All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., set in motion some musical chairs among Senate Democrats over committee chairmanships this afternoon, even though he is the one staying put.

Following Ted Kennedy's death, Dodd was next in line to be chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP). Dodd had been spearheading the committee's effort on health care legislation in Kennedy's absence.

But Dodd is already chairman of Senate Banking Committee and cannot hold both positions at once. He announced today that he decided to hold on to that chairmanship rather than give it up to take the gavel in the HELP committee.

That decision meant that the committee's next senior Democrat, Tom Harkin of Iowa, pictured at left, was in line to take the HELP Committee chairmanship, and he accepted, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced today.

In order to take the new job, Harkin will be giving his chairmanship of the Agriculture Committee, handing that gavel to Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.

As for the policy implications of the moves, there is not likely to be much change in the direction of the HELP and Agriculture committees, but Dodd's decision to continue leading the Banking Committee could have an impact on President Obama's push to overhaul the federal regulatory structure in the wake of last year's financial crisis.

Many had been expecting Dodd to take the HELP Committee chairmanship and leave the Banking Committee to Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota. Johnson, a Senate moderate, has been more resistant to more sweeping restrictions on the industry, in part because many credit card companies operate in his home state.

CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care

CBSNews.com Special Report: Ted Kennedy

On the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth earlier this month, the Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and his staff at the department’s Washington headquarters broke out its shovels and “broke pavement” on a garden.

Dubbed The People’s Garden, the project seems slated to simply replace a lot of unnecessary pavement with grass. But it is nonetheless a symbolic nod to the eat-local movement, which encourages community gardens in urban areas.

Will the Obamas be following suit? Vilsack adviser Neil Hamilton, the chair and director of the Agricultural Law Center at Drake University Law School in Iowa, says yes.

“I believe that by this summer there will be a garden – another garden, a vegetable garden – on the White House lawn,” Hamilton said at a weekend legal seminar at Yale University.

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First Lady Michelle Obama doesn't show up empty handed.

On a visit to the U.S. Department of Agriculture today, Obama gave the department a seedling from the Andrew Jackson magnolia tree that sits on the South Portico of the White House.

"I hope that this seedling brings years of joy and beauty to the garden that will be planted here, in the same way it has brought beauty to the White House for 180 years," Mrs. Obama told agency employees.

The seedling will be planted somewhere in the agency's landscaping facing the national mall, according to Larry Quinn, acting director of communications for the department.

Obama addressed agency employees in the department's auditorium. During her remarks, the first lady invited veteran employees who had been with the department for at least 38 years to join her on the stage. She also took time to thank all agency employees for their service.

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CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic reports that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack's appointment will be announced at the press conference in Chicago on Wednesday.

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