
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is pushing back against GOP criticism of the Obama administration's decision to bring Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, the Somali man facing terrorism charges, to New York for trial.
Feinstein, an influential and respected voice on intelligence and national security issues, said the intelligence panel has been kept fully informed on Warsame's interrogations and the intelligence they produced, adding that she agreed with the decision to try him civilian court.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)The White House is threatening to veto the annual must-pass House Defense Authorization bill over language limiting his ability to transfer detainees overseas or try them in civilian court, among other issues.
In addition, the White House is taking strong exception to language dramatically expanding the president's power to wage the war on terror indefinitely, among other provisions.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)It's not that they're in prison indefinitely. It's not that they've maybe been waterboarded. It's definitely not that they can't see their families. No, the biggest problem facing Guantanamo Bay detainees, according to Sen. Jim Inhofe, is that they're getting fat.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)In response to the Obama administration's renewed efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, Senate Republicans introduced legislation on Wednesday that would codify the detention facility as the primary location for current and future detainees.
"Attorney General Holder and President Obama: Guantanamo Bay is not going to close," Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said at a press conference introducing the bill. "I respect Holder, but let me say categorically there is no pathway forward when it comes to closing Guantanamo in the foreseeable future."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Six senators, led by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), are pushing for sweeping changes to the nation's laws governing detainees and the war on terror, including one that would strip Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department as a whole of the power to make decisions about where to try suspected terrorists.
The group of senators, which includes Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Scott Brown (R-MA), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), are working with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee on a bill that would usher in comprehensive detainee policy changes and would, among other things, affirm the military's right to detain, hold and interrogate detains at its discretion without the involvement of the Department of Justice or Holder.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are teaming up with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee to write legislation that would take decisions about trying detainees out of the attorney general's hands and hand that power to the secretary of defense.
In the wake of the White House's new executive order allowing Guantanamo detainees to be held indefinitely, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) unveiled legislation that would, among other things, affirm the military's right to detain, hold and interrogate detainees at its discretion without Department of Justice or Attorney General Eric Holder involvement.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)President Obama signed an executive order Monday that ends a two-year ban on military trials at Guantanamo Bay, but one of the biggest critics of his detainee policy is still confused about what the decree means for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-declared mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and his co-conspirators.
"[The administration's policy on Guantanamo] has been on again and off again, and I can't tell from this order where KSM is going to go," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told TPM Monday evening. "He would gladly tell you he did it. He and his co-conspirators should be handled through the law of war and treated like our enemies."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)During his interview last night on Sean Hannity's TV show, former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld bemoaned the sad fact about the prison camp at Guantanamo -- namely, according to Rumsfeld, that the Bush administration was unable to convince people of just how great it is!
"It is an exceedingly well-run prison. And the folks down there have done, and are doing, an excellent job," said Rumsfeld. "The heartbreaking thing with respect to Guantanamo is not that there's anything wrong with that -- it's one of the finest prison systems in the world. What is awkward is the fact that, for whatever reason, the administration was incapable of persuading people that that was a first class operation, that they were not torturing people, they were not hurting people.
"And it was then, and it is today, a fine operation, and the men and women who operate it for the United States military deserve a lot of credit. And they've taken a lot of heat, unfairly."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
TPM has obtained a draft version of the GOP "Pledge to America" -- the House Republicans' official platform going into November.
Republicans have been very public about certain aspects of their agenda, which we've reported here. They are contained in the Pledge, along with other proposals.
Despite indications earlier this summer that Republicans might use the Pledge to call for Social Security privatization, the language used in the document is much softer. It says, instead, "We will make the decisions that are necessary to protect our entitlement programs for today's seniors and future generations. That means requiring a full accounting of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, setting benchmarks for these programs and reviewing them regularly, and preventing the expansion of unfunded liabilities."
You can access the entire document below, but here are some other highlights:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Biden To Unveil New Rules On Retirement Savings
Vice President Biden is set to unveil new regulations to protect workers' retirement savings accounts. "These new safeguards will protect workers from conflicts of interest when it comes to financial advisers and their 401(k)s and IRAs," an anonymous White House official told Reuters.
