Sanford has brushed aside calls for his resignation.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford remains "defiant" in the face of calls for him to resign in the wake of his admission last week that he engaged in an extramarital affair, a close Sanford ally tells CNN.

The source, a South Carolina Republican, said Sanford showed no signs Wednesday of stepping down even as support for from longtime backers begins to slip. The GOP source, who has known the governor for decades and spoke freely about the situation on the condition of anonymity, said there are concerns among Sanford allies about his ability to lead the state, given the recent public comments about his wife and mistress.

The source said he hopes that Sanford will leave office on his own, but suggested the governor could go down fighting.

"Honestly, I think he could go down in the ugliest, messiest way," said the source, who added that he would be "shocked if [the governor] quit, because it doesn't fit his profile."

The source pointed to the governor's history of going it alone against his own party in Washington as a congressman and during his time as governor, most recently over the federal stimulus money fight.

"He has always been a guy who has stuck with what he believes in, even if everyone else is against him," the source said.

Sestak has informed supporters he plans to run for Senate.

(CNN) -- Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak has informed supporters he plans to challenge Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary, a spokesman for the congressman tells CNN.

Jonathon Dworkin, Sestak's communications director, confirmed the authenticity of a handwritten letter from Sestak — first posted on the Web site Talking Points Memo — to a supporter in which the congressman states, "I intend to run for the U.S. Senate."

Dworkin also confirms quotes from Sestak's sister to TPM stating, "He intends to get in the race,…"In the not too distant future, he will sit down with his wife and daughter to make the final decision."

Sestak’s decision to challenge Specter, who recently switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, puts the congressman at odds with Democratic congressional leaders and President Obama. The president and the congressional leaders have endorsed Specter for re-election in 2010.

Sestak will appear on CNN's The Situation Room to discuss the race at 6:45 p.m. EST.

Text of the letter:

"I am writing you as especially dear supporters to let you know I intend to run for the U.S. Senate…my candidacy's credibility will have much to do with my fundraising success by the 30 June FEC filing deadline at the end of this quarter. Would you help me bring the change for the future we Pennsylvanians need[?]"

President Obama should expect more dissention from Democratic lawmakers, says CNN's Candy Crowley.

(CNN) — As President Obama approaches the 100-day mark, he can look back on a short legislative history with near-unanimous support from fellow Democrats.

Mathematically, he is sitting pretty with overwhelming majorities in the Senate and House. But in politics, things don't always add up.

Two incidents in early January may hold big hints about the post-honeymoon period (when it happens) for the president. In early January, more than two weeks before the Obama inauguration, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid told the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill, "I do not work for Barack Obama, I work with him."

Reid also let it be known early on that unlike former Vice President Dick Cheney, Vice President Joe Biden would not be allowed to attend Senate Democratic policy lunches. Two days before the inauguration, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wanted immediate repeal of Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and an investigation into whether the Bush Justice Department illegally fired federal prosecutors.

Obama had already said he wanted to move forward rather than look back and signaled he would not repeal Bush tax cuts on the wealthy but rather let them expire in 2010.

So far, Pelosi has lost on both counts. And she and Reid have been formidable activists for the White House agenda. Still, there is a clear political message: no rubber stamps.

It is also a message about the Constitution and the co-equal branches of government.

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When President Obama said we have to do something about the deficit so we don’t pass it on to our children, the Republicans responded with their heartiest cheer yet.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Theater: when President Obama said we have to do something about the deficit so we don’t pass it on to our children, the Republicans responded with their heartiest cheer yet — so much so it made the president laugh. Next sentence, he talked about the debt “we inherited,” and all the Democrats lept to their feet to cheer with gusto.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Interesting line, sounds like major aid for the auto industry is on the way: “…I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it."

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The speech is clearly aimed well beyond the House chamber. He is going step by step through why the banks need to be bailed out, and how it will help middle class families. Seems to me some of this is pushback against Americans grown weary of bailing out “big banks” or “Wall Street.” Thus the tough talk — “those days are over,” a likely reference to excessive spending of companies taking federal help — and the reassurances of his mission: “It’s not about helping banks — it’s about helping people.”

