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Rep. Jan Schakowsky says she will wait until she hears Obama's speech to make a final decision.

(CNN) - Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky was one of President Obama's earliest and most ardent supporters.

She served in the Illinois state legislature with him, and she supported his run for the U.S. Senate. But on the issue of Afghanistan, the president can't bank on the support of his longtime political ally.

"I think he's made up his mind that at this point there ought to be a troop increase, and I have to say I'm very skeptical about that as a solution," she said.

Obama is expected to announce Tuesday night that he's sending 30,000 more troops to the war-torn country and ordering military officials to get the reinforcements there within six months, White House officials say.

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Cantor's sights set higher than Congress?

Washington (CNN) - As Republicans swept the top three offices in Democratic-leaning Virginia last week, Rep. Eric Cantor was in Richmond, shaking hands with supporters and rallying GOP troops as he proclaimed, "The Republican resurgence begins tonight."

He was also taking notes.

In an election that Republicans claim is an indicator that the American electorate is unnerved with the sweeping changes President Obama and congressional Democrats are making in Washington, the GOP sees an opportunity in the 2010 congressional midterm elections, where one in three Senate seats and every seat in the House of Representatives will be on the ballot.

"We're going to take the model that worked in Virginia, so we can unite our party and begin to appeal to independents with solutions that affect our lives," Cantor told reporters in a Richmond ballroom shortly before Bob McDonnell was projected to be the state's next governor.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told CNN Monday that Gov. Mark Sanford told him that he'd had a good weekend with his family. Graham also said "there is hope there" that Sanford can reconcile with his wife, and that his fellow Republican expects to finish out his term.

The House Financial Services Committee, chaired by Rep. Barney Frank, is taking a look at the bonuses being paid to AIG employees.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Outraged House Democrats are scrambling to figure out what, if anything, they can do to recoup the $165 million in bonuses AIG awarded to employees after the company received $170 billion in federal bailout funds.

A House Democratic leadership aide and a House financial services committee aide said Congress is trying to shame AIG executives and employees into forgoing the bonuses while investigating possible legal avenues that can be used to force AIG to return the money used for bonuses.

The House financial services committee is trying to determine if Congress can force AIG to renegotiate the bonuses the company says it is legally required to give employees as dictated by contracts negotiated before it received its first infusion of bailout dollars in September, according to the committee aide.

Both aides said it is unclear what authority Congress has to force AIG to take back the bonuses. Complicating the issue is the fact that the first infusion of cash to AIG was authorized by the Federal Reserve before Congress passed the $700 billion Trouble Asset Relief Program, which included some restrictions on executive pay.

AIG CEO Edward Liddy will face intense questioning about the bonuses when he testifies Wednesday before the House Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets.

WASHINGTON (CNN)– House Democratic aides denied Wednesday that work is already underway on another stimulus package. The push back came a day after Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested more stimulus spending might be needed and the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee said he had already instructed his staff to begin working on a bill.

But multiple Democratic aides told CNN another stimulus plan is not in the works, and they maintained that Democratic leaders believe it will take more time to know whether the first recovery package is effective before taking up another bill.

One leadership aide said that House Appropriations Chairman David Obey got ahead of himself when he told CNN Tuesday evening that his committee was considering another stimulus package, though he had cautioned there was no timeline for moving it.

This aide said House Democratic leaders are letting the current stimulus play out, and that it will be "at least several months, as we get toward the end of the year and see where we are" before they would consider another stimulus bill.

Another Democratic aide said that the Appropriations committee "is not putting pen to paper. We think it's too soon to do [a second stimulus] now."

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Crew members from U.S. Airways Flight 1549 are among the Speaker's guests.

(CNN) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced the full list of her guests at President Obama's address to Congress Tuesday night:

Front row of the Speaker’s box:
-Former Baltimore Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro
-Mayor of Washington, DC Adrian Fenty
-Mr. Paul Pelosi
-Crew Members from U.S. Airways Flight 1549
-Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenburger
-First Officer Jeffrey Skiles
-Doreen Welsh, Flight Attendant and her son Timothy Welsh, 25
-John Sweeney
-Anna Burger

More guests after the jump

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President-elect Obama spoke to a crowd that numbered nearly 40,000 after his train stopped in Baltimore Saturday evening.

BALTIMORE, Maryland (CNN) - You could see people crying during Obama's speech in Baltimore. Some people told us ahead of time that they would. They said they had cried out of happiness so many times during this election, and they were pretty sure they were going to be emotional seeing Barack Obama here today.

This is a rare treat for them. Maryland was firmly in Obama's column in the general election, so folks here didn't get to see him campaign a whole lot. This is one of the few times they have been able to see him in person.

Burris will meet with Senate Dem leaders Reid and Durbin Wednesday.

(CNN) – A meeting has been scheduled between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin and Roland Burris, embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s choice to succeed Barack Obama as the junior senator from Illinois, according to a Democratic source familiar with the discussions of Senate Democratic leaders.

The meeting was scheduled at Burris’s request and is tentatively set for Wednesday, according to this source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Obama will meet with Reid and Pelosi Monday along with GOP leaders.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President-elect Barack Obama will meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Monday to discuss his proposal for the new economic stimulus plan, which leaders are now referring to as an "economy recovery plan", a Senate Democratic leadership aide said Friday.

Obama, Pelosi and Reid are then hoping to meet with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner, the aide told CNN.

The president-elect's staff contacted McConnell's office about meeting on Monday but the time and location has not been buttoned down, said a Senate Republican leadership aide.

"It's likely to happen but the details still need to be worked out," said the aide. Asked if Republicans are satisfied with what appears to be an effort by Obama to include them in discussions about the new economic stimulus package the GOP aide said, "It depends on what the meeting is - if it's just a photo op or if they're really reaching out."

The aides declined to be named because the meetings had not been publicly announced.
Obama aides would not confirm any Monday meetings.

As House Democratic aides said Pelosi would like to move a stimulus bill through the House by the second week in January, McConnell and Boehner both expressed concerns this week about the size of the economic rescue effort and if oversight of the plan will suffer because of Democrats' ambitious timeline.

McConnell's office says he will release another statement Friday, reiterating the concerns he raised early this week.

Senate Democrats will not allow Burris on the Senate Floor if he shows up next week.

(CNN) - Senate Democratic leaders think Roland Burris, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's pick to fill President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, will likely show up on Capitol Hill Tuesday for the opening day of Congress, according to a Democratic aide familiar with Senate Democratic leaders' plans.

They have prepared a contingency plan in case he does, the aide added.

Burris will not be allowed on the Senate floor, according to this aide and a Senate Democratic leadership aide.

Watch: What if Burris shows up?

The aide familiar with Senate Democratic leaders' plans said if Burris tries to enter the Senate chamber, the Senate doorkeeper will stop Burris. If Burris were to persist, either trying to force his way onto the Senate floor or refusing to leave and causing a scene, U.S. Capitol Police would stop him, said the aide.

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Reid and other congressional Democratic leaders have said they will block the seating of any Blagojevich appointment.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democratic leaders are devising a plan to block the appointment of Roland Burris to the Senate for weeks in hopes it will prevent Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich from deciding who fills the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, a Senate Democratic leadership aide told CNN Wednesday.

The aide also rebuffed suggestions by constitutional law experts that the Senate cannot block Blagojevich’s appointment of Burris on the basis that “anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois,” as the top five Democrats in the Senate asserted Tuesday in a statement. Blagojevich is facing criminal corruption charges in Illinois.

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