44 - Politics and Policy in Obama's Washington - February 13, 2011

Michelle Obama, with Malia and Sasha, skiing in Colorado this weekend

First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters Malia and Sasha left the White House Friday evening for a weekend skip trip in Vail, Colorado, according to the White House.

By Ed O'Keefe | February 19, 2011; 12:21 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (58)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Michelle Obama
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After 90 hours of debate, House nears completion of government-funding measure

The House early Saturday was on the verge of completing its consideration of a measure to keep the federal government funded, after four straight nights of post-midnight debate and more than 90 hours on the House floor.

By Felicia Sonmez and Shailagh Murray | February 18, 2011; 11:30 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (93)
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What budget-cutting amendments has the House passed this week?

Lawmakers this week proposed 583 amendments to a resolution funding the federal government through September. Ultimately 153 of those amendments were considered on the House floor and 67 of them ended up being adopted by the House.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 18, 2011; 7:13 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (50)
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Intel chief sounds a gentler note on Obama

HILLSBORO, Ore. -- Apparently Paul Otellini has decided that President Obama understands something about the U.S. economy after all.

By Perry Bacon Jr. | February 18, 2011; 5:05 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Barack Obama, Economy, Eye on 2012
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House government funding resolution debate: By the numbers

Chances are if you tuned into C-SPAN at any point this week, you caught a glimpse of the marathon session in the House of Representatives as lawmakers debated hundreds of proposed spending cuts, on top of the $61 billion in reductions already proposed by Republicans last week.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 18, 2011; 5:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (17)
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Conservative budget amendment fails House amid fissure among Republicans

A conservative budget proposal that would have cut an additional $22 billion across federal agencies on top of the $61 billion in cuts already proposed by House Republicans failed the House Friday amid sharp disagreements among Republicans over just how far Congress should go in seeking to rein in federal spending.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 18, 2011; 3:07 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (33)
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Obama statement on Bahrain, Libya and Yemen

The White House released the following statement Friday on the violence in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen.

By Matt DeLong | February 18, 2011; 2:30 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (10)
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House Republican warns conservatives' spending cuts could 'paralyze' Capitol Police force

A Republican House member issued a statement on Friday warning that an amendment proposed by conservative members of his party could force the U.S. Capitol Police to lay off hundreds of officers.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 18, 2011; 11:14 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
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House debate on defunding Planned Parenthood stretches on for nearly three hours

The debate on funding the federal government transformed into a heated argument over social issues Thursday night as lawmakers took to the House floor for over two hours to debate an amendment that would block federal funding of Planned Parenthood.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 18, 2011; 1:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (83)
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Obama holds Silicon Valley summit with tech tycoons

President Obama traveled Thursday night to northern California for an evening meeting with a group of Silicon Valley chief executives, among them Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, and Steve Jobs, the ailing head of Apple.

By Perry Bacon Jr. | February 17, 2011; 10:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (35)
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Nancy Pelosi: 'I'd rather not speculate' on funding cuts

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declined to say Thursday whether House Democrats might support a stop-gap government funding resolution that cuts spending to below current levels.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 17, 2011; 4:12 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (10)
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Obama: Wisconsin budget fight seems like 'an assault on unions'

During an interview with TMJ4 of Milwaukee, Wisc., that aired Thursday, President Obama weighed in on the rapidly escalating brouhaha over Gov. Scott Walker's (R-Wisc.) proposal to strip public-sector employees of collective bargaining rights.

By Matt DeLong | February 17, 2011; 2:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (92)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Barack Obama, Economy
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Boehner: No short-term extension of current government funding levels

As the House continues its marathon session of brainstorming spending cuts beyond the $61 billion already proposed by Republicans, Speaker John Boehner on Thursday said that he's not certain when a final vote will be held.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 17, 2011; 12:45 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (25)
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House approves Patriot Act extension, sending it to Obama

The House on Thursday passed a 90-day extension of key provisions of the Patriot Act counterterrorism surveillance law, sending the measure on to President Obama for his signature.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 17, 2011; 10:52 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (20)
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Two House Republican amendments aim to defund health-care law

House lawmakers on Thursday will get their first shot at voting to defund the national health care overhaul, the latest effort by congressional Republicans to render ineffective President Obama's signature legislative initiative.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 17, 2011; 8:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (75)
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House votes to eliminate funding for second F-35 jet engine

The House on Wednesday narrowly approved an amendment that would eliminate funding for a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a move that would contribute an additional $450 million to the estimated $61 billion in federal spending cuts that House Republicans have proposed for the rest of the current fiscal year.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 16, 2011; 2:42 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (52)
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Senate Democrats sign onto Obama's five-year spending freeze

