Two of President Barack Obama's top picks for government jobs sensationally withdrew Tuesday, in bombshell announcements which overshadowed his bid to muscle his huge stimulus plan through Congress.

During almost two years on the campaign trail, Barack Obama vowed to slay the demons of Washington, bar lobbyists from his administration and usher in what he would later call in his Inaugural Address a "new era of responsibility." What he did not talk much about were the asterisks.

Republican senators continued their call Tuesday for major changes to President Barack Obama's huge stimulus plan, now worth nearly 900 billion dollars, as the White House sought public support with a media blitz.