Good Monday morning. The PEOTUS and fam are now in Washington, as are most members of Congress, which will officially open its 111th session tomorrow.

**While Republicans are set to choose their new leader at the end of the month, President-elect Obama will name Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine as the DNC chair-in-waiting, the Washington Post's Michael D. Shear reports.. Kaine's gubernatorial term ends in January 2010, when Kaine will take over full-time duties.

**Aboard his first official Air Force plane (as President-elect) last night from Chicago to Washington, Obama told reporters that he "choked up a little bit" upon leaving his house. "Malia's friend had dropped off an album of the two of them together," Obama said. "They had been friends since pre-school and I just looked through the pages and the house was empty and it was a little tough, it got me." On staying in a hotel with his family for the next 10 days, Obama said: "Living in a hotel for two weeks, we kind of did that for two years."

**Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden will be on Capitol Hill Monday with an economic recovery package the topic of discussion. Incoming White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters during the flight to Washington that it's "very, very unlikely" a stimulus bill could pass through both houses of Congress by Jan. 20, the first day Obama could sign it. "We don't anticipate that Congress will have passed both Houses an Economic Recovery and Reinvestment plan by the time the inauguration takes place," Gibbs said. "Tomorrow begins anew that work but I think the added urgency that we've seen, statistics, we've seen Christmas sales, consumer confidence and obviously upcoming job numbers which underscore that a very serious situation has only gotten worse and isn't likely to get better any time soon."

**The Obama transition team is dealing with another "pay-to-play" controversy, with the news that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is withdrawing his nomination as Commerce Secretary "under pressure of a federal investigation into how his political donors landed a lucrative transportation contract." In a statement sent to reporters yesterday, Richardson said that he and his administration "have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact." But he says the investigation "would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process." ABC News and Politico both quote Obama insiders who say that Richardson was less than forthcoming with information about the investigation.

**The Minnesota Canvassing Board is set to declare a winner in that state's bitterly-fought Senate race today, the AP reports. Democrat Al Franken holds a 225-vote lead over incumbent Norm Coleman, whose term actually expired this weekend. Democrats are pushing to make today's declaration stand, with outgoing DSCC chair Chuck Schumer saying "there is no longer any doubt who will be the next Senator from Minnesota." But according to state law, there will be a seven-day waiting period until the certification of election is complete, and as soon as a lawsuit is filed, that certification becomes conditional.

--Kyle Trygstad and Mike Memoli