Senate Democrats on Wednesday announced that they will support President Obama's proposed five-year freeze on domestic discretionary spending, a move that comes as the White House and congressional Republicans do battle over the president's budget proposal for the next fiscal year.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 16, 2011; 2:41 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (13)
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Eric Cantor: House debate on government funding bill could stretch past Thursday

Debate and votes on House Republicans' plan to continue funding the federal government could stretch past Thursday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced in a memo Wednesday afternoon.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 16, 2011; 1:53 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Congress, House, Republican Party
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Labor's Richard Trumka, Chamber's Tom Donohue appear together to plead for infrastructure spending

Two longtime adversaries appeared together at a Senate committee hearing Wednesday morning to deliver a message to Congress: invest more in America's infrastructure.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 16, 2011; 11:18 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
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Senate passes short-term extension of Patriot Act provisions

The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would extend through May three key provisions of the Patriot Act that are set to expire later this month. The move is designed to buy time for lawmakers to fully debate and hold hearings on the controversial counterterrorism surveillance law.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 15, 2011; 6:35 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (9)
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Senate defeats measure that would have denied TSA workers collective bargaining rights

The Senate on Tuesday rejected an amendment that would have denied Transportation Security Administration employees collective bargaining rights, handing a victory to Democrats and labor groups.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 15, 2011; 5:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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House Republicans announce they'll include entitlement reform in 2012 budget

House Republican leaders announced Tuesday that their budget for the 2012 fiscal year will include an effort to reform entitlement programs including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 15, 2011; 4:45 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (67)
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House moves forward on Republican plan to cut $61 billion

The House on Tuesday voted to proceed on a Republican-led plan that would cut $61 billion in spending across the federal government through the end of the current fiscal year in September.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 15, 2011; 4:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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McConnell: Senate Republicans may not endorse all specific House spending cuts

Senate Republicans are committed to the level of spending cuts that House GOP leaders have...

By Shailagh Murray | February 15, 2011; 3:34 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (10)
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House Republicans: Obama, Democrats not leading on budget

House Republican leaders on Tuesday sought to contrast their plan to cut $61 billion from the remainder of this year's budget with the $3.7 trillion federal budget for next year rolled out by President Obama on Monday.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 15, 2011; 1:10 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (17)
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Chris Van Hollen: Republicans 'opportunistic' in criticizing Obama budget proposal

House Democratic leaders on Tuesday pushed back against Republican criticism of President Obama's fiscal year 2012 budget plan, contending that many Republicans who are taking aim at the president for not heeding the advice of his bipartisan debt and deficit commission had earlier opposed the panel's creation as well as some of its recommendations.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 15, 2011; 10:46 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
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President Obama to hold press conference

The White House has announced that President Obama will hold a press conference late Tuesday morning.

By Emi Kolawole | February 15, 2011; 8:38 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Patriot Act extension passes House, one week after unexpected defeat

The House approved Monday a measure that would extend key provisions of the Patriot Act through December. Their vote came less than a week after House Republicans suffered an embarrassing defeat when the same bill was brought up under fast-track rules and failed by seven votes.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 14, 2011; 7:17 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (23)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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Budget 2012: NIH and CDC

The National Institutes of Health, which is the major vehicle for public financing of biomedical research, gets a slight bump up in the president's 2012 budget, from $30.8 to $31.8 billion. With the rate of inflation in the medical research sector of the economy running about 3.5 percent a year, the president's request is the equivalent of flat-funding.

By David Brown | February 14, 2011; 6:27 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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Budget 2012: NASA

federal budget, federal budget 2012, federal budget cuts, us budget, federal budget spending, obama budget, congress budget, obama spending cuts, obama taxes, president obama administration federal budget 2012, republican house spending cuts, obama congress spending, federal agency budgets, obama spending totals

By Marc Kaufman | February 14, 2011; 5:45 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
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Top House Republicans give mixed signals on entitlement reform

Will House Republicans tackle entitlement reform in their 2012 budget? It depends on whom you ask.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 14, 2011; 5:24 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
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Budget 2012: CIA/Intelligence agencies

The Obama administration disclosed Monday that its fiscal 2012 budget proposal includes a request for...

By Greg Miller | February 14, 2011; 5:22 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Budget 2012: Energy Department

President Obama's plan would boost the Energy Department's budget to $29.5 billion, up 12 percent from the enacted 2010 budget and up 4 percent from estimated spending in the current fiscal year.

