Pelosi vs. Rahm

Rahm Emanuel might be the President-elect’s right hand man, but Nancy Pelosi is the leader of the House and she’s not letting him forget it. The Speaker has laid down some ground rules what she expects from Obama, the biggie being no backdoor efforts around her and party leaders to cut deals with moderate Democrats. And just make sure that doesn’t happen, she wants to known when and why representatives of the White House have any contact with rank-and-file Democrats. Pelosi, who helped make Emanuel a national figure, is trying to avoid the situation Dennis Hastert found himself in during much of the Bush Administration.