TPMDC Morning Roundup

Bunning's Senate Impasse Puts Two Thousand Federal Employees Out Of Work
Two thousand federal transportation workers will be put on unpaid furlough today, due to Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) blocking the passage of the extension of transportation funding and unemployment benefits. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said in a statement: "As American families are struggling in tough economic times, I am keenly disappointed that political games are putting a stop to important construction projects around the country."

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9:30 a.m. ET. He will deliver remarks at 10:10 a.m. ET, at the America's Promise Alliance Education event. He will receive the presidential daily briefing at 10:45 a.m. ET. He will meet at 11:30 a.m. ET with senior advisers. He will meet at 3:45 p.m. ET with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. He will meet at 4:30 p.m. ET with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Biden's Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will travel to Florida this morning. He will deliver remarks at 11:30 a.m. ET at a Clermont, Florida, construction site on U.S. Highway 27, with the remarks promoting stimulus spending. He will be joined by Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Sen. Bill Nelson. At 2 p.m. ET, he will deliver remarks in Orlando, at the annual Winter meeting of the AFL-CIO Executive Council. Afterwards, he will return to Washington.

Hillary Clinton To Meet With New President Of Uruguay
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has begun a week-long tour of Latin America. She will meet today with the new president of Uruguay, former leftist guerilla Jose Mujica, hoping to persuade him to continue Uruguay's support for U.N. peacekeeping missions.

Report: Obama To Reduce Nuclear Stockpile
The New York Times reports that the Obama administration is set to significantly reduce America's stockpile of nuclear weapons, in a new policy laid out in its upcoming Nuclear Posture Review document. It will be clear in the document that there will be very dramatic reductions -- in the thousands -- as relates to the stockpile," said a senior White House officials.

Obama's Muslim Envoy: 'This Is A Long-Term Process'
The Washington Post profiles Rashad Hussain, the Obama administration's new special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and his role in bridging the cultural divide between America and the Muslim world. "The challenge is to continue to communicate that this is a long-term process," said Hussain. "Sometimes the challenge becomes that people want to focus exclusively on the political issues, issues that this administration is working very diligently to solve."

Senior House Dems Follow Pelosi's Lead, Warm Up To Debt Commission
The Hill reports that senior House Democrats have changed their opinion on the fiscal commission, coming to favor it after President Obama created it by executive order and Speaker Nancy Pelosi has supported it: "When deficit hawks first floated the fiscal commission in 2007, Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House committee chairmen said they didn't want to cede their power over spending, tax and entitlement policies to a panel that would include outside experts. But now that President Barack Obama has created the panel, Pelosi and most of her allies see it as a helpful tool to deal with unsustainable deficits."