Today: Key Primaries
Voters are headed to the polls in primaries today in North Carolina, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah. The polls will close in South Carolina at 7 p.m. ET, in North Carolina at 7:30 p.m. ET, in Mississippi at 8 p.m. ET, and in Utah at 10 p.m. ET.
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama and Vice President Biden will received the presidential daily briefing at 9:30 a.m. ET. Obama will attend an 11:15 a.m. ET meeting with health insurers and state insurance commissioners, and deliver remarks at 11:45 p.m. ET on the ongoing effort to implement the new health care reform law. Obama and Biden will have lunch at 12:20 p.m. ET. Obama will meet with senior advisers at 1:35 p.m. ET. He will meet with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at 3:15 p.m. ET. Obama will hold a Cabinet Meeting at 4 p.m. Et. Obama and Biden will attend a 6 p.m. ET LGBT Pride Month event, where Obama will deliver remarks.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President held a breakfast meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at 7:45 a.m. ET, and attended President Obama’s daily briefing at 9:30 a.m. ET. Biden will hold an event at 11 a.m. ET, to introduce the U.S. Government’s intellectual property enforcement strategy. He will have lunch with Obama at 12:20 p.m. ET, and attend Obama’s 4 p.m. ET Cabinet Meeting. Then at 6 p.m. ET, Obama and Biden will attend an LGBT Pride Month event.
GOP Facing Grassroots Pressure On Arizona Law
The Hill reports: “Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and other GOP leaders are coming under pressure from the Republican grass roots to make Arizona’s immigration law a national campaign issue. GOP and conservative activists see the lawsuit the administration is considering against Arizona’s tough new law as a tool to spike turnout by Republicans and independents at the polls.”
Sessions Threatens GOP Boycott Of Kagan Hearings
In an interview with Politico, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) threatened that Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee could boycott the start of the Elena Kagan Supreme Court confirmation hearings if they are not given more time to review documents from her past. “I don’t feel like we’re prepared yet,” said Sessions, the ranking Republican on the committee. “It’s becoming more clear that this is not an easy thing to get ready this quick.”
Hoyer: Middle-Class Tax Cuts May Not Be Affordable Long-Term
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D) will say in a speech today at the Third Way think tank that tax cuts benefitting the middle class should not be “totally sacrosanct” in dealing with the deficit, the Washington Post reports. “We’re lying to ourselves and our children if we say we can maintain our current levels of entitlement spending, defense spending and taxation without bankrupting our country,” Hoyer will say, according to prepared remarks.
McConnell Open to Breaking Nomination Logjam
Roll Call reports: “The Senate approved a trio of district court nominees Monday evening, making a small amount of headway in a nominations logjam that could get far greater attention this week. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) indicated on the floor after Monday’s votes that an agreement might be reached on clearing a package of as many as 60 nominees, probably Tuesday morning. The package would represent almost half of the more than 130 pending nominations.”
