U.S. Politics
Around-the-clock political news and analysis from Reuters. Follow @ReutersPolitics for more.
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Video: A mashup of Speaker Boehner's trail of tears - Rough Cuts -
Congress verifies: Obama, Biden win Electoral College vote http://reut.rs/WrL7ldby ReutersPolitics via twitter 1/4/2013 7:24:33 PM -
US Supreme Court to hear child custody case
WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider whether two parents were properly ordered to turn over a 27-month-old girl they had raised since birth to her biological father simply because he was an American Indian.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Sandra Maler) -
Budget battles threaten to limit Obama's second-term agenda http://reut.rs/WrRAN3by ReutersPolitics via twitter 1/4/2013 7:57:02 PM
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US Supreme Court to review judge's role in plea talks
WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider whether a defendant's guilty plea must automatically be thrown out if the presiding federal judge plays a role in plea negotiations.
The case involved the interpretation of federal criminal procedure rules that instruct courts not to participate in such talks, but which say an error can be excused if a defendant's "substantial rights" are not affected.
Anthony Davila, the defendant, had been charged by a Georgia federal grand jury with conspiring to defraud the government by submitting false income tax refund claims that used the stolen identities of state prison inmates.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Sandra Maler) -
Video: President Obama's weekly presidential address -
"I believe we can find more places to cut spending without shortchanging things like education, job training, research and technology all which are critical to our prosperity in a 21st century economy. But spending cuts must be balanced with more reforms to our tax code. The wealthiest individuals and the biggest corporations shouldn’t be able to take advantage of loopholes and deductions that aren’t available to most Americans."
-President Obama, delivering the weekly presidential address on Saturday, January 5, 2013"I believe in a simple principle: When it comes to the tax code, everyone should play by the same rules. Your tax rate should be determined by what's fair, not who you know in Washington. The simple truth is that we are in this fiscal mess because Washington takes too much of your money and then wastes it. That's the real problem, and it needs a real solution."
-Rep. Dave Camp (R-Michigan), delivering the weekly GOP address on Saturday, January 5, 2013 -
Video: Obama likely to nominate Sen. Hagel as next Secy. of Defense (FOX News) -
Video: Sandy victims frustrated by delayed relief (Deborah Lutterbeck reports) -
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Video: Former Gov. Richardson, Google exec Schmidt travel to North Korea -
"Despite a furious counterattack from the opposition, the president had scored a major victory by securing lower tax rates for everyone in the middle class on down. President Barack Obama last week after narrowly averting the fiscal cliff? Nope, President George W. Bush in June 2001, signing the first set of his much-sought-after tax cuts."
- Michael Rosen, in a new Reuters Opinion piece explaining why the real "fiscal cliff" winner isn't President Obama, but former President George W. Bush. (read it here) -
"Soon after the election, I informed President Obama of my intention to retire from public service and return home to California. Today, the president announced that he will nominate Chuck Hagel to succeed me as secretary of defense, and I want to express my strong support for this nomination."
- Outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, in a lengthy statement released Monday on his departure and the nomination of colleague Chuck Hagel to his post. (read the full statement) -
"Deputy Secretary Nides presented her (Secretary Clinton) with a gift from all of us in a big box...she opened the box, and inside was a football helmet with the State Department seal, lots of good padding, and also a football jersey that said Clinton on the back and on the front it says number 112, which symbolizes the number of countries that she’s visited as Secretary of State. And she loved it. She thought it was cool. But then, being Hillary Clinton, she wanted to get right to business."
- U.S. State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland, speaking about the return of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a press briefing on Monday. (from transcript) -
Video: White House press briefing for Monday, January 7 (White House) -
Video: President Obama makes personnel announcements (White House) -
Video: Ammunition regulation bill introduced in California (KXTV) -
Obama inauguration tickets put on sale early by mistake
Two of the hottest tickets to President Barack Obama's second inauguration became even more difficult to acquire after the company responsible for selling seats to the official parade and ball on Sunday put the tickets on sale prematurely.
Public tickets for the official inaugural parade and ball were sold earlier than advertised by Ticketmaster, which first alerted buyers that the tickets would be sold Monday but then sent out a second message opening up sales Sunday.
The glitch caused the ticket broker's site to crash.
"All public tickets are first-come, first-served, including those sold tonight," the ticket giant said in an email sent to potential buyers Sunday evening. "There is no guarantee that you will be able to purchase a ticket at any time."