A GOP source estimates that the post-election RNC staff is down to about 100 people from more than 400 in pre-election days.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A GOP source says the assumption is incoming Republican National Committee Chief Michael Steele will ”at least for an interim period” retain some staffers, especially those in divisions that are at a skeletal stage now, despite his recent request for mass resignations.

The source estimates that the post-election RNC staff is down to about 100 people from more than 400 in pre-election days.

This week, Steele asked for the resignations of the entire RNC headquarters staff. A number of those staffers have been told they will not have a job as of February 15.

That request by Steele is a standard one. The Obama team made a similar request at the Democratic National Committee after the president's pick, Tim Kaine, took control.

A source said the development had been very difficult for Daschle.

(CNN) – A Daschle ally familiar with his thinking was not aware Tuesday of any White House pressure on the former Senate Majority Leader to withdraw his nomination.

Was Daschle pushed? “Things don’t work that cleanly,” said the source, who could not say for sure whether any senators may have made appealed to Daschle to end the confirmation process.

The issue was not whether Daschle could “survive” — it was what that process “would do to Obama” and his health care reform and economic agenda. It’s a question of the “price of that confirmation.”

The source confirms that Daschle read the Tuesday New York Times editorial urging him to withdraw from consideration, but would not say whether that might have played a part in his decision. “Tom has been a politician for a very long time,” says the Democratic source. “He understands this town. He made a mistake, he apologized, but timing matters. There was a critical mass building” — questions about meaning of Obama’s ethics standards.

Watch: Ken Rubin from NPR's instant analysis

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Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have made it clear that they don't agree with President Obama on everything.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Democrats hold a strong majority in Congress, but with power comes a power struggle, and a potential headache for President Obama.

Just two days into his term, the president is already facing pushback from leaders of his own party.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have made it clear — it's not their job to answer to Obama.

To a certain degree, the president-Congress tension is simply politics at play — something that happens every time a new president comes in.

But this time, the Democrats have even more power than they did before the election, meaning Pelosi and Reid both have huge majorities in their respective Houses.

Pelosi's biggest problem with the president's agenda is the silence she's hearing when President Obama is asked about former President Bush's tax cuts.

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Michelle Obama's birthday was Saturday. She celebrated it aboard the Amtrak train that brought the President-elect and his entourage from Philadelphia to Washington

ABOARD THE OBAMA EXPRESS, JUST OUTSIDE WASHINGTON (CNN) — It is pitch black as the Obama train heads to Union Station in his new hometown of Washington, D.C. Still, you can see the outlines of people standing near the rails, waving as we whiz by.

Walking through the train, I spotted Michelle Obama dancing with her girls and friends in one of the cars decorated for her 45th birthday.

We are pulling into Union Station. The day is done.

Passengers detrained from the Obama Express after it arrived in Baltimore for its last stop before proceeding to Washington Saturday evening.

ABOARD THE OBAMA EXPRESS (CNN) — The train is rolling into Baltimore, past some of the most economically distressed areas in the country.

Six little kids jumping up and down and waving greeted the Obama Express as it approached the city.

Much of this trip we have seen the people with the highest hopes and greatest need for a successful Obama administration.

The President-elect will speak from the steps of city hall. We're detraining and heading there now.

Candy Crowley is aboard the Obama Express.

ABOARD THE OBAMA EXPRESS (CNN) — Rolling into Maryland now with Joe Biden aboard through mostly rural- and lower-income areas. There are clusters of people here and there.

The most striking are the lone people, standing precariously on a hillside just feet from the tracks, waving as the train comes and after it passes: a single woman outside her mobile home waving a giant flag almost bigger than she is; two men standing on top of an 18-wheeler's trailer, hardly dressed for the weather, hands in pockets as we pass; and the man who came out on his back porch, hundreds of yards away from the track, to wave.

President-elect Obama shakes hands after speaking in Wilmington, Delaware.

WILMINGTON, Delaware (CNN) — The President-elect and Vice President-elect worked the ropeline at the Wilmington train station after speaking to the crowd at this stop on the train ride from Philadelphia to Washington.

Click here to read more dispatches from the Obama Express

Watch: Obama's Wilmington departure

Secret Service surrounds Obama as he makes his way through the crowds.

WILMINGTON, Delaware (CNN) — Our first minor glitch happens as we detrain in Wilmington. Seems we — the media — broke free without "handlers." This tends to upset the Obama people.