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will receive the presidential daily briefing at 10:35 a.m. ET, and the economic daily briefing at 11:05 a.m. ET. Obama will meet at 11:35 a.m. ET with senior advisers. Obama and Vice President Biden will meet at 2 p.m. ET with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. At 4:40 p.m. ET, Obama will deliver remarks and sign an executive order for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, Sen. John McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote a letter to President Obama today asking he halt any transfer of the six Yemeni detainees being held in Guantanamo Bay.
The trio of senators, who often see eye-to-eye on national security issues, said the transfer of the detainees would be "highly unwise and ill-considered."
Lieberman (I-CT) McCain (R-AZ) and Graham (R-SC) asked that until the United States is sure the detainees "will not return to the battlefield," all transfers to Yemen should cease.
A senior administration official tells TPMDC that Obama's Guantanamo review specifically identifies each detainee.
The task force evaluates detainees and the threat they pose, to determine whether they should be prosecuted, detained, or transferred, the official said.
The administration has worked with the government of Yemen to make sure all appropriate security measures are taken when the detainees are transferred, and Obama "will not release any detainee who would endanger the American people," the official said.
The official said Gitmo has been used by Al Qaeda as a rallying cry and recruiting tool, and the administration maintains that closing it is a national security imperative.
Excerpts from the Lieberman/McCain/Graham letter after the jump, and read it in full here.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Obama Has Terrorism Briefing On Christmas, After Airline Attack
President Obama began his Christmas day yesterday with a terrorism briefing, on the failed attack on a Northwest Airlines flight. Later in the day, he visited troops at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, and in the evening had dinner with his family.
Republicans Change Tune On Costly Health Plans, From Yes In 2003 To No In 2009
The Associated Press points out that many Republicans in Congress have changed their positions on government health care benefits, opposing the Obama health care bill after having previously voted for the entirely deficit-financed Medicare prescription drug benefit in 2003. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) defended his vote, and said that six years ago, "it was standard practice not to pay for things...We were concerned about it, because it certainly added to the deficit, no question." Hatch added, however, that the Medicare drug benefit "has done a lot of good."
Late last night news broke that the Obama administration plans to transfer detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison to a correctional center in Illinois.
An administration official told TPMDC last night:
On Tuesday, the administration will announce that the president has directed that the federal government proceed with the acquisition of the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Illinois to house federal inmates and a limited number of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Closing the detention center at Guantanamo is essential to protecting our national security and helping our troops by removing a deadly recruiting tool from the hands of al Qaeda. Tuesday's announcement is an important step forward as we work to achieve our national security objectives.
Gov. Pat Quinn and Sen. Dick Durbin will get a White House briefing Tuesday afternoon on the decision. They are among the supporters who say using Thomson would create new jobs.
Like everything, there are political consequences here as Senate candidate Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) has been the most vocal opponent to the idea. Other Republicans are balking as well.
But as we reported a few weeks ago, an unlikely coalition of conservatives are backing the plan.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Gov. Pat Quinn said they are encouraged that a draft memo has surfaced indicating Thomson Correctional Center may be the choice to replace the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Andrew Breitbart has the memo here.
An administration official tells TPMDC it is a "draft, predecisional document that lawyers at various agencies were drafting in preparation for a potential future announcement about where to house GTMO detainees."
"Drafts of official documents are often prepared for any and all possibilities, regardless of whether a decision has been made about the policy or if the document will be used," the official said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Standing in front of the Supreme Court this morning, a group of Republican lawmakers railed against the court system run out of the building behind them. A sign affixed to the plexiglas podium each spoke at in turn spelled out the reason for their concern. "Protect our homeland," it read. "Keep terrorists out of America."
The justice system laid out in the Constitution, they said, is just too weak to protect American citizens from wiley terror suspects. From "activist judges" to courtroom sketch artists, the group reeled off a list of reasons the Obama administration decision to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to the U.S. for trial could quite possibly end in, as Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) suggested, a nuclear attack on the United States.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)A group of retired Generals led by former Maine Rep. Tom Andrews (D) accused the House GOP leader John Boehner of putting politics before national security today with his plan to force a vote on a bill that would prevent prisoners from being transferred from Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
The National Campaign To Close Guantanamo called Republican arguments that transferring Gitmo detainees to New York will endanger Americans "fear mongering." In a statement, Andrews pointed to past terror trials in the U.S. as evidence of his claim that the GOP is making political hay in the days since Attorney General Eric Holder announced that terror suspects will be tried in the U.S..