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Video: New Jersey Gov. Christie delivers "State of the State" address
(Source: NJTV) -
Video: Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords speaks about gun control
(Source: ABC News) -
Video: Former Gov. Richardson, Google's Schmidt in North Korea
(Rough Cut) -
Obama aide presses Republicans to accept more tax revenues
The U.S. Congress should accept in the next round of deficit-reduction talks that revenue from taxes must be raised further if it expects President Barack Obama to sign off on a deal, the president's top economic adviser, Gene Sperling, said in an interview.
The White House and Congress are trying to reach an agreement that would delay planned austerity measures and keep funding the government, while at the same time cutting the budget deficit over the long term.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has ruled out raising revenues as part of any deal, but Sperling said a significant chunk must come from higher taxes.
"The president is not suggesting that in this next round of deficit reduction it all be on revenues," Sperling said in an interview taped on Tuesday with Reuters TV's "Impact Players."
"He's just suggesting that we continue to do it in a balanced way so that our overall agreement really is about two dollars in spending cuts for every dollar in revenue."
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Obama determined to act against gun violence: Biden
President Barack Obama is "determined to take action" against gun violence and is considering executive orders aimed preventing attacks like last month's massacre at a Connecticut elementary school, Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday.
Biden opened a White House meeting with gun violence victims and gun-control advocates as part of his effort to craft a package of recommendations that Obama has requested by the end of January.
The administration is considering a combination of executive actions and legislation and is determined to act quickly, Biden said.
"We are not going to get caught up in the notion that unless we do everything we're going to do nothing," the vice president told reporters before the meeting. "There is a pretty wide consensus on three or four or five things in the gun safety area that could and should be done."
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Statement by the President on Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis
(as released by the White House)
"Over her long career in public service – as an advocate for environmental justice in California, state legislator, member of Congress and Secretary of Labor - Hilda Solis has been a tireless champion for working families. Over the last four years, Secretary Solis has been a critical member of my economic team as we have worked to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and strengthen the economy for the middle class.
Her efforts have helped train workers for the jobs of the future, protect workers’ health and safety and put millions of Americans back to work. I am grateful to Secretary Solis for her steadfast commitment and service not only to the Administration, but on behalf of the American people. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors. " -
New York Governor Cuomo proposes minimum wage hike
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called on Wednesday for raising the state's minimum wage by nearly 21 percent, to $8.75 an hour.
"It is long overdue," Cuomo said during his State of the State address. "We should have done it last year."
New York's current rate of $7.25 an hour is below that of 19 other states, he said. On January 1, 10 U.S. states increased their minimum wage rates by between 10 and 35 percent.
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Ken Salazar now the only Hispanic in Obama's cabinet, with Solis' resignation.
— Ethan Klapper (@ethanklapper) January 9, 2013 -
"When six- and seven-year-olds are gunned down in their own school, there’s a problem here that we need to address…as the President said, we can't simply not try because it’s hard. The problem is too important."
-White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, speaking at the White House daily press briefing on Wednesday. -
Giffords gun control group wants $20 million for 2014 elections
A new gun control group led by Gabrielle Giffords, the former U.S. congresswoman wounded in a Tucson shooting rampage, wants to raise $20 million for the 2014 congressional elections, matching the National Rifle Association's spending in last November's elections, the group's treasurer said on Wednesday.
Giffords and her husband, former U.S. astronaut Mark Kelly, have turned to Houston trial lawyer and Democratic donor Steve Mostyn to act as treasurer. He gave $1 million of his own money to help kick start a campaign launched on Tuesday calling for what Giffords and Kelly describe as common-sense measures to curb gun violence.
The move marks the entry of the high-profile couple, both gun owners, into a heated national debate over gun control fueled by the massacre of 20 children and six teachers at a Connecticut elementary school last month.
"We're just getting things started, but I've had conversations with a dozen other large political donors who have worked with me on other issues in the past, and I've had a good response," Mostyn told Reuters.
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Obama relying on bigger checks for smaller inauguration party
President Barack Obama, who has tried to limit the influence of money in politics, is relying on federal contractors and businesses that profited from his campaign to pay as much as $1 million for his inauguration party later this month.
The fundraising strategy marks a shift from Obama's 2009 inauguration, when he banned corporate money and limited individual contributions to showcase his commitment to transparency and clean government.
