Obama Talking With Possible SCOTUS Picks
The Associated Press reports that President Obama has begun private conversations with potential Supreme Court nominees, according to an senior administration official: “Those discussions have not been formal interviews, the administration official emphasized, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect the privacy of Obama’s deliberations. In his search last year, Obama ultimately did four face-to-face interviews with finalists.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama and Vice President Biden will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9:30 a.m. ET, and the economic daily briefing at 10 a.m. ET, and will meet at 10:30 a.m. ET with bipartisan leaders of the Senate and the Senate Judiciary Committee. Obama and Biden will have lunch at 12:30 p.m. ET. Obama will attend a reception for G-20 labor ministers at 2:15 p.m. ET. He will meet at 2:50 p.m. ET with senior advisers. The President and First Lady will welcome members of the United States Olympic and Paralympic teams to the White House, at 3:50 p.m. ET. Obama and Biden will meet at 4:30 p.m. ET with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. They will meet at 5:45 p.m. ET with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will attend President Obama’s morning meetings, listed above. At 1:30 p.m. ET, he will make an announcement related to the stimulus program’s $80 billion investment in clean energy and initiatives promoting energy-efficiency. He will be joined by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, and Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner. He will then attend President Obama’s afternoon meetings listed above.
Hillary Clinton At NATO Meeting
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is headed to a NATO meeting in Estonia. A key topic of discussion will be NATO’s mission itself, 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and with modern issues such as the war in Afghanistan and cyber-security.
Banks Hire Capitol Hill Insiders To Lobby On Financial Reform
Roll Call reports that the big banks have intensified an effort to hire former members of Congress to lobby Congress on financial reform. Ex-lawmakers involved have included former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-LA), former Sen. John Breaux (D-LA), former Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK), and former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO).
Both Parties Spend Lavishly To Raise Money
The Washington Post reports: “Both the national Democratic and Republican party committees spend about two-thirds of the money they take in on the care and comfort of committee staffs and on efforts to raise more funds, with lavish spending on limousines, expensive hotels, meals and tips, an analysis of the latest financial disclosure data shows. Monthly committee spending reports, like those that were due by midnight Tuesday, illustrate cultures in which vast sums are consumed with limited accountability, a Washington Post review has found.”
NRCC Sends Crew To Collect Dues
CQ reports that House Republicans have put together a 14-member whip team, whose job is to collect dues for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “It’s a brutal exercise in peer pressure,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), a member of the whip team and himself a former NRCC chairman. “This is a critical point for us.”