"Since 2001, 195 terrorists have been tried, convicted and locked up in federal supermax prisons on US soil under the Bush and Cheney administration," Andrews said. Boehner and other GOP leaders "never uttered a word of concern and opposition " back then, he continued, "but now that a Democratic President is doing it, the sky is going to fall and America will soon be under attack."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) said today that the Obama administration is "bribing" economically suffering towns across the country as it attempts to relieve itself of the political problem of closing Guantanamo Bay.
"They're going into communities that are hard-pressed economically and holding out a pot of gold," he told reporters. Hoekstra was referring to the White House plan to bring terror suspects to prisons across the country. He said that the administration was taking advantage of hard-hit towns across the country by promoting the jobs that would be created by adding Guantanamo Bay detainees to their prison populations.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
On a conference all with reporters just now, Rudy Giuliani said there was one thing about Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to bring terror suspects to New York City he could stand fully behind.
"I was glad to see Holder say 'we're at war,'" Giuliani said on the RNC-sponsored call. "I had thought we had virtually stopped being at war with the terrorists."
The former New York City mayor was referring to Friday's press conference by Holder where he announced the plan to try terrorists in the city.
Giuliani said he hoped the use of the word would hearken back to a return to the Bush era "War On Terror" which Giuliani said President Obama has abandoned, both in rhetoric and actions. "I was under the impression that the Obama administration thought this was just an unfortunate situation we're dealing with."
"'War' is important," he said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)President Obama dismissed critics who don't like his administration's plan to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. to stand trial for the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, suggesting if Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is found guilty and executed, they will stop being offended.
Obama did a round of interviews with the network White House correspondents traveling with him in Asia. Some of them are airing tonight, but a few networks have released clips.
NBC's Chuck Todd asked Obama about some Americans offended by the decision to transfer detainees, including Mohammed, from Guantanamo Bay to New York.
"I don't think it will be offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him," Obama said.
Todd pressed the president, suggesting he was already deciding how the trial would go.
"What I said was, people will not be offended if that's the outcome. I'm not prejudging it, I'm not going to be in that courtroom. That's the job of the prosecutors, the judge and the jury," Obama said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) has been one of the most prominent critics of a possible plan to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to a prison in Thomson, Illinois.
As we wrote yesterday, some conservatives favor it, and the local community sees it as an economic boon. (The Senate defeated a Republican measure to block funding for the detainee transfer today.)
But Kirk, seeking the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate, said today on Fox News he thinks it should be up to the voters. He said it's a "decision bigger than any one senator" and said the "risk is unnecessary."
The Chicago Sun-Times called it a political move, editorializing today: "Kirk's scare talk might do him wonders with the GOP base, but it won't convince a single terrorist that this nation has a backbone."
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee accused Kirk of being a flip-flopper, since he supported a bill last month on the House floor authorizing Obama to transfer detainees. They also said he's using "Karl Rove style fear mongering."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)The Senate this afternoon defeated an amendment aimed at the Obama administration's efforts to transfer detainees from the prison at Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) had tried to attach an amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act that would have blocked money for building or modifying prisons to hold Gitmo detainees.
The Senate killed the Inhofe amendment in a 57-43 vote hailed by the ACLU. All 40 Republicans were joined by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sens. Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, both Democrats from Arkansas.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Three prominent conservatives warned in a joint statement against Republican "scaremongering" on Guantanamo Bay detainees, saying the prison in Thomson, Illinois would be fine to handle them.
Former Republican Congressman and Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union and Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, have teamed up to urge the Gitmo detainees be taken to the U.S.
"The scaremongering about these issues should stop," Barr, Keene and Norquist wrote.
"Civilian federal courts are the proper forum for terrorism cases," they wrote. "Civilian prisons are the safe, cost effective and appropriate venue to hold persons in federal courts."
"Likewise the federal prison system has proven itself fully capable of safely holding literally hundreds of convicted terrorists with no threat or danger to the surrounding community," they wrote. "We are confident that the government can preserve national security without resorting to sweeping and radical departures from an American constitutional tradition that has served us effectively for over two centuries."
Read the full letter here.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) has strong words for the Republicans opposing Attorney General Eric Holder's plan to bring five 9/11 suspects to New York City to face trial.
"They see this as an opportunity to demagogue," he said. "They will seize on any opportunity to do that, and that means they'll even take a stand that's un-American."
