POLITICS IN BRIEF

Feinstein says she’ll support Panetta

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the incoming chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday she intends to support President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for CIA chief, Leon Panetta, despite earlier comments that she had reservations about the choice.

Obama chose Panetta, a former White House chief of staff who has no formal background in the intelligence community, without consulting with Feinstein. Obama later apologized to her for the lapse.

Feinstein said in an interview Wednesday that she spoke with Panetta for about 20 minutes on Tuesday evening and came away reassured.

Feinstein earlier had expressed a preference for an intelligence professional to head the agency.

But she said her confidence that Panetta would surround himself with good staff allayed that concern.

She declined to comment on whether she’d been given assurances that the agency’s No. 2, Steve Kappes, would stay on, but indicated she wanted him to.

Bill: Disclose library donations

Future donations to presidential libraries would have to be publicly disclosed, the House decided Wednesday.

The library vote and a separate one making it more difficult for former presidents to prevent documents from entering the public domain kicked off a new session of Congress. Both bills now go to the Senate.

The library measure would require that groups raising funds for presidential libraries make disclosures four times a year of all donations of $200 or more.

The House has made several attempts this decade to move the legislation. Republicans promoted it at the end of the Clinton administration after it was revealed that Clinton’s library foundation received a large contribution from the ex-wife of financier Marc Rich. Rich fled the country after being convicted of evading $40 million in taxes and then received a presidential pardon on the last day Clinton was in office.

Obama fears loss of electronic link

President-elect Barack Obama has yet to relent, but he concedes he might be losing the battle to keep his independent lifeline to the outside world.

He has vigorously argued that the BlackBerry he has worn on his belt for years is an essential link to keeping him apprised of events taking place outside his ever-tightening cocoon. But he, like President George W. Bush before him, is being advised for security reasons and his own legal protection to refrain from sending e-mail messages during his presidency.

“I’m still clinging to my BlackBerry,” Obama said. “They’re going to pry it out of my hands.”

Gallery to unveil Obama collage

Even before he takes office, President-elect Barack Obama’s image will become part of the permanent collection at the National Portrait Gallery, the museum announced Wednesday.

The gallery acquired the iconic red, white and blue collage by Los Angeles street artist Shepard Fairey, depicting Obama with the word “Hope.” The image —- later modified with the messages of “Change” and “Vote” for the Obama campaign —- became one of the most memorable images from the 2008 election. The curators at the Smithsonian Institution museum plan to hang it by Inauguration Day.

Clinton could be in post by Jan. 20

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) is on her way to becoming the nation’s top diplomat, with Democrats expecting a favorable Senate committee vote on her nomination next week and even Republicans singing her praises.

“I think she’s a known commodity. She’s been tested in a lot of ways,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The timetable for Clinton’s confirmation has been closely watched because her departure from the Senate would give New York Gov. David Paterson, a fellow Democrat, the power to appoint her successor.

Caroline Kennedy, the scion of a political dynasty, wants the job. Paterson has said he is considering her along with several other candidates.

Clinton is expected to testify before the Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, with a committee vote two days later, before the start of a separate confirmation hearing for Susan Rice, President-elect Barack Obama’s pick for U.N. ambassador.

If approved by the panel, Clinton could be confirmed by the full Senate before Obama takes office Jan. 20.