Mr. Bush's lawyers are continuing to examine the flurry of last-minute announcements and regulations issued by the Clinton administration, which Mr. Card said today would not be rejected in a "knee-jerk" way.

The selection process was fraught with problems before the last-minute announcement of singer and song was made.

Its last-minute announcement, on the eve of an important court hearing today, stunned many of the lawyers who had rushed to Washington to patch up the agreement and who left work yesterday thinking it was on track.

Georgeson executives say King also orchestrated the last-minute announcement by the California Public Employees Retirement System, a $56 billion pension fund holding Lockheed stock, that it had joined the Simmons camp.

Another member wrote, "I thought it was devious and slick of them to make a last-minute announcement of it."

But then came a last-minute announcement: Daddy Yankee was in the hospital, suffering from "acute viral syndrome and dehydration," according to a radio-station press release.

And we'll cherish those unforgettable moments - the Mexican bridesmaids' dresses stalled at customs, the opening singer's last-minute announcement that he didn't own a microphone - till death do us part.

I was at CompuSoft when it merged with Symantec, and it was exactly the same: last-minute announcements, switches in the organization charts.

Bush's presence at the school drew approximately 400 protesters, who, despite the last-minute announcement of the visit, questioned both his proposed policies and the fact that this town hall-style meeting was not open to the general public.