What You Need to Know: 02.13.09

Congress readies final vote on stimulus bill
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday that Congress is nearly finished with a massive, $790 billion economic stimulus plan giving President Barack Obama a big victory — but not everything he wanted.

The Nevada Democrat said as debate resumed that the Senate would likely vote on the package of spending and tax cuts later in the day and that both the Senate and House would do the work necessary to quickly get the emergency legislation to Obama's desk."

Gregg Withdraws As Commerce Pick
"Saying he "made a mistake," Republican Sen. Judd Gregg withdrew yesterday as the nominee for commerce secretary, dealing a fresh blow to President Obama's quest to fill out his Cabinet and dramatically undercutting his efforts to forge a new bipartisanship in the capital.

Gregg said that he had simply lacked foresight and that he shouldered the burden of the decision entirely. "I should have focused sooner and more effectively on the implications of being in the Cabinet versus myself as an individual doing my job," he said at a news conference on Capitol Hill.

He cited concerns about Obama's economic recovery plan and the administration's intent to have the next census director report to senior White House officials as well as the commerce secretary."

Ailing Banks May Require More Aid to Keep Solvent
"Some of the nation’s large banks, according to economists and other finance experts, are like dead men walking.

A sober assessment of the growing mountain of losses from bad bets, measured in today’s marketplace, would overwhelm the value of the banks’ assets, they say. The banks, in their view, are insolvent."

Senate confirms Panetta as CIA director
"The U.S. Senate has confirmed Leon Panetta, former chief of staff in President Bill Clinton's White House, to run the Central Intelligence Agency.

Panetta's nomination sailed through the chamber by a voice vote Thursday night."