This time around, organizers are soliciting bigger checks to pay for a party that will lack the historic aura of 2009, when Obama became the nation's first black president.
Donors include prominent government contractors such as AT&T and Microsoft and a business that sells inauguration merchandise. Wealthy individuals who funded attacks on his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, also appear to be contributors.
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The White House is pictured before sunrise in Washington, January 10, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed
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Video: NY Gov Cuomo calls for tougher gun laws during "State of the State" address
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Biden to give Obama gun violence recommendations by Tuesday
Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday his task force on ways to reduce gun violence is looking at an emerging set of recommendations and he will hand them over to President Barack Obama by Tuesday.
Biden, at a meeting of hunting and outdoor sport groups, said two recommendations were likely to be an appeal for universal background checks for gun purchasers and a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips.
Biden said only a "tight window" exists for action and that he will hand over his recommendations by Tuesday to Obama.
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Pentagon ordered to begin 'prudent' steps to prepare for defense cuts
WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Thursday he had directed the U.S. military services to began taking "prudent" steps to offset the impact of huge budget cuts that could take effect on March 1, including curtailing some facilities maintenance and freezing civilian hiring.
"I'd like to believe that ultimately Congress will do the right thing," Panetta said. But "we simply cannot sit back now and not be prepared for the worst."
Panetta told a news conference he also directed the services to begin planning now in case the department has to put its nearly 800,000 civilian employees on unpaid leave for up to a month during the remaining months of the 2013 fiscal year. -
Obama nominates Jack Lew to succeed Geithner at Treasury
President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated his chief of staff, Jack Lew, as the next Treasury secretary, praising him as a expert on the pressing national issues of spending cuts and deficit reduction.
Lew will succeed Timothy Geithner and take the lead on difficult negotiations with Congress on how to cut the nation's massive debt and rein in spending - a central challenge for Obama's second term.
Lew, a 57-year-old New Yorker who has previously served as White House budget chief, is likely to face tough questioning from Republicans in his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing after a bruising year-end battle over tax increases on the wealthy. He appears likely to win Senate confirmation.
Obama described Lew as "a low-key guy who prefers to surround himself with policy experts rather than television cameras, and said the son of a Polish immigrant had a deep belief in public service.
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State Dept spokeswoman Nuland: "Killed by aliens?!" Reporter w/thick accent: "No, Indians. Killed by Indians." Nuland: "Oh!"
— Hannah Allam (@HannahAllam) January 10, 2013 -
by Vice President Biden via twitter 1/10/2013 9:47:16 PM -
U.S. Sen. Rockefeller to announce retirement-Senate source
WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia will announce later on Friday that he will not seek a sixth term in the Senate in 2014, according to a Senate Democratic source.
Rockefeller, 75, is chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. He is scheduled to make an announcement at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) in Charleston, West Virginia, about his future plans, according to his office. -
Afghan President Karzai just arrived at the White House. His 1st meeting supposed to start at 10 am - got here a few minutes late.
— Ali Weinberg (@AliNBCNews) January 11, 2013 -
Video: Afghan President Karzai meets Secy of Defense Panetta
(The Pentagon Channel) -
The word "Pakistan" is absent from joint Obama/Karzai statement on their meeting. Instead it's "regional environment."by Olivier Knox via twitter 1/11/2013 6:20:58 PM -
Obama/Karzai statement says they discussed "sustainable" post-2014 force. Eyeing security accord "as soon as possible."by Olivier Knox via twitter 1/11/2013 6:20:58 PM
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Obama: “By the end of next year — 2014 — the transition will be complete…this war will come to a responsible end.”
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) January 11, 2013 -
"Coalition forces will move to a support role (in Afghanistan) this spring."
-President Barack Obama, speaking at a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday -
A copy of the book 'Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games' sits at one attendee's place at the table as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden convenes a meeting with representatives from the video game industry, in a dialogue about gun violence, in his office in Washington, January 11, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
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U.S. Vice President Joe Biden convenes a meeting with representatives from the video game industry, in a dialogue about gun violence, in his office in Washington, January 11, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Saudi oil attacks came from southwest Iran, U.S. official says, raising tensions
WASHINGTON/DUBAI The United States believes the attacks that crippled Saudi Arabian oil facilities last weekend originated in southwestern Iran, a U.S. official told Reuters, an assessment that further increases tension in the Middle East. | Video