Obama To Meet Conservative Freshman Lawmakers At White House
The Washington Post reports: “The president will greet his shellackers on Monday. President Obama will meet with the newly elected members of the House and Senate at an evening reception at the White House that is closed to the media. The administration has not yet put out a list of which members will be in attendance, but the event no doubt will be dominated by people who contributed to Obama’s self-described ‘shellacking’ in November: 87 of the nearly 100 new House members are Republicans, as are 13 of the 16 new senators.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden will deliver remarks at an 11 a.m. ET event, highlighting the federal government’s support for military families. Obama will meet at 4:30 p.m. ET with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. At 7:30 p.m. ET, the President and First Lady, and the Vice President and Dr. Biden, will host a reception for new members of Congress.
Boehner Cool To Obama’s Invitations
Roll Call reports: “It’s only been two months since Republicans took control of the House, and Speaker John Boehner is already earning a reputation for telling President Barack Obama, ‘No.’ The Ohio Republican last week turned down a White House invitation to attend a state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao. A week earlier, Boehner declined an offer from Obama to fly with him on Air Force One to attend the Tucson, Ariz., memorial ceremony. And unlike last year’s House GOP retreat, the president was not asked by Republican leaders to make an appearance at this year’s getaway.
Scalia To Speak To Tea Party Caucus
CNN reports: “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is scheduled to speak Monday in a closed-door meeting with the Tea Party Caucus — an informal group of conservative lawmakers…Monday’s session with the 74-year-old Scalia is being billed as the first in a series of twice-monthly ‘conservative constitutional seminars,’ although all members of Congress are invited, according to organizers.”
Obama Speech May Spur Fight Over Pace Of Budget Cuts
Reuters reports: “President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday is likely to ignite a clash with Republicans over the federal deficit and the pace of budget cuts, an issue that may dominate the political debate this year…Obama has signaled he will call for efforts to tackle the long-term problem of high annual U.S. deficits and surging debt in his nationally televised annual address at 9 p.m. Tuesday (0200 GMT Wednesday) but he and his advisers also want to calibrate the pace of the fiscal pullback.”
Obama’s Transformation Culminates In State Of The Union Address
The Hill reports: “When President Obama delivers his State of the Union address to Congress, it will mark the culmination of a transformation the White House hopes will lead to a second term in 2012. Obama and his aides began positioning the president as more business-friendly and centrist months ago, and the White House intends to build on that effort when he addresses the country and a divided Congress on Tuesday.”
