The Slatest

It looks like President Obama is about to have another Cabinet position to fill. Sources tell both Bloomberg and Politico that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plans to step down from his post at the end of this month.

The timing makes it likely that he won't be around for the next fight over raising the debt ceiling—assuming, of course, Geithner follows through with his plans this time around. Geithner was reportedly telling friends and colleague of his desire to leave the administration as far back as the summer of 2011 when Washington was in the middle of its last fight over the debt ceiling. Ultimately, however, he stuck around at the president's urging but later suggested he'd be out the door shortly after Obama's second term kicked off.

Those close to Geithner say he intends to follow through with that plan this time, even with a series of fiscal fights looming on the horizon. Bloomberg:

After giving in to Obama’s previous entreaties to stay as long as needed, Geithner has indicated to White House officials and Wall Street executives that he is unlikely to change his departure plans this time, increasing pressure on the president to name his successor at Treasury, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss the private talks.

The most likely man to replace Geithner appears to be White House chief of staff Jack Lew. Although if Lew does get the job, Bloomberg reports that the president may name a Wall Street exec as deputy secretary to compensate for Lew's relatively thin resume dealing with financial markets.

The National Journal's Beth Reinhard has a good look today at the politics behind the cliff votes of two GOP lawmakers currently believed to have their eyes very much on 2016: House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, who voted for the deal, and Sen. Marco Rubio, who voted against it. Here's a snippet:

Ryan, who accepted tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans to avert a potential economic disaster, is betting that the path to power runs through compromise and governing. After anchoring a losing Republican presidential ticket widely perceived as hostile to middle-class concerns, Ryan heeded polls showing the public ready to blame the GOP if the deal fell through. The powerful budget committee chairman, loyal to House Speaker John Boehner, is mostly playing the inside game.

Rubio, who defeated a sitting governor on the back of the tea party movement, is largely playing the outside game. He rarely bucks the GOP’s conservative base—consider his recent votes against an overstuffed Hurricane Sandy aid bill and a United Nations treaty protecting people with disabilities—although an opportunity looms in the anticipated debate over immigration reform. Rubio appears more invested more [sic] in cultivating his national profile than in courting leadership on Capitol Hill.

The Full thing is worth your time. Check it out here.

With one fiscal-cliff fight in the rearview mirror and several more likely looming not too far up the road, many liberals are fretting aloud that President Obama won't have the energy or desire to tackle other issues near the top of his—and their—second-term wish list. White House officials, however, are doing their best to allay those concerns with the (somewhat quiet) promise of action on two high-profile issues: immigration and gun control.

The Huffington Post:

An Obama administration official said the president plans to push for immigration reform this January. The official, who spoke about legislative plans only on condition of anonymity, said that coming standoffs over deficit reduction are unlikely to drain momentum from other priorities. The White House plans to push forward quickly, not just on immigration reform but gun control laws as well.

In the wake of last month's tragedy in Newtown, the president promised to send a gun-control proposal to Congress early this year, likely as soon as this month. The suggestion that the White House will also get to work on immigration reform—long a priority of the president but one that has largely taken a back seat during his time in office—comes as slightly more of a surprise.

However, just because the administration is declaring that an unofficial launch to the immigration push is imminent doesn't mean anyone should expect major action anytime soon. The aides who laid out the plans to HuffPo cautioned that it would probably take about two months to cobble together a bipartisan bill, and then another few before either chamber votes on it. That would mean that if all goes as planned (something that is far from certain) it would likely be early or mid-summer before any concrete actions are taken.

Classes for the young students of Sandy Hook Elementary resumed this morning for the first time since last month's tragic school shooting that killed 20 of their classmates and six staff members.

School officials face a difficult balancing act as classes resume. On one hand they want to put parents at ease that their children are safe, while at the same time helping the students regain at least a sense of normalcy. Neither are an easy task given the extraordinary situation school staff faces, but together they seem practically impossible.

The Associated Press:

Newtown Superintendent Janet Robinson said officials will do their best to make the students feel at ease. "We will go to our regular schedule," she said. "We will be doing a normal day."

Returning students, teachers and administrators were met by a large police presence on a sunny and cold day with temperatures hovering near 10 degrees Several police officers were guarding the entrance to the school, and were checking IDs of parents dropping off children.

Local officials has asked the media to stay away from the new school, which is about 7 miles from the old one.

Hillary Clinton was discharged yesterday from a New York hospital where she had spent the last several days being treated for a blood clot in her head. The New York Times with the refresher for those who haven't been following along:

The news of her release was the first welcome sign in a troubling month that grounded Mrs. Clinton — preventing her from answering questions in Congress about the State Department’s handling of the lethal attack on an American mission in Libya or being present when President Obama announced Senator John Kerry as his choice for her successor when she steps down as secretary of state. ...

Mrs. Clinton, 65, was admitted to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital on Sunday after a scan discovered the blood clot. The scan was part of her follow-up care for a concussion she sustained more than two weeks earlier, when she fainted and fell, striking her head. According to the State Department, the fainting was caused by dehydration, brought on by a stomach virus. The concussion was diagnosed on Dec. 13, though the fall had occurred earlier that week.

Clinton's blood clot was said to be in a vein that drains blood from the brain. Such blockages can lead to hemorrhages or strokes if left untreated, making the whole ordeal a rather serious health scare for the secretary of state and her family. In a statement, her office said that she's "making good progress on all fronts" and that her doctors "are confident she will make a full recovery."

Add Chris Christie to the list of Republicans who are blasting House GOP leaders for adjourning last night without calling a vote on an emergency supplemental disaster aid package for those areas hit the hardest by Superstorm Sandy.

Here's the the joint statement the New Jersey governor released today with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat:

With all that New York and New Jersey and our millions of residents and small businesses have suffered and endured, this continued inaction and indifference by the House of Representatives is inexcusable. It has now been 66 days since Hurricane Sandy hit and 27 days since President Obama put forth a responsible aid proposal that passed with a bipartisan vote in the Senate while the House has failed to even bring it to the floor. This failure to come to the aid of Americans following a severe and devastating natural disaster is unprecedented. The fact that days continue to go by while people suffer, families are out of their homes, and men and women remain jobless and struggling during these harsh winter months is a dereliction of duty. When American citizens are in need we come to their aid. That tradition was abandoned in the House last night.

The people of our states can no long afford to wait while politicians in Washington play games.

Given Christie's very public embrace of President Obama in the wake of the hurricane, his current GOP criticism isn't exactly a surprise. At the same time, it was that state-above-party embrace (and the soaring approval rating that followed) that now gives Christie one of the biggest stages to unload on House Republicans.

The Senate approved its own $60-billion Sandy aide package on Friday. The House was expected to hold a vote on its version of the bill (which is a little less than half the size of the upper chamber's) last night but GOP leaders never brought it up for a vote. If the House doesn't pass an aid package before the next Congress is seated tomorrow, lawmakers would have to start largely from scratch on the bill, something that would likely mean a lengthy delay before New York, New Jersey and other areas see the federal aid they want. [Weigel has more on why some in the GOP are opposed to the deal here.]