Illinois congressman Rahm Emanuel has opted to accept President-Elect Barack Obama's offer to be his White House Chief-of-Staff, sources say.

It was rumored even before the election that Barack Obama was considering Rahm Emanuel for the position of White House Chief-of-Staff, and now, less than 24 hours after Obama became President-Elect, there is news that Emanuel is mulling over the offer.

A draft Committee report circulated by Chairman Waxman finds that in the months before the 2006 elections, the White House Office of Political Affairs “enlisted agency heads across government in a coordinated effort to elect Republican candidates to Congress,” directing them “to make hundreds of trips – most at taxpayer expense – for the purpose of increasing the electability of Republicans.”

The United States is not about to attack Iran, the White House said on Tuesday, amid spiralling international tensions over the Islamic Republic's suspect nuclear programme

The White House has released portions of a classified intelligence report that says Al-Qaeda is regrouping and planning to increase its efforts to attack the United States.

The White House has rejected an appeal from two prominent Senate Republicans for a new approach to the Iraq war. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports the senators want the president to draft a revised war plan.

Budget Director Rob Portman is resigning and President Bush intends to name former Iowa Rep. Jim Nussle as his replacement, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.

Think Progress is reporting that the Department of Justice has released new documents connecting former White House political chief (and top aid to Karl Rove) Sara Taylor and her deputy Scott Jennings to the U.S. Attorney scandal. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy has released the following statement.

Scooter Libby (lewis libby) - a former high-ranking White House staffer has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after being convicted of lying to investigators probing the high-profile case of a CIA agent whose identity was leaked to the news media. Michael Bowman reports from Washington.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto says Washington wants to move swiftly to nominate a new president of the World Bank.

Closed door negotiations between the White House and congressional leaders on a bill to continue funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ended Friday without agreement. Both sides still hope to reach a deal by the end of the month, as VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.