President-elect Obama introduced today four key members of his energy and environment team.

"The team that I have assembled here today is uniquely suited to meet the great challenges of this defining moment," Obama said of energy independence and climate change. "They are leading experts and accomplished managers, and they are ready to reform government and help transform our economy so that our people are more prosperous, our nation is more secure, and our planet is protected."

Bios of those nominated today, provided by the Transition team, are after the jump. (more...)

Vice President-elect Biden has selected longtime Time magazine reporter Jay Carney as "assistant to the vice president and his director of communications," Mark Halperin writes. Carney most recently served as Washington bureau chief for Time.

The Presidential Transition team announced today that it has completed its internal review of any contacts made with the office of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich regarding the vacant Senate seat. However, the U.S. Attorney's office asked that the full review not be released until next week.

According to Transition communications director Dan Pfeiffer, the review "affirmed the public statements of the President-elect that he had no contact with the governor or his staff, and that the President-elect's staff was not involved in inappropriate discussions with the governor or his staff over the selection of his successor."

Here is Pfeiffer's full statement from a press release:

"At the direction of the President-elect, a review of Transition staff contacts with Governor Blagojevich and his office has been conducted and completed and is ready for release. That review affirmed the public statements of the President-elect that he had no contact with the governor or his staff, and that the President-elect's staff was not involved in inappropriate discussions with the governor or his staff over the selection of his successor as US Senator.

"Also at the President-elect's direction, Gregory Craig, counsel to the Transition, has kept the US Attorney's office informed of this fact-gathering process in order to ensure our full cooperation with the investigation.

"In the course of those discussions, the US Attorney's office requested the public release of the Transition review be deferred until the week of December 22, in order not to impede their investigation of the governor. The Transition has agreed to this revised timetable for release," said Obama Transition Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer.

As perhaps a reflection of how well President-elect Obama and his Transition team have handled the Blagojevich situation, a new Rasmussen survey finds that 45% of U.S. voters think it's likely either Obama or one of his aides are involved in the scandal (Dec. 11-12, 1000 LV). An almost-equal 46% think oppositely. (UPDATE: A Gallup poll released today finds that 26% believe members of Obama's staff engaged in illegal activity.)

More to the point, an ABC News/Washington Post poll (Dec. 11-14, 1003 A) found that just 51% of adults think "Obama's done enough to explain any discussions his representatives may have had with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who's accused of seeking bribes in his selection of Obama's successor. The rest either say Obama's not done enough (34 percent) or are unsure (14 percent more)."

The New York Times reports this afternoon that Caroline Kennedy "will pursue" the Senate seat left vacant by Hillary Clinton's nomination as Secretary of State.

The decision came after a series of deeply personal and political conversations, in which Ms. Kennedy, who friends describe as unflashy but determined, wrestled with whether to give up what has been a lifetime of avoiding the spotlight.

Ms. Kennedy will ask that Gov. David A. Paterson consider her for the appointment. The governor was traveling to Utica today could not immediately be reached for comment.

A New York Daily News piece yesterday looked at Kennedy's credentials and noted that her appointment stirred "little enthusiasm among Clinton loyalists stung when Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama for president."

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan announced today the formation of an impeachment committee that will recomend whether Gov. Rod Blagojevich should be impeached. Speaking at a press conference, Madigan -- father of state Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan -- said 12 Democrats and nine Republicans would make up the committee, with no Democrats with less than six terms in office included.

"We have given the governor six days to resign," Madigan said. "It is time that we move forward with impeachment."

More people voted for president this year than ever before, the AP reports, and turnout rate was the highest it's been in 40 years.

Some 131 million voters turned out to vote in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. -- eclipsing the 122 million voters in 2004 -- and 61.6% of registered voters participated, according to turnout expert Michael McDonald of George Mason University.

With states certifying their election results over the weekend, the 51 slates of Electors meet today to officially decide the election. For more on this, check out CQ's detailed account of the presidential electing process.

The Illinois Republican Party has begun to campaign for a special election to fill President-elect Obama's vacant Senate seat. The campaign includes a new website -- FriendsofBlago.com -- TV advertising, and live calls to voters.

The state GOP's campaign comes after Democrats shifted their calls from a special election (as Sen. Dick Durbin called for) to Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn taking over and appointing the next senator. Quinn, among the many to propose he appoint the next senator, said last week that a special election would take too long, leaving the seat open for months. It would also, of course, leave the seat vulnerable to Republican takeover.

Here is the TV ad, "People's Seat," set to begin airing today on cable TV around the state:

President-elect Obama is holding a meeting today in Chicago with his national security team, followed by a press conference introducing the nominees for his energy and environmental team. The nominees are expected to be: Steven Chu, Energy Secretary; Lisa Jackson, Environmental Protection Agency administrator; Carol Browner, energy "czar"; and Nancy Sutley, head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Those expected to attend Obama's national security meeting include:

-Vice President-elect Biden
-Secretary of State designee Hillary Clinton
-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
-Attorney General designee Eric Holder
-Secretary of Homeland Security designee Janet Napolitano
-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen
-Ambassador to the United Nations designee Susan Rice
-National Security Advisor designee Jim Jones
-Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell
-White House Chief of Staff designee Rahm Emanuel
-White House Counsel designee Greg Craig.

Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan filed a motion with the state Supreme Court today asking it to remove at least some of the governor's duties -- including selecting a successor to the Senate -- and allow Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn to temporarily assume those duties.

"State government is paralyzed by a governor incapable of governing," Madigan said at a mid-day press conference. "As the attorney general, it is my job to serve as the lawyer of the people of the state. And it is my job to bring this question to the Court."

Madigan mentioned during the press conference that the Legislature will meet soon to consider impeachment proceedings, but noted that such proceedings take a fair amount of time to complete.

"With these filings, we still think that it is imperitive for the Legislature to make a decision and hopefully proceed with impeachment proceedings," Madigan said. "What we're essentially saying to the Illinois Supreme Court is based on these extraordinary circumstances, we want them to make sure that we put in place the lieutenant governor to serve as the acting governor so that the business of the state of Illinois can move forward."

More than 1,000 improperly-rejected absentee ballots could be counted now, depending on what the Minnesota state Canvassing Board decides today.

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune

The state Canvassing Board is methodically pushing Minnesota another step closer toward deciding who it elected last month to the Senate.

The board was told this morning that 49 of the state's 87 counties have examined 4,823 rejected absentee ballots and 638 of those were determined by local officials to have been wrongfully rejected.

Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann also reported that if that trend holds -- with more than 13 percent of the rejected absentee ballots tossed improperly -- there would end up being nearly 1,600 wrongfully set aside.