JANUARY 25, 2013
TOP 5 STORIES ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1
WHITE HOUSE ...................................................................................................................................................................... 2
CONGRESS ............................................................................................................................................................................. 3
POLITICS ............................................................................................................................................................................... 3
BUDGET & ECONOMY .......................................................................................................................................................... 4
ENERGY ................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
FOREIGN AFFAIRS ................................................................................................................................................................ 5
HEALTHCARE ....................................................................................................................................................................... 6
EDUCATION .......................................................................................................................................................................... 7
TECHNOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................................................... 7
OTHER NEWS........................................................................................................................................................................ 8
BY THE NUMBERS ................................................................................................................................................................ 8
WASHINGTON HUMOR ........................................................................................................................................................ 8
TOP 5 STORIES
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The House this week voted to suspend the debt ceiling until mid-May, with a majority of Democrats
voting against the GOP measure. The Senate will take up the bill—and likely pass it—Majority Leader
Harry Reid said. Read more
o Look Ahead: The President is expected to sign the measure. But though the debt ceiling is off
the table until mid-May, the new fight on spending will be waged in March on sequestration
cuts, with the very real possibility of a government shutdown.
President Obama’s second inaugural address outlined a more liberal vision for the nation and perhaps
set a more partisan tone for his second term. Read more
o Look Ahead: Reaction to the president’s inaugural speech seemed to conclude that Obama took
a decided turn to the left on Monday. A Washington Post editorial called it a “liberal
manifesto.” One thing is certain: he said little to win over Republicans in the House, who
unswervingly opposed his first-term agenda.
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Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., Obama's nominee for secretary of State, received a warm welcome from members of
both parties at his confirmation hearing on Thursday. Read more
o Look Ahead: Kerry, a Senate veteran and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee (the same
committee holding his confirmation hearing), is expected to sail through his confirmation process as
Republicans save their fire for more controversial nominees.
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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before House and Senate committees on
Wednesday, taking responsibility for the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in Benghazi and outlining new
security measures. Read more
Look Ahead: Clinton is likely to emerge unscathed from this week’s hearings, and the Benghazi
incident generally. After 20 years in Washington—and a great deal of scrutiny—she has been in
the spotlight before and understands how to manage a crisis.
It’s unlikely that Obama will be able to push major climate legislation through Congress. Instead, he’s
likely to issue regulations to force polluters to slash carbon emissions, reducing the nation’s globalwarming pollution by up to 20 percent. Read more
o Look Ahead: While Obama pledged to address climate change in his second inaugural address,
taking action on a hot-button issue that shoves aside Congress will likely rile Republicans, who
could retaliate by making life hard on any potential nominee for EPA Administrator.
o
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WHITE HOUSE
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President Obama’s second inaugural address outlined a more liberal vision for the nation and perhaps
set a more partisan tone for his second term. Read more
Reaction to the president’s inaugural speech seemed to conclude that Obama took a decided turn to
the left on Monday. A Washington Post editorial called it a “liberal manifesto.” The Atlantic and The
New Yorker also weighed in.
Roughly one million people attended the inauguration, which is about half the number who attended
Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. Read more
Corporations and their lobbyists didn't disappoint on Inauguration Day, hosting an array of balls, galas,
receptions, and cocktail parties. Read more
Later today, Obama will tap former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Read more
Graphic: The Washington Post pinpoints the most important attendees at the inauguration, across a
sweeping, moveable panorama.
Chart: The Washington Post has a fascinating interactive chart allowing side-by-side comparisons of
any two inaugural speeches. George Washington’s second was 135 words. Obama’s on Monday was
2,095 words.
Look ahead:
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White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday that Obama will not stand in the way of a bill
proposed by House Republicans to raise the debt ceiling for three months, should it pass. Read more
President Obama’s inaugural address did little to win over Republicans in the House who unswervingly
opposed his first-term agenda. At least 10 times during his address, Obama made unmistakable
allusions to Republican ideas that he rejects and wants the country to reject. Read more
There’s what Obama wants and there’s what Congress will give him. National Journal's Stacy Kaper and
Rebecca Kaplan round up the issues from Obama's second inaugural speech that will have the
friendliest—and the worst—reception. Read more
Obama is now a president at the height of his power, but some decline is inevitable. National Journal’s
Ron Fournier asks, who is the new Obama? Read more
CONGRESS
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The House this week voted to suspend the debt ceiling until mid-May, with a majority of Democrats
voting against the GOP measure. The Senate will take up the bill—and likely pass it, Majority Leader
Harry Reid said. Read more
Incoming Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., pledged this week that
Democrats would pass a budget; if it happens, it would be the first time the Senate has done so in four
years. Read more
A deal on filibuster reform was reached this week between Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell, as Politico reported that the changes will ease some of the gridlock in the Senate but will
still allow the minority party to offer amendments on the floor. Read more
Reid unveiled the top 10 proposals Democrats intend to pursue this session, with school-violence
measures and immigration reform leading, Roll Call reports. Read more
Speaker John Boehner is shuffling his team, with long-time aide Kevin McGrann now elevated to
director of his political operation, National Journal’s Alex Roarty reports. Read more
Look ahead:
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When asked whether he would take up the debt-ceiling bill and pass it as is, Reid simply responded:
“Yes.”
