Obama To Nominate Sotomayor For SCOTUS
President Obama will announce at 10:15 a.m. ET this morning that he is nominating Judge Sonia Sotomayor of New York for the Supreme Court. Sotomayor, age 54, has been one of the top names mentioned in the media since the news first broke of Justice David Souter’s retirement. She would be the first Hispanic Justice, and the third woman to serve on the court.
Obama’s Day Ahead: Raising Money For Harry Reid
President Obama will be having his regular meetings with advisers today in the Oval Office. At 10:15 a.m. ET he will announce the Sotomayor nomination for the Supreme Court. Then in the afternoon he will depart from the White House for Las Vegas, Nevada. He will arrive in Las Vegas at 8:50 p.m. ET, and at 10:55 p.m. ET he will attend a fundraiser for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, at Caesar’s Palace.
Biden’s Day Ahead: Colorado
Vice President Biden and his wife Jill are spending the day in Denver, Colorado. At 4 p.m. ET, Biden will host the fourth meeting of the Middle Class Task Force, at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science — the site where President Obama signed the stimulus bill into law. The topic of the meeting will be, “Building a Strong Middle Class through a Green Economy.” Also, Jill Biden will tour Community College of Aurora, Lowry Campus, at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Nevada Governor To Snub Obama’s Arrival In Vegas
Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV) will not be greeting President Obama at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas tonight. Gibbons turned down an invitation from the White House, citing Obama’s criticism of bailed-out banks for spending money on luxuries that included trips to Vegas. Said Gibbons: “While I appreciate the offer, I am not interested in a handshake and a hello from President Obama, I am interested in an apology and plan to undo the damage the President did.”
Reid Raises Big Money, With No Opponent On Hand
The Associated Press points out that despite polling showing dissatisfaction among voters in Nevada, Harry Reid has been able to bring in a lot of money — $7.5 million so far — and no Republican candidate has actually emerged to challenge him. “He’s the majority leader and he’s going to raise a ton of money. That’s intimidating to run against,” said Reid’s Republican co-Senator John Ensign, who added that a viable candidate would need to get in the race “in the next few months, certainly.”
Obama To Create “Cyber Czar” Position
The Washington Post reports that President Obama is set to create a new “cyber czar” position, to develop a strategy to protect the country’s government private computer networks. A White House official told the Post that cybersecurity “is vitally important, and the government needs to be coordinated on this.”
Conservative Italian P.M.: We’ll Consider Taking Gitmo Prisoners
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told CNN that his country would consider accepting detainees from Guantanamo Bay, though it’s too early to say how many he could take. The conservative leader explained: “We feel that we should do everything possible to support the United States and we can’t expect them to fight for all of us single-handedly. Terrorism is a phenomenon that affects us all.”
