Obama’s Day Ahead: Introducing The Commerce Secretary
President Obama and Vice President Biden will be speaking at 11 a.m. ET to introduce the newest nominee for Secretary of Commerce, widely expected to be former Washington state Governor Gary Locke. At 12:30 p.m. ET, Obama and Biden will hold a closed meeting with the Democratic leadership in Congress. At 3 p.m. ET, Obama and Tim Geithner will meet with the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees.
Stevie Wonder Performing For Obamas At The White House
President Obama and the First Lady will be hosting Stevie Wonder at the White House tonight, as he performs for them and accepts the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize. The event begins at 7:25 p.m. ET.
Biden Holding Economic Recovery Meeting
Vice President Biden is holding the first meeting today for the Recovery Plan Implementation, scheduled for 9:45 a.m. ET. Meeting participants include Accountability Board Chair Earl Devaney, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, OMB Director Peter Orszag, and others.
Obama Set To Announce Iraq Withdrawal Plan Soon
President Obama is expected to announce some time soon his plan to withdraw combat troops from Iraq by August 2010, with a residual force of between 30,000 and 50,000 U.S. troops to train and advice the Iraqi Security forces — and a complete withdrawal would follow by December 2011. No official date has been set for the announcement, but a White House official told the Associated Press that it might come up during a trip to North Carolina this Friday.
Specter: “I’m Going To Have A Primary”
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) told CQ that he knows he’ll likely face a stiff primary challenge in 2010, thanks to his support for the stimulus bill. Specter told the paper that an unnamed Republican colleague approached him in the party cloakroom to say how proud he was of Specter for taking a risk to help pass the bill. So Specter asked if his colleague would vote for it. “No, I might have a primary,” the unnamed GOPer said, to which Specter replied: “You know very well that I’m going to have a primary.”
Roll Call: Even Ex-Congressmen Can Still Get Earmarks
Roll Call reports that Congress is poised to vote for an omnibus budget bill carrying over from last year, which not only includes earmarks but has earmarks from people who are are no longer in Congress. A standout is former Rep. David Hobson (R-OH), who will have successfully brought home $3.8 million for a supercomputing platform and $2.8 million total for two colleges in his district.
The Hill: Obama’s Speech Just Getting K Street Started
The Hill predicts that Obama’s speech from last night will be a “starter pistol” for lobbyists, who will seek to shape the agenda on issues like energy, healthcare, education and financial services. For example, the American Petroleum Institute and its opposite number the Environmental Defense Fund were right out the gate with statements commenting on the convent of the speech.
