Report: Obama Likely To Scale Back Legislative Plans
The Wall Street Journal reports: “President Barack Obama, facing at best narrower Democratic majorities in Congress next year, is likely to break up his remaining legislative priorities into smaller bites in hope of securing at least some piecemeal proposals on energy, climate change, immigration and terrorism policy, White House officials say…They are talking about a new, more incremental approach, championed by former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, to fulfilling campaign promises on energy, immigration and on closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will receive the presidential daily briefing at 10 a.m. ET, and meet at 11:30 a.m. ET with senior advisers. He will meet at 2 p.m. ET with the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB).
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will travel in the morning to Youngstown, Ohio. At 1:45 p.m. ET, he will speak at a rally for Gov. Ted Strickland. He will attend another event for Strickland at 5:30 p.m. ET, and he will return to Washington in the evening.
House Majority For Republicans Still Uncertain
The New York Times reports: “Republicans carry substantial advantages as they move into the final month of the fall campaign, but the resilience of vulnerable Democrats is complicating Republican efforts to lock down enough seats to capture the House and take control of the unsettled electoral battleground.”
Republicans To Target New Health-Care Law After November Elections
The Washington Post reports on Republican efforts to repeal the new health care reform law if they take control of Congress — which would be frustrated at first by a filibuster in the Senate and President Obama’s veto pen: “But at least during the next Congress, the true battle will probably be fought at the margins, over initiatives Republicans are planning in order to slow or disrupt the administration’s preparations for 2014, when the most far-reaching provisions of the new law will begin. Perhaps even more important for the long term, Republicans hope to hold oversight hearings aimed at laying the groundwork for a broad-based public repudiation of the law. That could give them the political momentum to overturn it if they can retake the presidency in 2012.”
Conflict Awaits In Lame-Duck Session
Roll Call reports: “Democrats and Republicans agreed that a GOP buoyed by even modest Election Day additions to their ranks is unlikely to negotiate much on bills to fund the government or extend Bush-era tax cuts when Congress returns Nov. 15. ‘Much of what we will accomplish — or won’t accomplish — during a lame-duck [session] has to do with who is going to be elected in November,’ one senior Senate Democratic aide said. ‘Even though most of those new Senators won’t have a vote during the lame duck, if a large number of tea party Republicans are elected, sitting Republican Senators that don’t want to face a primary in 2012 will want to hew to the right, not work with Democrats to get something done.’”
Kagan’s Recusals Take Her Out Of Action In Many SCOTUS Cases
The Washington Post reports that newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan has started off her service by recusing herself from a large number of cases: “Kagan’s old job as solicitor general - the ‘10th justice’ - is initially making it hard to do her new job as the ninth justice. Kagan, 50, has recused herself from 25 of the 51 cases the court has accepted so far this term, all as a result of her 14-month tenure as solicitor general, the government’s chief legal representative in the Supreme Court and the nation’s lower appellate courts.”
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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