Obama team pushes Congress

Political observers say U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is swiftly uniting congressional Democrats while reaching out to their Republican counterparts.

Obama's team is meeting with every congressional committee chair while Obama works the phones from his home base in Chicago, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday, noting Obama's top aides are in almost daily contact with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office.

It really is quite a collection, said Stephen Hess, a Brookings Institution scholar. "It doesn't look like past teams, in part because there hasn't been a president out of Congress in a long time.

The Obama team's bridge-building may prompt Democrats to try to pass an economic stimulus package before Obama takes office Jan. 20, the Times reported, noting Obama is pushing Congress for results.

We don't intend to stumble into the next administration, Obama said earlier this week. We are going to hit the ground running. We're going to have clear plans of action.

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