Sunday shows: Chief of staff debuts

Some of the biggest players shaping action in Congress and the White House will headline Sunday’s talk shows.

The
top Republicans in the House and Senate will make the rounds, as will the
newly installed White House chief of staff, in his first Sunday show
appearance since taking that job.

{mosads}House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will sit for an interview on “Fox
News Sunday,” while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will
appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The pair are likely to lay out
their agenda for the coming months, particularly on budget and spending
issues. Their appearance comes just days after President Obama’s State
of the Union address, where the president called for a five-year freeze
on discretionary, domestic spending — a proposal the two GOP leaders
rejected as inadequate.

On the other side of issues will be William Daley, the former J.P.
Morgan executive who recently signed on as the president’s chief of
staff. Daley will appear on “Face the Nation” on CBS, where he’ll likely
expand on the president’s address to a joint session of Congress this
past Tuesday, and talk about Obama’s agenda for the first few months of
this year.

Daley’s hiring was widely interpreted as a bow to the business
community, and indicative of a shift toward the political center by
Obama.

ABC canceled plans for a program featuring former House Speaker Newt
Gingrich (R) and a tribute to former President Reagan in favor of a
special edition on the situation in Egypt. “This Week” anchor Christiane
Amanpour tweeted Saturday that she would be broadcasting from Cairo.

One of the president’s chief political adversaries since the 2008
election, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), could also have some advice for the
candidates who now hope to run in 2012. McCain will also help lay out
GOP reaction to Obama’s State of the Union on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

McCain will also be talking about the unrest in Egypt, along with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

“Meet the Press” executive producer Betsy Fischer also said on Twitter
that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had been added to NBC’s lineup.

This story was updated at 10:30 a.m.