This report provides a snapshot of the US Executive Branch priorities via daily schedules and the prior day’s press releases. POTUS’ Schedule* 10:00 a.m. EDT – The President and The Vice President receive the President’s Daily Brief | Oval Office 12:30 p.m. EDT – The President has lunch with The Vice President | Private Dining … Continue Reading
This report provides a snapshot of the US Executive Branch priorities via daily schedules and the prior day’s press releases. POTUS’ Schedule* 11:30 a.m. EST – The President and The Vice President receive the President’s Daily Brief | Oval Office 12:30 p.m. EST – The President has lunch with The Vice President | Private Dining … Continue Reading
This report provides a snapshot of the US Executive Branch priorities via daily schedules and the prior day’s press releases. POTUS’ Schedule* *The US President (POTUS) and Vice President’s (VPOTUS) daily schedules are subject to change. The President has no public events scheduled. VPOTUS’ Schedule*… Continue Reading
Early last week, President Barack Obama hosted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders in California and announced he will travel in May to Vietnam and Laos. Back in Washington on Wednesday, the President announced another trip in March to Cuba and Argentina. Congress was in recess last week, in observance of the Presidents’ … Continue Reading
Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) On Thursday, 16 April, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) released a draft Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill – The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (“TPA-2015”). The bill includes objectives on currency manipulation, settlement of investor-state disputes, intellectual property protections, … Continue Reading
Iran With the Obama Administration facing months of international negotiations with Tehran for a comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear program, it also worked this week to ensure congressional actions do not compromise the diplomatic effort. Bipartisan lawmakers still believe Congress should have an up-or-down vote on any final accord reached with Iran. The Senate Foreign … Continue Reading
Upcoming Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Summit U.S. National Counterterrorism Center Director Nicholas Rasmussen reported last week that 20,000 foreign fighters are joining ISIL and other extremist organizations. Secretary of State John Kerry also observed that thousands of extremist fighters have been killed in Syria and in Iraq, including many foreign fighters. This week, the White House … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Committee Takes Shot At Vaccine-Preventable Diseases This week, as the country faces a well-publicized outbreak of measles, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) will hold a hearing to discuss the reemergence of vaccine-preventable diseases. The media has publicized the measles outbreak after visitors and workers in California contracted … Continue Reading
Presidential Trip Over the weekend, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama departed Washington for India, where the President will be the chief guest in the country’s Republic Day parade. In advance of the trip, U.S. and Indian negotiators met in London to reach an accord over a 2010 Indian nuclear liability law that prohibits … Continue Reading
Russia/Ukraine Crisis Despite previous failed attempts to revive the Minsk ceasefire agreement, last week Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko announced the Government would observe a “day of silence” on Tuesday and that heavy weapons would be drawn down from the frontlines if the pro-Russian separatists maintained the ceasefire. Last Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden spoke with … Continue Reading
Iraq/Syria Crises The Pentagon said last Monday the Obama Administration will not send an additional 1,500 troops to Iraq until Congress approves its $5.6 billion request to pay for the deployment. The Defense Department noted that while the White House has legal authority to send the troops to Iraq to fight ISIL, the Administration wants … Continue Reading
Presidential Trip G-20 Summit. Over the weekend, President Barack Obama participated in the G-20 Leaders Summit in Brisbane, Australia. While the Summit agenda focused on the global economy, the global banking system and closing tax loopholes for multinational corporations, Western leaders also met and discussed the situation in Ukraine. On Sunday, the White House released a … Continue Reading
Last Tuesday, Republicans secured control of the U.S. Senate – 52 seats, with some races yet-to-be-determined and could result in further gains. Squire Patton Boggs produced a 2014 Mid-Term Congressional Elections Analysis, which summarizes some of the implications of a Republican-controlled 114th Congress on the Obama Administration’s international and domestic policies. This Wednesday, 12 November, … Continue Reading
U.N. General Assembly President Barack Obama heads to New York City this Tuesday to attend the 69th Session of the U.N. General Assembly. The President will address the General Assembly on Wednesday. Iraq/Syria Crises This Wednesday in New York City, President Obama will also chair a UNSC meeting on foreign terrorist fighters. Congress passed a stopgap funding bill last … Continue Reading
Iraq/Syria Crises On the eve of the 9/11 anniversary, President Barack Obama addressed the nation and outlined his Administration’s four-part strategy (fact sheet available here) to combat the Islamic State (ISIL/ISIS). First, the President said U.S. airstrikes have shifted from protecting U.S. nationals and humanitarian missions to attacking ISIL targets “as Iraqi forces go on the … Continue Reading