With the expected signing of the temporary debt measure, opponents of the statutory limit on the
government's borrowing—and there are plenty—may get a glimpse of life without the debt ceiling, but
only for a few months, as NJ’s Niraj Chokshi reports. Read more
While the debt ceiling is off the table until mid-May, the new fight on spending will be waged in March
on sequestration cuts, with the very real possibility of a government shutdown.
The filibuster deal is not yet final, as it needs to be presented to each party’s respective caucuses for approval,
Politico reports.
POLITICS
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Vice President Joe Biden is actively contemplating, and positioning himself for a 2016 presidential run,
sources tell Politico. Read more
The 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade renewed focus on the battle over abortion, which is now being
waged primarily in state capitols. Read more
A poll found Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker with a 21-point edge over fellow Democrat Frank
Lautenberg in a hypothetical race for Lautenberg’s New Jersey Senate seat. Read more
Big-name candidates — former Gov. Mark Sanford, Stephen Colbert’s sister, and Ted Turner’s son —
have entered the special election to fill the House seat vacated by now-Sen. Tim Scott of South
Carolina. Read more
In Virginia, state Senate Republicans were able to push through a radical redistricting map on Monday
when the evenly-split chamber was missing one member – a Democrat and longtime civil rights lawyer
who had traveled to Washington to watch Obama’s inauguration. Read more
Look ahead
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Biden anticipates that the 2016 Democratic field will shape up quickly and that he may need to confer
privately about who should take up Obama’s mantle, according to Politico.
Lautenberg is up for reelection next year, but he indicated on Tuesday that he has not yet decided if he
will run.
Candidates for Scott’s House seat have until Monday to file. The primaries will be held on March 19,
and the general election will occur on May 7.
It’s unclear whether Virginia’s redistricting plan will become law, and while Gov. Bob McDonnell, a
Republican, has criticized the move, he has not said he would veto the measure.
BUDGET & ECONOMY
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Stock indexes are nearly back to their 2007 highs, but The Washington Post’s Neil Irwin concludes that
it is not a bubble because companies have become much more profitable. Read more
Obama on Thursday re-nominated Richard Cordray to serve as the head of the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau.
Some on the Hill are scratching their heads over a newly created “whip” position on the House
Financial Services Committee, to be filled by Rep. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., Politico reports
Read more
Despite a disappointing report on existing home sales this week, housing is poised to make a comeback
in 2013 after hitting its highest level in five years last year, USA Today reports. Read more
A lawsuit against Morgan Stanley is revealing just how much bankers knew about the worth of the
toxic assets they were dealing with, a joint project by ProPublica and The New York Times reports. Read
more
Graphic: The Economist has analyzed the economic performance of the 11 two-term presidents since
Teddy Roosevelt took office in September 1901.
Look Ahead:
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The rise in stocks is helping to brighten the household finances of many Americans; as The Post writes,
the markets are “driving Americans’ wealth higher, supporting economic growth,” and the market
boom is “well-supported by the fundamentals of what companies are earning.”
Westmoreland said he believes his new role will entail “communicating more with subcommittee
people” and that he would be a “liaison” among members. But when asked whether he thought there
was a need for more communication, he said he didn’t know, and that Chairman Jeb Hensarling, RTexas, asked him to do the job.
Historically, housing has led the economy out of recession, but that hasn’t happened this time. Figures
on new-home sales are due out Friday, and expectations are that they will improve.
ENERGY
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It’s unlikely that Obama will be able to push major climate legislation through Congress. Instead, he’s
likely to issue regulations to force polluters to slash carbon emissions, reducing the nation’s globalwarming pollution by up to 20 percent. Read more
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Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman approved an alternative route across his state for the Keystone XL
Pipeline. Read more
The hostage debacle at an Algerian gas field that ended last weekend with dozens of people dead has
contributed to uncertainty about the future of energy development in North Africa, Time reported.
