Paterson Expected To Announce Gillibrand For Senate Today
New York Gov. David Paterson will be holding a press conference at 12 p.m. ET to announce whom he is appointing to Hillary Clinton's Senate. Paterson has reportedly picked upstate Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand.

Obama's Schedule For Today
This morning President Obama and VP Joe Biden have a presidential daily briefing at 9:15 a.m. ET, a meeting with both the Democratic and GOP Congressional leadership at 9:45 a.m. ET, and an 11:20 a.m. ET meeting with members of the National Security Council. Obama then has a series of closed meetings in the afternoon: A meeting with Joe Biden and his economic team at 12:40 p.m. ET; lunch with Biden at 1 p.m. ET; a meeting with Biden and the budget team at 2 p.m. ET; and a meeting with Tim Geithner at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Today: More Litigation In Minnesota
The court battles continue today in the Minnesota Senate race, with a 1 p.m. ET hearing on motions for summary judgment. After yesterday's rejection of Al Franken's effort to get Norm Coleman's election-contest lawsuit dismissed immediately, this could be the next opportunity to trim down the various claims in the lawsuit.

Senate Confirms Six More Obama Nominees
The Senate last night confirmed six nominees to serve in the Obama Administration: Susan Rice as ambassador to the United Nations; Ray LaHood as Sec. of Transportation; Shaun Donovan at HUD; Mary Schapiro as chair of the SEC; Lisa Jackson as EPA administrator; and Nancy Sutley to head up the White House Council of Environmental Quality.

Obama Keeping BlackBerry, Under Special Conditions
President Obama has arrived at a carefully-negotiated compromise in his efforts to keep his BlackBerry. Among other conditions, only a small group of senior staff and friends will have his e-mail address, his own messages will be designed to not be forwardable, and any e-mails will be subject to the Presidential Open Records Act, which could eventually put them into the public domain.

WaPo: McCain The Maverick Is Back
The Washington Post reports that the pre-2007 John McCain, the one who would occasionally irk his hard-line GOP colleagues by making peace with the Dems, appears to have made a comeback. The change in mood was most apparent when he castigated Republicans who were delaying Hillary Clinton's nomination to be Secretary of State, reminding them that the country had just had an election.

McCain To Meet With Palin Soon
John McCain told Larry King that he remains close with Sarah Palin, dismissing the idea that there's any bad blood between them. "Look, we're very close friends," McCain said, "and I talk to her all the time and look forward to seeing her, I think, in a week or so."