Renter Won't Give Up Rahm's Chicago Home

As White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel is one powerful hombre—but he’s apparently powerless in the face of Rob Halpin, the guy renting his house in Chicago. Halpin re-signed the lease to the place on Sept. 1—just six days before Mayor Richard Daley announced he would not run again. Now, Emanuel wants to return to the city to run, but Halpin has refused to leave, according to Michael Sneed of the Chicago Sun Times.

Sneed’s sources say Emanuel even asked if he could just move into the basement, to no avail. Asked for comment, Halpin, 59, said the lease forbids him from saying much to the media. “But I can tell you I have no plans to move,” he added. If nothing else, the whole silly story verifies that Emanuel is indeed planning to leave Washington. “We see nothing that will stop a run,” one source tells CNN. The announcement will likely come Friday. (More Rahm Emanuel stories.)