Read more
The Interior Department again delayed final issuance of a rule that would require companies that
perform hydraulic fracturing on federal lands to disclose the chemicals used in the process. Read more
The staid Sierra Club broke with 120 years of precedent by announcing plans to engage in civil
disobedience at a Feb. 17 protest against the Keystone pipeline in Washington, D.C. Read more
Look ahead:
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While Obama pledged to address climate change in his second inaugural address, taking action on a
hot-button issue that shoves aside Congress will likely rile Republicans, who could retaliate by making
life hard on any potential nominee for EPA Administrator.
Because the Keystone pipeline would cross a national boundary, the State Department must decide
whether to issue a permit after conducting an environmental impact review, which is expected at the
end of the first quarter of 2013.
The French-led military intervention in Mali, used as a justification for the Algeria attack, could further
fan the flames of anti-Western sentiment, making energy projects a bigger target in the near future,
Time reported.
Interior said it would issue its next draft of the fracking rule in March and finalize the regulation late
this year.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources, said she will release a “comprehensive” energy blueprint for the nation next week. Read
more
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
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The confirmation hearing for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who has been nominated as secretary of State,
began on Thursday. Read more
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before House and Senate committees on
Wednesday, taking responsibility for the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in Benghazi and outlining new
security measures. Read more
President Obama’s inauguration speech this week lacked any acknowledgement of the rest of the
world, as National Journal’s Michael Hirsh observes. Read more
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that the White House will stick with its
nomination of Gen. John Allen to be the next supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe. The
statement comes on the heels of Allen being cleared Tuesday of any wrongdoing in the David Petraeus
sex scandal. Read more
Foreign Policy reports that during a meeting with seven U.S. senators last week, Egyptian President
Mohamed Morsi implied that he was being victimized by an American media controlled by the Jews.
Read more
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party won a narrow victory in Israel’s election
Tuesday, meaning Netanyahu will have to govern via a broad coalition after a better-than-expected
showing for a new centrist party. Read more
Look ahead:
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Kerry, and Senate veteran and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee (the same committee
holding his confirmation hearing), is expected to have a smooth confirmation process.
Clinton is likely to emerge unscathed from this week’s hearings, and the Benghazi incident generally.
After 20 years in Washington—and a great deal of scrutiny—she has been in the spotlight before and
understands how to manage a crisis.
The U.S. military continues to ramp-up its involvement in France’s campaign against Islamist militants
in Mali. But the situation is one of only seven pressing foreign-policy challenges Obama will face in his
second term. Read more
Amid budget uncertainty and possible sequestration cuts in several months, senior military officials are
planning to scale down Army base operations by 30 percent this year, reduce personnel, and cease
unnecessary fighter-jet performances during special events. Read more
Within the next few years, women in the military will no longer be banned from serving in combat. The
orders that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave to military services allow a grace period until 2016 to
“seek special exceptions” for positions that commanders believe should remain closed to women. Read
more
HEALTHCARE
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Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., wants more votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act this year to get the 35
House freshman members on the record. Two bills are up for discussion in the 113th Congress: One
would scale back requirements for employers and another would eliminate a Medicare cost-control
board.
In honor of the ruling’s 40-year anniversary, lawmakers and industry groups on Tuesday celebrated –
or blasted – the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that legalized some forms of abortion.
Read more
Obama took a hard line defending entitlement programs in his Inaugural Address Monday, but the
speech was otherwise light on health care. The ACA was not mentioned.
All but three states have signed up for ACA money to update their Medicaid computer systems, and 42
have already begun making improvements, according to a new report from the Kaiser Family
Foundation. Read more
Both chambers of Congress discussed mental-health issues this week, underscoring Congress' desire to
move forward on school violence in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings.
Former Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., a holdout who eventually agreed to vote in favor the ACA, is going to
be paid by a nonpartisan group to help implement the law, Politico reports. Read more
Look ahead:
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Neither bill to curtail the Affordable Care Act has a shot at becoming law.
Even two months ago, Republicans at the state and federal level were unified in their opposition to the
Affordable Care Act. But with four red states agreeing to set up their own state exchanges and more
considering an expansion, that unity may be cracking. Read more
Mental-health legislation may have a better chance of passing in Congress than gun-control legislation.
EDUCATION
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Since the recession in 2008, 38 states have cut higher-education funding, led by Arizona, which has
slashed funding by 36.6 percent, according to The Atlantic. Read more
Despite the cuts, state funding for higher education is on the rise in the past year. Thirty states are
appropriating more funds in the current fiscal year, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Read more
High school graduation rates from 2009-10 ticked up to 78 percent, the highest percentage since 196970, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. But drop-out rates for minorities still
remain disproportionately high. Read more
A common narrative about the U.S. public school system is that it is failing, but a new paper from the
Economic Policy Institute reveals that the system is actually excelling in surprising areas. Read more
Data-crunching by Education Week found that colleges are overproducing elementary-school teachers.