"It's un-American to hold anyone indefinitely without trial," Moran added. "It's against our principles as a nation."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Just a few minutes ago, former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey slammed his successor, Eric Holder, over Holder's decision to bring five terror suspects from Guantanamo Bay to New York to try them as planners of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
"It shows a willingness to disclose how our intelligence process works and offer [the suspects] a platform in our legal system to gather intelligence for themselves," Mukasey said before an audience of conservative lawyers at the national Federalist Society's annual legal convention in Washington.
Holder's plan "creates a cornucopia of intelligence for those still at large and a circus for those being tried," Mukasey said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Sen. Lindsey Graham, not known for holding back criticism of the White House, said today that he has "very strong feelings" about Guantanamo Bay detainees but will hold them in until President Obama returns from his trip to Asia.
Graham (R-SC) just issued this statement responding to the administration's announcement to transfer Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Gitmo detainees to be tried in New York.
"The decision on the proper venue to try Guantanamo detainees, particularly the 9/11 conspirators, is one of the most important decisions we will ever make in the War on Terror. I have had and continue to have very strong feelings on this subject. Those feelings are well-known as evidenced by our debate on the floor of the Senate last week. "I have been asked by the White House to withhold comment about today's Guantanamo decision until I can meet face-to-face with the President after he returns from Asia. As our Commander in Chief, I will honor his request. I look forward to discussing this issue further."
At a press conference this morning, Attorney General Eric Holder said he hoped Washington would "leave the politics out of it" when considering his decision to transfer five suspected 9/11 conspirators from the detention center in Guantanamo Bay to New York City for trial in federal court.
His request fell on deaf ears. Before he had even stepped from behind the mics at the Justice Department, politicians on both sides had begun a partisan battle over his decision to charge and try some of the men allegedly responsible for the worst terror attack in U.S. history.
Reporters asked Attorney General Eric Holder about the departure of White House counsel Greg Craig, and Holder said he was "a little surprised" by the news.
Holder also said Craig was getting "unfair proportion of the blame" for the delay of closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
"Greg Craig is a great lawyer, he has been a great friend to the Justice Department," Holder said.
Holder also thanked Craig for his role in the "success" of the Obama administration, including the "effort" to close Gitmo.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)President Obama has made official what broke late last night - White House counsel Greg Craig is leaving and being replaced by longtime D.C. lawyer Bob Bauer.
"Greg Craig is a close friend and trusted advisor who tackled many tough challenges as White House Counsel," Obama said in a statement announcing the move, effective Jan. 3.
"Because of Greg's leadership, we have confirmed the first Latina justice on the Supreme Court, set the toughest ethics standards for any administration in history, and ensured that we are keeping the nation secure in a manner that is consistent with our laws and our values," Obama said. "I'm indebted to Greg not only for leading the Counsel's office but for his many decades of service to this country as well. He has been a huge asset in the White House, and he will be missed. I will continue to call on him for advice in the years ahead."
The move had been expected - and written about - for more than a month as details leaked out there was inner-White House tension over Guantanamo Bay. Today White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters in Asia that had nothing to do with the departure.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has said he masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, is being transferred from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to New York to face trial.
A Justice Department official confirmed to TPMDC that Mohammed and four other detainees being held at Gitmo will stand trial in a civilian federal court.
Attorney General Eric Holder will make the announcement today, the official told TPMDC.
The news comes as Obama is traveling to Asia and as officials tell reporters that White House counsel Greg Craig is leaving.
From the Associated Press:
Mohammed and the four others -- Waleed bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi and Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali -- are accused of orchestrating the attacks that killed 2,973 people on Sept. 11, 2001.PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Mohammed admitted to interrogators that he was the mastermind of the attacks -- he allegedly proposed the concept to Osama bin Laden as early as 1996, obtained funding for the attacks from bin Laden, oversaw the operation and trained the hijackers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
At a briefing in his Justice Department office this afternoon, AG Eric Holder took aim at congressional opposition to bringing terror suspects from Gitmo to the US for trial.
Last week, the House voted overwhelmingly to deny funds to pay for prisoner transfers, citing the fears about terrorists on US soil that have been commonplace on Capitol Hill since President Obama first announced his intention to close Gitmo in a year on Jan 22.
Holder said the vote will slow future prosecutions of Gitmo detainees.
