still likely to be the exception, not the rule, in the 112^th Congress.

House Republicans say they are determined to vote on repealing Obama’s health care reform law, despite CBO estimates that say the bill would actually reduce the deficit by $145 billion by the end of this decade.

Ryan said that Democrats omitted several high-cost aspects of the bill when submitting it to the CBO for scoring, like the cost of implementation and the "doc fix" provision that sustains high levels of Medicare payments.

"It's not CBO that did the book cooking, it's Democrats that wrote the bill that they gave to CBO that cooked the books," Ryan said.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor today called the CBO figure "full of budget gimmickry" and defended the merits of holding a vote to repeal the bill, saying it showed that Democratic-controlled Senate “wants to continue to be the impediment for results."

In addition to a continued battle over the health care law, Ryan said that the Budget Committee would hold "lots of hearings" over federal assistance to fiscally troubled states, adding that a bailout would not be on the table.

"Should taxpayers in frugal states have to bail out taxpayers in profligate states?" Ryan asked, using Indiana and California as his respective examples, potentially foreshadowing a coastal-versus-heartland battle to come.

And the hearings on fiscal issues won't stop there, Ryan added.

Referring to the Fed foe set to become chairman of the House subcommittee on monetary policy, Ryan quipped: "I'm sure Ron Paul has a few plans of his own."

From NBC's Athena Jones
Calling him "an experienced public servant," a "devoted patriot" and "my friend," President Obama named William Daley to serve as his chief of staff on Thursday.

Daley, a fellow Chicagoan who served as commerce secretary under President Clinton, replaces Rahm Emanuel, who left the position to run for mayor of the Windy City.

"Few Americans can boast the breadth of experience that bill brings to this job," Obama told an East Room audience packed with White House staffers. "He's led major corporations. he possesses a deep understanding of how jobs are created and how to grow our economy."

Today's much-anticipated announcement is part of what White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who is leaving his position next month, has called a "major retooling" aimed and bringing in fresh voices and new perspectives from outside of the White House. More announcements will be made about changes to the West Wing staff in the coming weeks. The White House is set to name members of a reshaped economic team tomorrow.

Obama praised Pete Rouse, who had been serving as interim chief of staff and who will become counselor to the president, as did Daley when he spoke briefly after the announcement to thank the president for giving him the opportunity to serve.

"I assure you, Mr. President, as they have done in the last two years that this team will not let you down or the nation," Daley said, referring to the White House staff.

Daley was instrumental in getting the North American Free Trade Agreement passed by Congress and could help usher through the president's free trade agreement with South Korea, a deal the White House says will boost annual exports of American goods by $11 billion, supporting at least 70,000 American jobs.

He also ran Al Gore's unsuccessful 2000 campaign for the presidency and worked most recently as an executive at J.P. Morgan Chase. He is considered a centrist who could help strengthen the White House's relationship with the business community.

The president's pick has already sparked negative reaction from some progressives.

"This was a real mistake by the White House. Bill Daley consistently urges the Democratic Party to pursue a corporate agenda that alienates both Independent and Democratic voters," said Adam Green, co-founder, Progressive Change Campaign Committee at BoldProgressives.org. "If President Obama listens to that kind of political advice from Bill Daley, Democrats will suffer a disastrous 2012."

The liberal organization MoveOn also disapproved of what it called Daley's "close ties to the Big Banks and Big Business" and said his appointment at a time when Wall Street was reporting record profits and middle class Americans were still struggling sent the wrong message to America.

"Americans are looking to the White House for economic plans that will create jobs and reign in Wall Street's excesses, and it's up to Daley to prove that he's not carrying water in the White House for the big banks that took our economy over the cliff," a statement from the group's Executive Director Justin Ruben read in part. "As the President continues to reshuffle his staff, particularly his economic team, it is now more important than ever that he focuses on rebuilding a middle class and developing policies that create more jobs on Main Street, not on Wall Street."

But noted liberal and former presidential candidate Howard Dean expressed support for Daley in an interview on MSNBC.

"He will be conservative by Democratic standards, but he knows Washington," Dean said. "He's not of Washington. He gets what the rest of the country is thinking and I think that is very, very important in this White House."