By Steven Mufson | February 14, 2011; 5:14 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, The Agencies, The Budget
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Budget 2012: Labor Department

Labor Department spending under President Obama's 2012 budget would fall five percent from what was enacted in 2010, to $12.8 billion. While the agency is charged with promoting the welfare of workers, job seekers and retirees, the budget released Monday "reflects the need to make sacrifices in many areas," the administration statement says.

By Lisa Rein | February 14, 2011; 4:52 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, The Agencies, The Budget
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Budget 2012: Health and Human Services

The first sentence of the "funding highlights" in the White House budget document says that...

By Amy Goldstein | February 14, 2011; 4:46 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Barack Obama, Health Care, Health Care, Republican Party, The Agencies, The Budget, White House
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Budget 2012: Veterans Affairs

President Obama's proposed 2012 budget provides $58.8 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs and places a continued emphasis on the care and benefits for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

By Ed O'Keefe | February 14, 2011; 4:42 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Barack Obama, Economy, The Budget
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Budget 2012: Housing and Urban Development

President Obama's proposed budget includes $41.74 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development,...

By Dina ElBoghdady | February 14, 2011; 4:24 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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Budget 2012: Justice Department

The Justice Department is mostly spared the knife under President Obama's proposed 2012 budget, with...

By Jerry Markon | February 14, 2011; 4:20 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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Budget 2012: Homeland Security

The proposed Department of Homeland Security budget of $43.2 billion amounts to a slight increase...

By Peter Finn | February 14, 2011; 4:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Budget 2012: Defense Department

The president's proposed fiscal 2012 budget requests $553 billion for the Defense Department's base spending...

By Walter Pincus | February 14, 2011; 2:45 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
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Secretary Clinton: House Republican budget cuts will endanger national security

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday afternoon that the spending levels outlined by House Republicans late last week for the remainder of the fiscal year would endanger the country's national security.

By Felicia Sonmez | February 14, 2011; 1:54 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (9)
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Budget 2012: Interior

The $12 billion budget for the Interior Department is largely unchanged. But Interior is changing some of the ways it plans to use that money.

By Darry Fears | February 14, 2011; 1:18 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Barack Obama
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Budget 2012: Transportation

Proposing to spend $128 billion on transportation in fiscal 2012, the heart of the White House spending plan is a push for a six-year renewal of the nation's transportation blueprint.

By Ashley Halsey III | February 14, 2011; 1:11 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, The Budget
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Budget 2012: Environmental Protection Agency

President Obama's proposed budget provides $9 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, noting that that...

By Darryl Fears | February 14, 2011; 1:01 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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Budget 2012: USDA

The Obama administration is proposing $23.9 billion in discretionary funding for the Agriculture Department's 2012 budget, a decrease of $3.2 billion, with the biggest cuts coming from direct payments to high-income farmers, rural home loan programs and wetlands conservation programs.

By Kimberly Kindy | February 14, 2011; 12:58 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Barack Obama, Economy, The Budget
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Budget 2012: Treasury Department

The administration's $14 billion proposed budget for the Treasury Department represents a 4 percent bump from the budget that was enacted in 2010.

By Brady Dennis | February 14, 2011; 12:56 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, The Agencies, The Budget
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Budget 2012: Food and Drug Administration

Under the President's proposed 2012 budget, the Food and Drug Administration would get $2.7 billion,...

By Lyndsey Layton | February 14, 2011; 12:41 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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Budget 2012: Environment

In President Obama's new budget plan, the idea of comprehensive climate legislation appears to have...

By Steven Mufson | February 14, 2011; 12:08 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Shirley Sherrod sues Andrew Breitbart over video

Conservative activist and blogger Andrew Breitbart's weekend in Washington at the Conservative Political Action Conference was interrupted when he was served with a lawsuit filed by the subject of one of his infamous videos, the New York Times reports.

By Matt DeLong | February 14, 2011; 12:05 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (155)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, White House
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Budget 2012: State Department/USAID

President Obama's 2012 budget proposal says that funding for the State Department and U.S. Agency...

By Mary Beth Sheridan | February 14, 2011; 11:59 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Budget 2012: National Science Foundation

Under the president's proposal, renewable energy, wireless communications, next-generation computer processors and robotics research all receive a boost.

By Brian Vastag | February 14, 2011; 11:56 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, The Agencies, The Budget | Tags: 2012 budget, federal science budget, math teacher training budget, national science foundation budget, obama budget, obama science budget, science teacher training money
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44: February 13, 2011 - February 19, 2011