"The restrictions we've had to deal with give me great concern," he said. "They've made it harder for us" to bring prisoners to trial.
Holder said he faces an uphill climb convincing Congress to allow Gitmo prisoners into the US for trial, but he said he plans on taking his case directly to reticent members on their turf if necessary. Holder said he's "had discussions" about going to Capitol Hill to argue the case before last week's House vote, which was nonbinding, becomes part of a future Homeland Security bill.
"We have to make them understand we have the capacity to house these people," he said, pointing out several high-level convicted terrorists already housed in federal prisons after going to trial here in previous years.
As for the Jan. 22, 2010 deadline for closure of Gitmo, Holder said meeting that date will be "difficult." But he said "that doesn't mean we're not going to try to do that."
For his part, Holder said Justice Dept. lawyers "are going through the files" of every detainee at Gitmo to determine how to deal with their case. Holder said the process will be complete by Nov. 16. Whether the end of the review will signal a final chapter in the history of the Gitmo terror detention center remains to be seen.
Despite the political difficulties it has caused, Holder praised Obama's Gitmo deadline in the briefing. "It was the right thing to do," he said. "The timing was wise and it led to the progress we have made."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Obama: "The International Community Is More United Than Ever Before" On Iran
In this weekend's YouTube address, President Obama spoke of international cooperation at the G-20 Summit -- including on the crucial issue of dealing with Iran's nuclear program:
"On this, the international community is more united than ever before," said Obama, later adding: "Iran's leaders must now choose - they can live up to their responsibilities and achieve integration with the community of nations. Or they will face increased pressure and isolation, and deny opportunity to their own people."
Isakson Blasts Dems For "Demonizing Regular Citizens" On Health Care
In this weekend's Republican video, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) criticized the Democrats on health care, accusing Democrats of a "heavy-handed approach" that has involved "demonizing regular citizens":
"Americans are rightly concerned about the rush to pass a massive overhaul that will raise their taxes, lower their quality of care and put government between them and their doctor," said Isakson. "They also are concerned about the heavy-handed approach the Democrats have taken, such as demonizing regular citizens for asking questions about their plans and imposing a gag order on insurers for suggesting anyone might lose benefits under the Democrats' plan."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Bush Hits Obama On Gitmo
During a speech yesterday in Pennsylvania, former President George W. Bush deviated from his previous declarations that he would not criticize President Obama. "I told you I'm not going to criticize my successor," he said. "I'll just tell you that there are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at a drop of a hat and I don't believe that persuasion isn't going to work. Therapy isn't going to cause terrorists to change their mind."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will meet with Vice President Biden at 1 p.m. ET. At 3:15 p.m. ET, the two of them will meet with George Mitchell, the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. At 4 p.m. ET, Obama will meet with Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner. At 7 p.m. ET, Obama will speak at a DSCC/DCCC fundraising dinner.
WaPo: Documents Suggest CIA Mistakes In Torture Of Detainees, False Confessions
The Washington Post reports that new documents show that key Guantanamo detainees told the Combatant Status Review Tribunal that they either lied to the CIA in order to stop being tortured, or were later informed of mistakes in their capture. "They told me, 'Sorry, we discover that you are not Number 3, not a partner, not even a fighter,'" said Abu Zubaida. And Khalid Sheikh Mohammed described his interrogation: "Where is he? I don't know," Mohammed said. "Then he torture me. Then I said yes, he is in this area."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will meet one-on-one with President Lee Myung-bak, of the Republic of Korea, at 10:30 a.m. ET. They will have an expanded meeting at 10:45 a.m. ET, and then a joint press availability at 11:35 a.m. ET, and a working lunch at 12 p.m. ET. At 4:30 p.m. ET, Obama and Vice President Biden will meet with Sec. of Defense Robert Gates.
Obama And Congressional Negotiators Reach Compromise On Abuse Photos
House and Senate negotiators have approved a $106 billion compromise bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, after President Obama personally intervened on the controversy over an amendment to forbid the release of detainee abuse photos. The amendment was removed in the hope of assuaging liberal Democrats -- but Obama promised to use all means at his disposal to prevent their release.
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will meet at 2:30 p.m. ET with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and at 2:50 p.m. ET with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). At 3:30 p.m. ET, he will meet with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Moran Tsvangirai, who will press Obama for international aid and try to assuage the doubts about his country's political situation, given the uneasy power-sharing government he has with his rival, President Robert Mugabe.
