Thomas A Daschle

As chairman of his party's congressional campaign committee, Rahm Emanuel helped scores of current House Democrats win their seats. When Tom Daschle was the Senate Democratic leader, he funneled more than $1 million to a new generation of lawmakers seeking office. Now, as key members of Barack Obama's incoming administration, Emanuel and Daschle are using their clout to help build sturdy bridges between the White House and Congress, coordinating their plans well before Inauguration Day.

Tom Daschle, once considered assured of breezing through his confirmation as secretary of Health and Human Services, soon will face tough questioning on Capitol Hill about underpaying his income taxes and his extensive work for clients in the healthcare industry, Republican aides said Saturday. GOP lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee are preparing to grill the former Senate majority leader about his failure to pay more than $128,000 in taxes for 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Congressional Democrats moved Monday to shore up Tom Daschle's nomination to become President Obama's secretary of Health and Human Services as the former senator apologized publicly for not paying more than $128,000 in income taxes. "The American people have high expectations for those of us who serve the public good. That's especially true when it comes to taxes.

The withdrawal of Tom Daschle's nomination Tuesday as secretary of Health and Human Services reflected White House recognition that his tax problems were igniting anger over an apparent double standard: that Washington insiders could be careless about their taxes while ordinary Americans had to sacrifice. As late as Monday night, the former Senate Democratic leader thought he could survive the disclosure that he only recently paid about $140,000 in back taxes.

Tom Daschle, the former Democratic senator from South Dakota, remembers the exchange vividly. The time was September 2002. The place was the White House, at a meeting in which President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney pressed congressional leaders for a quick vote on a resolution authorizing military action against Iraq.

Republican officials, hoping to rid themselves of one of President Bush's peskiest nemeses, have lined up former GOP Rep. John R. Thune to challenge Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota this fall. Thune, who was first elected in 1996 and served three terms as the state's only House member, announced his intention to run for the Senate seat at a GOP dinner in Sioux Falls, S.D., Monday night.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist campaigned for the defeat of his Democratic counterpart on Saturday, depicting Sen. Tom Daschle as a polarizing figure at home and an obstructionist thwarting President Bush's agenda in Congress. Former GOP Rep. John Thune "would be a perfect United States senator to serve the people of South Dakota," said Frist, standing next to Daschle's rival.

The Bush administration and the nation's largest farm group on Monday approved a new deal to revive world trade talks, but other farm groups were less enthusiastic and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) accused the Bush administration of "selling out" U.S. farmers.

By local standards, this hamlet has been bustling lately. Not only has the car museum acquired a super-charged manure spreader, but a hometown boy is embroiled in one of the hottest political races in the country. Signs supporting Republican John Thune have sprung up like cornstalks on lawns all around this prairie town of 560 residents, 50 miles south of Pierre. Thune, a 43-year-old former U.S. congressman, is battling Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, who is seeking a fourth term.

The defeat of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) was a victory for Republicans on Capitol Hill, who had grown increasingly frustrated by his aggressive opposition to many of President Bush's legislative initiatives and judicial nominations. After election results seesawed through the evening, Republican John Thune, a three-term former congressman, emerged as the victor early today.