Obama bumps up against egos in Congress

In the president-elect's first real workweek in Washington, he clashes and makes up with lawmakers on nominations and his economic stimulus package.
By Christi Parsons and Peter Nicholas
LA Times

January 12, 2009

Reporting from Washington — Barack Obama walked the halls of the Senate for four years, and in his earliest decisions after the presidential election assembled a coterie of key advisors with deep roots in Congress.

He is the first president elected directly from Congress since John F. Kennedy -- leading to high expectations that he would know how to handle congressional egos.

So it came as a surprise that Obama's first real workweek in Washington as president-elect was marked by collisions with his former colleagues, including some who helped him win the White House.

In naming a CIA director and in shaping his massive economic stimulus plan, Obama managed to rankle some lawmakers from his own party by stepping crosswise of their procedures, prerogatives and personal feelings.

(More here.)