First Gitmo Detainee Brought To United States
The Justice Department has announced that they have for the first time brought a Guantanamo Bay detainee to the United States: Ahmed Ghailani, who was indicted in 1998 for al-Qaida bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed mored than 224 people. Said Attorney General Eric Holder, in a press release: "The Justice Department has a long history of securely detaining and successfully prosecuting terror suspects through the criminal justice system, and we will bring that experience to bear in seeking justice in this case."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will be speaking at 1 p.m. ET, advocating for the budgeting principle known as PAYGO (Pay As You Go) -- that any new tax or entitlement policies should be paid for up front. Members of Congress, including the members of the Blue Dog Coalition, will attend the event. At 2:30 p.m. ET, he will meet with the Democratic members of the House Ways and Means Committee. At 4:30 p.m. ET, he will meet with Sec. of Defense Robert Gates, along with Vice President Biden.
Liz Cheney's basic line about President Obama's historic speech yesterday is that she's "troubled" that Obama thinks he can stop terrorism with "hand-holding."
Pretty harsh, right? Well, she's got nothing, though, on Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK). He called the speech, "un-American," adding, "I just don't know whose side he's on."
Curious which 'sides' Inhofe might have had in mind, I asked his communications director, Jared Young, to complete the picture a bit. According to Young, Inhofe was saying he's "kind of confused about why the President's going on foreign soil and in some cases echoing talking points from al Qaeda about Guantanamo Bay."
So is he saying he think's the President's on the side of terrorists?
"No, no, he's not saying that, no. He just certainly doesn't seem to be on the side of our men and women in uniform."
Well, I guess that clears that up.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Obama To Nominate Sotomayor For SCOTUS
President Obama will announce at 10:15 a.m. ET this morning that he is nominating Judge Sonia Sotomayor of New York for the Supreme Court. Sotomayor, age 54, has been one of the top names mentioned in the media since the news first broke of Justice David Souter's retirement. She would be the first Hispanic Justice, and the third woman to serve on the court.
Obama's Day Ahead: Raising Money For Harry Reid
President Obama will be having his regular meetings with advisers today in the Oval Office. At 10:15 a.m. ET he will announce the Sotomayor nomination for the Supreme Court. Then in the afternoon he will depart from the White House for Las Vegas, Nevada. He will arrive in Las Vegas at 8:50 p.m. ET, and at 10:55 p.m. ET he will attend a fundraiser for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, at Caesar's Palace.
If you read this site fairly regularly, you might be thinking that President Obama is having some issues with the Senate. And you'd be correct. Here's an abbreviated list of hurdles: Dawn Johnsen can't be confirmed to head the Office of Legal Counsel; health care reform may have to do without a public option--if it happens at all; and Obama's goal of shuttering the Guantanamo Bay detention center by early 2010 is suddenly imperiled by the common cousins of conservative demagoguery and Democratic sheepishness.
The examples are manifold. And the voices of opposition are united.
"No way I can vote for her," says a senator of Dawn Johnsen.
Seeking to protect health insurance companies, which would be hard pressed to compete with a government provider, one senator called the idea of a publicly run insurance option a "deal breaker."
And on Guantanamo, the voice of the opposition in the Senate can be summed up thusly: "I think they need to be kept elsewhere, wherever that is. I don't want to see them come on American soil."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)But Feingold was either holding fire, or the words he'd just heard hadn't settled in immediately. Because by the end of the week, a reservation had emerged. In a gentle, but resolute, letter to Obama dated Friday, May 22, Feingold says a key aspect of Obama's outlined detention policy is likely unconstitutional.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)Mullen: Gitmo Needs To Be Closed
Appearing on ABC's This Week, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen reaffirmed his belief that the prison at Guantanamo Bay should be closed. "The concern I've had about Guantanamo in these wars is it has been a symbol, and one which has been a recruiting symbol for those extremists and jihadists who would fight us. So and I think that centers -- you know, that's the heart of the concern for Guantanamo's continued existence, in which I spoke to a few years ago, the need to close it."
Obama's Day: Camp David
President Obama has been spending the weekend at Camp David, and is scheduled to arrive back at the White House tonight at 10 p.m. ET. He does not have any public events scheduled. Vice President Biden is in Wilmington, Delaware, and also does not have any scheduled public events.

