White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley said his predecessor, Rahm Emanuel, was to blame for creating the "hostile" work environment for women in the West Wing that was documented in a recently-released book.

At the Washington Ideas Forum Wednesday, Daley, who joined the White House at the beginning of this year, was asked how the environment is for women after Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind released his inside account of the Obama presidency called, “Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and The Education of A President.”

"I didn’t even read the book, but I did hear that there were some issues early on under the predecessor of mine so I can dump on him for that," Daley said.

Daley joked that Emanuel will probably phone him later because “he’s probably watching this thing.”

Emanuel, who left the White House last year to become mayor of Chicago, did not respond to a request for comment...

An Illinois Appeals Court on Monday ordered Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel — President Obama's former chief of staff — off the ballot, saying he didn't live in the city long enough before the election to qualify as a resident.

The court voted 2-1 to overturn a judge's ruling to keep his name on the Feb. 22 ballot, saying the Democrat doesn't meet the one-year residency requirement because he rented out his Chicago home and moved his family to Washington to work for Mr. Obama for almost two years.

"We conclude that the candidate neither meets the municipal code's requirement that he have resided in Chicago for the year preceding the election in which he seeks to participate nor falls within any exception to the requirement," the appeals court said in its ruling...

CHICAGO -- Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel cleared an important hurdle in his bid to be Chicago mayor early Thursday when a hearing officer recommended his name appear on the February ballot, even though Emanuel spent much of the last two years living in Washington working for President Barack Obama.

The ruling, which still needs final approval from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, is a political win for Emanuel because it could help him silence critics who have persistently argued he isn't a Chicago resident. The board is scheduled to meet later Thursday and will likely make a decision.

Election board hearing officer Joseph Morris said evidence suggests that Emanuel had no intention of terminating his residency in Chicago, left the city only to work for Obama and often told friends he intended to live in Washington for no more than two years...

President Barack Obama, facing at best narrower Democratic majorities in Congress next year, is likely to break up his remaining legislative priorities into smaller bites in hope of securing at least some piecemeal proposals on energy, climate change, immigration and terrorism policy, White House officials say.

In a series of recent campaign appearances, Obama has talked up the stakes in the November election as he seeks to energize supporters and retain Democratic control of Congress. At the same time, White House officials have begun revamping their legislative strategies.

They are talking about a new, more incremental approach, championed by former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, to fulfilling campaign promises on energy, immigration and on closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. The new White House chief of staff, Pete Rouse, is far more steeped than Emanuel in the culture of the Senate, where comprehensive approaches to some of these issues have fared poorly.

President Obama announced Friday that his brash and hard-charging chief of staff Rahm Emanuel would resign effective immediately, marking the most significant departure to date from the president's inner circle.

Emanuel was beckoned away from Washington by an open seat in the Chicago mayoral race and is expected to soon launch a campaign for that post, one he's described as his dream job. A packed crowd of top-level officials gathered in the East Room to watch Obama pass the torch Friday from Emanuel to his selected replacement, senior adviser Pete Rouse.

The president, calling the occasion "bittersweet," credited Emanuel with the passage of landmark legislation during his administration and said he would be "extraordinarily well-qualified" for his next endeavor...

Washington (CNSNews.com) – Stopping just short of admitting Rahm Emanuel is leaving his post as White House chief of staff, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday there will be a “personnel announcement.”

The announcement will be at 11:05 in the White House East Room, usually reserved for major bill signing, news conferences of speaking with heads of state.

Emanuel is expected to launch a campaign for mayor of Chicago.

Without saying for certain, Gibbs offered no denials the new chief of staff would be Peter Rouse, who was Obama’s Senate chief of staff...

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, widely expected to leave the White House to make a long coveted run for Chicago mayor, could make an announcement on his decision as soon as Friday, a source close to him said.

Emanuel has not made a final decision, said the person familiar with Emanuel's thinking, who spoke on condition of anonymity for that reason. The dominant factor at this point is the impact the move and the campaign would have on Emanuel's wife and three young children, who live with him in Washington, the source said.

Should Emanuel leave the White House, President Barack Obama is expected to choose an interim chief of staff. That's likely to be Peter Rouse, one of Obama's senior advisers in the White House and his former chief of staff in the Senate...

(CNSNews.com) - Three top House Republicans sent a letter to the White House counsel Wednesday saying they believe that a memorandum the counsel released Friday purporting to explain the administration’s actions in offering to appoint Rep. Joe Sestak (D.-Pa.) to a federal position in exchange for Sestak declining to make a Democratic primary run against Sen. Arlen Specter (D.-Pa.) presents a set of facts that appear to violate the law.

White House Counsel Robert F. Bauer released a memorandum on Friday afternoon about the Sestak incident. It says the White House made “efforts” in June and July of last year to “determine whether Congressman Sestak would be interested in service on a Presidential or other Senior Executive Branch Advisory Board, which would avoid a divisive Senate primary,” and that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel recruited former President Bill Clinton to offer Sestak a position on such a panel...

Senior White House advisers asked former President Bill Clinton to talk to Joe Sestak about whether he was serious about running for Senate, and to feel out whether he'd be open to other alternatives, according to sources familiar with the situation.

But the White House maintains that the Clinton-Sestak discussions were informal, according to the sources. The White House, under pressure to divulge the specifics of its interactions with Sestak, will release a formal statement later today outlining their version of events, including Clinton's involvement.

According to the sources, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel asked Clinton and his longtime adviser, lawyer Doug Band, to talk to Sestak about the race...

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel says the Obama administration had “screwed up” in demonstrating its support of Israel over the last year, and acknowledges it will probably take months before it can win back Jewish support.

“During the elections there were doubts about President Obama’s support for Israel, and now they have resurfaced,” Emanuel told a group of prominent rabbis who visited the White House Thursday, according to The Jerusalem Post. “But concerning policy, we have done everything that we can that is in Israel’s security – and long-range interests. Watch what the administration does”...