As Obama talks, a line of Secret Service walks by me really quickly. I, of course, follow. Turns out people whose line of sight to Obama is blocked by other people have climbed into the leafless trees. That's a secret service no-no.

These bystanders are now back on the ground.

President-elect Obama looked out the back of the train as it left Philadelphia Saturday morning.

ABOARD THE OBAMA EXPRESS (CNN) — The Amtrak train carrying President-elect Barack Obama and his entourage has left Philadelphia's 30th Street Station.

The 10-car, two-diesel-engine train is carrying 90 members of the media in addition to the President-elect, his family, his entourage and staff, and the Secret Service.

This is not a trip for the claustrophobic or anyone in a hurry. We will be covering 135 miles in approximately eight hours.

Upon boarding the train, most of the media headed for the café car.

As we pulled out of Philadelphia, about two dozen people lined a bridge to wave at the President-elect train as it departed Philadelphia.

President-elect Obama greeted supporters during an event in Philadelphia before boarding the train to Washington.

ABOARD THE OBAMA EXPRESS (CNN) — This is not just a march through history and the Obama team certainly wants the Lincolnesque sort of symbolism to catch on.

But this is also a way to roll into Washington and try to keep that enthusiasm that Barack Obama saw on the campaign trail because there are so many tough times ahead.

The themes he wants to fit here are not just, "We need to get that spirit of patriotism, and we need to go back to what our forefathers believed in." He also said at the end of his speech let's make sure this election is not the end of what we do to change America, but the beginning.

So it's the sort of commonality — I'm going to need you — and certainly he is, even though out there if they are not people who vote on Capitol Hill, they are certainly people who can pressure Capitol Hill.

And as he looked ahead and talked about the frustrations and the setbacks that are coming, he wants this train ride to begin that role and say, "I know the election is over, but you [have] got to stick with me because I need it."

So it's a dual trip, a little history and certainly pushing very far into the future

Obama is set to announce his choice of Daschle Thursday.

(CNN) — Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle will be announced as President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary Thursday, according to a Democratic source.

CNN had previously reported Daschle was the likely choice for the post.

Shinseki is a former Army chief of staff.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President-elect Barack Obama will nominate retired Gen. Eric Shinseki to be secretary of Veterans Affairs, two Democratic sources told CNN Saturday.

For years, Shinseki has been the patron saint of Pentagon critics who say the former Army chief's sage advice was ignored in 2003, resulting in too few U.S. troops being sent to Iraq after the invasion.

Shinseki testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February 2003 that "something on the order of several hundred thousand soldiers would be required" to pacify the country. The comment infuriated some Bush administration officials, and he retired just a few months later.

Shinseki has never spoken publicly about his testimony, which has often been cited by critics as evidence that then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ignored the advice of one of his key generals.

But as Army chief of staff, Shinseki was not in the chain of command, and played no direct role in drawing up the war plans.

Pentagon sources say that, in fact, Shinseki never advocated higher troop levels for Iraq, in part because it was not his job to do so. And sources say that just before the invasion, when asked by then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Richard Myers if he agreed with the war plans, Shinseki voiced no objections.

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(updated with additional information 7:25 p.m. ET)

(CNN) – A source in the Obama transition reveals President-elect Barack Obama will announce his choice for Secretary of Veterans Affairs Sunday at a news conference scheduled on Pearl Harbor Day and intended to highlight the service of veterans and current service members.

Obama and his advisers are studying options to help the struggling automotive industry.

(CNN) – President-elect Barack Obama has kept a relatively low profile as automakers plead for billions from Congress, but behind the scenes, the incoming administration is working hard on finding ways to ease the crisis.

Obama and his advisers are studying options for helping the automobile industry beyond what Congress does or doesn't do before he steps into office.

Talks in Congress have included mention of a possible short-term loan for the auto giants to act as a Band-Aid until lawmakers can hammer out a long-term plan when the new Congress begins next year. Other lawmakers have suggested that bankruptcy could be a good thing for the automakers.

CEOs for the Big Three are trying to make their case for a $34 billion loan.

Despite what may happen in the coming weeks, there's no indication that the problem will be solved before Obama steps into office. While the president-elect has largely stayed silent on the issue, he has signaled that one option is off the table.

"We can't allow the auto industry simply to vanish," he said last week.

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