CNN says President-elect Obama has approached its medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, to be the country's next surgeon general.

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Sen. Feinstein's chilly response to outreach from President-elect Obama on his choice of fellow Californian Leon Panetta as head of the CIA deals the incoming a "brush-back pitch" from powerful Democrats in Washington. Carla Marinucci

• Obama raises $27 million for inaugural

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House, is elected to her second term -- but that milestone is overshadowed by high drama in the Senate. Carolyn Lochhead

• Editorial: A Senate spectacle

Roland Burris failed in his bid to take President-elect Obama's Illinois Senate seat in a scripted piece of political theater staged just before the opening of the 111th Congress.

• Coleman to sue over recount for Minn. Senate seat
• Kennedy missteps might not trip her up in the end
• Colo.'s new senator relatively unknown to voters

The new Democratic-controlled Congress opened for business at the stroke of noon, eager to join President-elect Barack Obama in tackling the worst economic crisis in generations.

• Obama says trillion-dollar deficits may last years
• Obama bans earmarks from big economic package
• Businessman linked to Richardson donated to Obama