Obama To Meet SEAL Team Involved In Bin Laden Operation
CNN reports: “President Barack Obama will meet Friday with members of the U.S. Navy SEAL team involved in the assault on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, a senior administration official told CNN…’The president met with Adm. McRaven at the White House yesterday to thank him personally in the Oval Office and will have the opportunity to privately thank some of the special operators involved in the operation tomorrow at Fort Campbell’ in Kentucky, the official said.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will depart form the white House at 9:30 a.m. ET, and depart from Andrews Air Force Base at 9:45 a.m. ET, arriving at 11:20 a.m. ET in Indianapolis, Indiana. At 11:55 a.m. ET, he will tour Allison Transmission Headquarters, and deliver remarks to workers there at 12:15 p.m. ET. He will depart from Indianapolis at 1:30 p.m. ET, arriving at 2:25 p.m. ET at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. At 3:55 p.m. ET, he will deliver remarks to service members who have recently returned from deployment. He will depart form Fort Campbell at 4:40 p.m. ET, arriving at Andrews Air Force Base at 6:15 p.m. ET, and arriving back at the White House at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Lawmakers Call For Tougher Restrictions On Aid To Pakistan
The Hill reports: “The call on Capitol Hill for tougher restrictions on aid to Pakistan intensified Thursday, with lawmakers from both political parties saying the time is ripe for reining in the U.S.’s inconstant ally. Congress may try to accomplish this by placing new stipulations on the billions of dollars in annual aid Washington sends to Islamabad in return for Pakistan’s cooperation in the Afghan war. The indignation of lawmakers was sparked by the revelation that Osama bin Laden, killed by U.S. Navy SEALs last weekend, was holed up in a compound just 40 miles from Pakistan’s capital city — and in a neighborhood populated with Pakistani security officials.”
China Pushes U.S. On Debt Ahead Of High-Level Talks
Reuters reports: “China, wielding its huge dollar holdings, on Friday pressed Washington to tackle its huge fiscal deficit and said it would raise the issue of discrimination against Chinese investors at high-level talks next week. Senior Chinese officials also made clear that U.S. demands for Beijing to raise sharply the value of the yuan currency and to end a crackdown on dissent — both irritants in ties between the world’s two biggest economies — would gain little ground at next week’s Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington.”
Budget Talks Focus On Common Ground While Medicare Stance Sparks GOP Split
The Washington Post reports: “Lawmakers from both parties opened budget talks with the White House on Thursday with a tacit agreement to focus on areas where they might find common ground that could produce significant savings and to postpone consideration of divisive issues such as higher tax rates and a dramatic overhaul of Medicare…The apparent harmony at Blair House contrasted sharply with the atmosphere on Capitol Hill, where GOP lawmakers were publicly split on whether to step back from their most far-reaching priorities, including a plan to privatize Medicare in 2022, as part of the negotiations.”
Senate GOP Pledges To Block Nominee Without Changes To Consumer Agency
Roll Call reports: “In a letter sent to the president, 44 Republicans called for an overhaul of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created by last year’s financial regulatory reform bill and pledged to block any nominee tapped to lead the agency absent those changes. The Senators wrote that the CFPB director has ‘unprecedented authority over financial institutions’ under current law and could threaten to ‘affect every American household by limiting their choices when purchasing financial products.'”
