Washington  - Barack Obama may not become president until January 20, but starting Sunday the president-elect and his family are at home in Washington.

Obama on Sunday joined his wife, Michelle, and daughters, Malia and Sasha, at the luxurious Hay-Adams Hotel just steps from the White House. He arrived Sunday evening from Chicago at Andrews Air Force Base just outside the capital aboard a government jet, like those used by presidents.

Aboard the plane, he told reporters that he was emotional about leaving his adopted home of Chicago and had been touched by a friend of one of his daughters who had given him a scrapbook of memories of the girls, CNN reported. He also met the steward who will serve him aboard what will later become Air Force One and ordered a cheeseburger and fries for dinner.

Obama did not address the move by one of cabinet nominees, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, to withdraw his name from consideration. Richardson cited an investigation of a company that had done business with New Mexico's government as grounds for the move.

A grand jury in the south-western US state is investigating California firm CDR Financial Products Inc, which received 1.5 million dollars in fees from a state agency and had also donated 100,000 dollars to Richardson's political activities, Bloomberg news reported.

In an earlier statement, Obama said: "Governor Richardson is an outstanding public servant and would have brought to the job of commerce secretary and our economic team great insights accumulated through an extraordinary career in federal and state office. It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet in order to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time."

Michelle Obama and the girls moved into the hotel on Saturday, one day earlier than planned, to allow them to settle in before starting school Monday, the Washington Post reported.

The luxury 19th-century hotel faces the White House from across Lafayette Square, and is named after two of its most famous residents: John Hay, the one-time private assistant to president Abraham Lincoln, and Henry Adams, author and descendant of two of the country's early 19th century presidents - John Adams and John Quincy Adams.

Later this month, the family will move into Blair House, the presidential guest home that typically houses presidents before they are sworn in and can move into the White House. Because the Obamas moved to Washington so early, the building had already been booked for other events, necessitating their stay at the Hay-Adams.

Malia, 10, and 7-year-old Sasha start classes Monday at the private Sidwell Friends School, where former first daughter Chelsea Clinton attended while her father was in the White House.

But the girls aren't the only ones getting down to work Monday. Their father is to spend the day getting a jump start on his work to salvage the US economy. Obama will spend the morning meeting with congressional leaders on his proposed up-to-775-billion dollar economic stimulus plan and the afternoon meeting with his economic advisors.

In his weekly radio address on Saturday, Obama urged Congress to quickly pass the plan, which focus on spending on renewable energy, infrastructure and technology projects.

On Wednesday, Obama is to lunch with President George W Bush and former presidents Jimmy Carter, George HW Bush and Bill Clinton. (dpa)