Read more
Look ahead:
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Charter schools were initially created as a way for public schools to function outside of the strict
rubrics of traditional public education. But with 45 states adopting the National Governors Association
“Common Core Standards,” charter schools are preparing to adapt to new common rules. Read more
While the White House and Congress continue to debate various gun-control bills, a number of state
legislatures have proposed bills authorizing educators to carry firearms or add armed guards to public
schools. Read more
Facing nationwide budget strains on higher education, dozens of public universities will form unusual
partnerships with private companies to provide an introductory online course for free and for credit to
anyone. Read more
TECHNOLOGY
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Enacting legislation to better protect the nation's critical computer systems from hackers will be a
priority this year for Senate Democrats. Senate Republicans blocked a vote on the president's
preferred cybersecurity bill last year, claiming that it would burden businesses and do little to improve
security. Read more
Facebook spent nearly $4 million trying to influence Washington policymakers in 2012, the most the
social-networking company has spent on lobbying in its short history. Meanwhile, Google doubled their
lobbying expenses to $16.5 million last year to fend off an antitrust probe. Read more
Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., plans to introduce a net-neutrality bill if the Federal Communications
Commission's regulations on the issue are overturned in federal court. Read more
Although Netflix warned Wall Street it expected a quarterly loss, it surprised investors Wednesday with
$8 million in net income for the fourth quarter. Read more
Chart: At least one aspect of this week's inauguration vastly surpassed the 2009 event: 1.1 million
tweets were sent during the ceremony, according to Twitter. At the last inauguration, they numbered
about 82,400. See their graphic here
Look ahead:
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Microsoft is in talks to help finance a takeover bid for Dell that would exceed $20 billion. Dell has been
one of the most visible supporters of Microsoft's Windows 8 in its products. Read more
Although he promised his constituents action on a bill to legalize Internet poker, Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid failed to deliver in 2012 -- and the odds of passing legislation in the 113th Congress
look even bleaker. Read more
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and the House
Foreign Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade will hold a joint
hearing next month to address international efforts to regulate the Internet. Read more
OTHER NEWS
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Tampa socialite Jill Kelley broke her silence on the scandal involving former CIA Director David
Petraeus, in an interview with the Daily Beast and in an op-ed, cowritten with her husband, in The
Washington Post. Read more
The revelation that singer Beyoncé may have lip-synced her performance of “The Star-Spangled
Banner” at the inauguration has sparked a mini-scandal. Read more
The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers won, respectively, the AFC and NFC championships on
Sunday and will face off in New Orleans on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 3. Read more
A shooting at a college in Texas left four people hospitalized. Read more
Chart: NPR rounds up the deadliest jobs in America. Fishermen top the list again, despite a reduction in
the number of deaths by nearly half over the last year.
BY THE NUMBERS
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67 PERCENT. Hillary Rodham Clinton's approval rating, going into Wednesday's testimony on the
Benghazi hearings. Read more
270. The number of lawmakers currently serving in the House who represent districts in their birth
state. Read more
54 PERCENT. The percentage of adults who say that abortion should be legal either, always, or most of
the time. Read more
16. The number of years that have passed since the last time the losing presidential candidate did not
attend his opponent's inauguration. Mitt Romney stayed in La Jolla, Calif., on Monday, just as Bob Dole
did not attend the inauguration of President Clinton in 1997. Read more
1 MILLION. The number of people who packed the National Mall to watch Monday's inauguration,
down from the historic 1.8 million people who attended the event in 2009. Read more
WASHINGTON HUMOR
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"Real Joe Biden hat-tips The Onion's 'Diamond' Joe Biden" (Chicago Sun-Times).
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You could fly to the moon and back 179 times in four years, or the time since Senate Democrats last
passed a budget. So says Speaker John Boehner, who compiled a long list of things that could be
accomplished in that span in an attempt to humiliate the upper chamber for its lack of action. Read
more
“You know who gave the shortest inauguration speech? George Washington. It was like three minutes
long. You know why? He could not tell a lie.” — Jay Leno
“There was once a man named Barack/ Whose reelection came as a shock/ He raised taxes I pay/ And
then turned marriage gay/ And now he’s coming after your glock.” — The poem comedian Stephen
Colbert suggested for the inauguration.
@daveweigel: After successfully portraying Romney as an out of touch rich guy, Democrats will
celebrate by wearing tuxedos and going to a ball.