Obama to refocus attention on immigration, gun control

President Obama signaled Friday a desire to refocus his attention on second-term priorities, such as immigration and gun control, after weeks of fruitless wrangling with Republicans over his fiscal agenda. “What I want to try to do is make sure that we’re constantly focused . . . on how are we helping American families succeed,” Obama said at a news conference after failing to strike a...

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Jewell nomination roadblock; McCain may hold up Brennan; and Arne Duncan deployed in sequester fight (read-this roundup)

President Obama’s pick to be Interior Secretary, Sally Jewell, could face a Senate obstacle. (Andrew Harrer - Bloomberg) Here’s what the Loop is reading Monday:Road to somewhere — Nominations often face roadblocks, but this one’s a bit more literal than most: Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski is holding up Interior Secretary nominee Sally Jewell over a “20-mile gravel road” in Murkowski’s...

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Some Native Americans defy U.S. law on eagle feathers

Angelica Chavis, a third-year law student in North Carolina, received her prized eagle feather from a tribal elder at age 7, when she was crowned Little Miss Lumbee. And she’s planning to keep it, even if it’s against federal law. “It’s something I’ve earned, and it was given to me as an honor,” said Chavis, 23.She and other members of the Lumbee Tribe, the largest in North Carolina,...

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Group releases list of 90 medical ‘don’ts’

Don’t use feeding tubes in patients with advanced dementia. Don’t use drugs to aggressively treat diabetes in those older than 65. Don’t automati­cally use imaging technology for minor head injuries in children and headaches in adults. And don’t give antacids to babies with reflux. Those are among the 90 medical “don’ts” on a list being released Thursday by a coalition of doctor and consumer...

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Postmaster takes case for five-day mail delivery to skeptical senators

Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe took his controversial plan for five-day mail delivery before a congressional hearing Wednesday, where he told senators that the Postal Service “needs your help.” Donahoe’s refrain was familiar. ●The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is losing $25 million a day.●Last year, the Postal Service lost $15.9 billion.●It defaulted on $11.1 billion...

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Obama urges a move away from narrow focus on politics of austerity

Just about every argument in Washington since the 2010 midterm elections, which returned control of the House to Republicans, has centered on reducing the federal deficit. On Tuesday night, President Obama leaned into his second term by declaring that a single-minded focus on deficit reduction would jeopardize the nation’s future. And he sounded an urgent call to rebuild. Reelected by...

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Obama snubs newspapers; Sen. Graham’s motives on Hagel; and Panetta’s Pentagon swan song (read-this roundup)

President Obama during an interview with David Letterman. (Pete Souza - The White House) Here’s what the Loop is reading Monday:TV president — He does “The View,” but not the Post: President Obama “may be the least newspaper-friendly president in a generation.”Questioning his motives — Sen. Lindsay Graham’s tough talk on the nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel isn’t “purely”...

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White House faith office head leaving; more waterboarding jokes in the Senate; lawmakers try for laughs at dinner (read-this roundup)

Here’s what the Loop is reading Friday: (Jacquelyn Martin - AP) Guard-changing — More second-term shifting at the White House: Josh DuBois, the man heading the office that coordinates with faith-based organizations is leaving — and word is, some hope the president picks a more “senior” replacement.Knock, knock — In Jerry Seinfeld-speak, what’s up with waterboarding? Sen.Richard...

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Hagel on ice; a peak-scaling Interior Secretary; and synonyms for lobbying (read-this roundup)

Former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel’s nomination is still pending. (J. Scott Applewhite - AP) Here’s what the Loop is reading today: Vote delayed — Senators want to know more about former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s finances — like who has paid him for speeches — before they vote on his nomination to be defense secretary. Rough terrain ahead — More on Sally Jewell, the White House’s pick...

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Strengthening security at the nation’s airports

Most people think of airport security as their walk through the metal detector and the eyeballing by transportation security officers (TSOs). Dan Liddell, whose job it is to protect the flying public at seven airports in central New York, instead sees 17 zones of worker responsibility and hundreds of different tasks. In pursuit of safeguarding the public, Liddell, a federal security director...

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Black delegate decides against Va. GOP map

RICHMOND — After a brief flirtation with the GOP’s surprise Virginia Senate redistricting plan, and a fierce backlash from unions, a black House Democrat has soured on supporting it. Del. Onzlee Ware announced on the House floor Friday that he has decided to vote against the new Senate map, which would create a new majority-black district in Southside but also disperse black voting power...

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VA study finds more veterans committing suicide

Every day about 22 veterans in the United States kill themselves, a rate that is about 20 percent higher than the Department of Veterans Affairs’ 2007 estimate, according to a two-year study by a VA researcher. The VA study indicates that more than two-thirds of the veterans who commit suicide are 50 or older, suggesting that the increase in veterans’ suicides is not primarily driven by...

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An appointment no one wants; Barney Frank’s going to be a senator; Anna Wintour’s boyfriend’s tax problem (read-this roundup)

Anna Wintour with Shelby Bryan at a state dinner. (Brendan Hoffman - GETTY IMAGES) Here’s what the Loop is reading today: Ah, no thanks — Here’s one presidential appointment almost no one is jumping at: sitting on that health-care panel on doctor fees and reducing costs. It comes with low pay, plus the risk of political fallout — oh, and you’ll have to go through Senate confirmation,...

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Bipartisan group of senators to unveil framework for immigration overhaul

A key group of senators from both parties will unveil on Monday the framework of a broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, including a pathway to citizenship for more than 11 million illegal immigrants. The detailed, four-page statement of principles will carry the signatures of four Republicans and four Democrats, a bipartisan push that would have been unimaginable just...

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Senate’s pragmatic ranks depleted by one with Chambliss’s departure

The trio of Southern gentlemen came to the Senate together in 2003, the leading edge of a renegade Republican class set on shaking up the chamber’s staid ways and aggressively promoting the Bush White House’s conservative agenda. Ten years later, Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) are now establishment dealmakers and elder statesmen — roles...

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Court says Obama exceeded authority in making appointments

President Obama exceeded his constitutional authority by making appointments when the Senate was on a break last year, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The court’s broad ruling would sharply limit the power that presidents throughout history have used to make recess appointments in the face of Senate opposition and inaction. A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals...

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Obama to tap Denis McDonough as chief of staff

President Obama will name deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough, a longtime trusted aide, as his new White House chief of staff Friday, officials said. McDonough, 43, has spent the past two years as the No. 2 official in the National Security Council, helping guide some of the administration’s most high-profile decisions, including the military drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan,...

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OPM plans to shake up charity program raise concerns about reduced donations

The Office of Personnel Management wants to shake up the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the charitable-giving system for federal employees, but in the process the agency could risk losing donors and reducing contributions. One rule under review by the Obama administration would “eliminate the use of cash, check and money order contributions. Instead, all donations will be required to...

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Earl Smith is the man behind a military patch that President Obama prizes

AUSTIN — That February morning in 2008 found Barack Obama decidedly out of sorts. He was locked in one battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination that showed no signs of ending — and another with a vicious cold that felt the same way. As he rode the service elevator in the backway of a convention hotel here, the snowy-haired African American operating it turned...

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Earl Smith is the man behind a military patch that President Obama prizes

AUSTIN, Tex. — That February morning in 2008 found Barack Obama decidedly out of sorts. He was locked in one battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination that showed no signs of ending — and another with a vicious cold that felt the same way. As he rode the service elevator in the backway of a convention hotel here, the snowy-haired African American operating it...

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