VOL. 4 NO. 156 POLITIthursday, december 9, 2010CO www.politico.com Tax-Cut Deal Biden Is Gains Steam Obama’s On Capitol Hill Newest Democrats fall in line behind Go-To Guy Obama’s compromise with GOP

By Ca r r i e Bu d o f f Br o w n a n d Jo n a t h a n Al l e n At Capitol A wave of new Democratic support Wednesday Replaces Emanuel signaled that President Barack Obama’s deal to re- new the Bush tax cuts would make it through Con- as W.H. emissary gress, as long as most Republicans lined up behind it as expected. By Ca r o l E. Le e With Democrats in both chambers still angry about a n d Jo h n Br e s n a h a n parts of the package, the administration scrambled to allay concerns and build momentum for the un- With Capitol Hill increasingly usual deal with congressional Republicans reached hostile territory for President Ba- this week. By the end of the day, the measure looked rack Obama, Vice President Joe increasingly likely to pass, as Democrats stepped Biden seems ready to take the place of the departed Rahm Emanuel as See tax cuts on Page 19 the one senior administration of- ficial who can deliver the White House’s position — good news or bad — to members and senators of both parties. House Slashes White House officials say it’s the same role the vice president, who served nearly four decades in the Obama Budget Senate, has played since the start of the administration. But in the But W.H. gains more control absence of Emanuel, who formerly served as Obama’s chief of staff and By Da v i d Ro g e r s as a House member, no one in the West Wing matches Biden when it The House narrowly approved a stripped-down comes to his ties on the Hill, depth budget bill Wednesday evening, cutting nearly $46 of knowledge on how Congress billion from President Barack Obama’s requests in works and having the members’ order to hold total governmentwide appropriations trust on both sides of the aisle. to no more than the current $1.09 trillion level. Obama gave Biden a pivotal Unprecedented in its scope, the measure barely role in the tax-cut talks on the survived a 207-206 procedural vote when senior Dem- Hill, making him the lead negotia- ocrats on the House Judiciary Committee suddenly tor with Senate Minority Leader broke ranks to protest Guantanamo-related lan- Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Biden is guage in the package. Party leaders, caught off-guard, also the point person on the White AP See budget on Page 13 Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared cordial after meeting. See biden on Page 20 ‘Don’t Ask’ Heads Toward Will GOP Regret Dramatic Senate Endgame Earmark Ban?

By Jo s h Ge r s t e i n Reid said Wednesday he in- By Ja k e Sh e r m a n a n d Sc o t t Wo n g tended to bring up the defense ap budget bill containing “don’t ask, After agreeing to kill earmarks, some of the most The long-running legislative don’t tell” repeal language after See conservative GOP lawmakers are already starting saga over whether to repeal the the lame-duck Senate completed ALSO to ask themselves: What have we done? military’s ban on gays in uniform votes on four other pieces of legis- New Appropria- Indeed, many Republicans are now worried that seems headed to a dramatic end- lation in the afternoon, but those tions Chairman the bridges in their districts won’t be fixed, the tar- game, with Senate Majority Lead- votes slipped into the evening. Hal Rogers has iff relief to the local chemical company isn’t coming er Harry Reid threatening to call a “We have a lot of things to do in a a long history and the water systems might not be built without a vote on the issue this week despite short period of time,” said the Ne- of earmarking. little direction from Congress. john shinkle — politico serious misgivings from those who vada Democrat. Page 14 So some Republicans are discussing exemptions Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid fear the timing could doom efforts steps up push for DADT vote. to unwind the 17-year-old policy. See DADT on Page 13 See earmarks on Page 14 inside Simon Says Tech POLITICS National Click At 61, Elizabeth Edwards dies too Democratic FCC commissioner Already, Dems are targeting some Christmas The lighting of the National Christ- young, her gravitas regained. wants higher broadcast standards. incoming House Republicans. Tree mas Tree takes an all-star cast. PAGE 4 PAGE 6 PAGE 23 ap PAGE 29