In remarks prepared for delivery, Barack Obama had this to say about federal government: The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light…
Browsing: White House
President Barack Obama’s full remarks, as prepared for delivery, after the jump.
.tweetacc { margin-bottom: 0.25em; } .tweets { margin: 0 0 0.5em 0; padding: 0; font-size: 1.0em; } .tweets li { padding: 0.5em; list-style: none; } .flwtime { color: #666666; margin-left: 1em; } At noon today, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the nation’s 44th president. We’ll be providing live updates via Twitter from our three reporters at the inauguration. Rebecca is in the official press section; Steve has tickets to the swearing-in ceremony; Gregg is roaming around on the National Mall. (The last 5 updates from each reporter will display here.) Stephen Losey I’m signing off now–getting anywhere the…
President-elect Barack Obama will be sworn in at noon today and President Bush will bow out to Texas. To honor the peaceful transition between the 43rd and 44th presidents we give you a special edition of fun facts for the inauguration. 1.5 million to 3 million people are expected to attend today’s festivities. If those numbers are reached it will set a new inaugural record. The record is held by Lyndon Johnson’s 1965 inaugural, which was attended by 1.2 million people. The population of Washington is just 600,000 people. 58 agencies, including the Secret Service, will have a role in the event.…
Change.gov will become WhiteHouse.gov just after noon tomorrow, according to Agence France-Presse. Many believe Change.gov to be emblematic of how President-elect Barack Obama will use the Web to advance his priorities of a more participatory and transparent democracy. Over the next few days other federal Web sites will also start to look a bit different as dozens of familiar names, like Michael Chertoff and Condoleezza Rice, are erased from government Web sites and replaced with the new administration officials, like Janet Napolitano or Hillary Clinton. The process is likely to be quick, said Casey Coleman, chief information officer for the…
On this Inauguration Eve, President-elect Barack Obama has filled in a few more blanks at the Office of Management and Budget. Jeffrey Liebman, a Harvard Kennedy School of Government professor, was named executive associate director for OMB. Steve Kosiak, vice president for budget studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, was named associate director for Defense and International Affairs. Robert Gordon, a senior education policy fellow at American Progress, was named associate director for Education, Income Maintenance and Labor. Xavier de Souza Briggs, an associate professor of sociology and urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was…
There are 8,600 facilities with at least one set of the official portraits of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, and at noon eastern tomorrow the portraits will have to be “removed and respectfully disposed†of, according to a GSA spokeswoman. The spokeswoman didn’t expand on what “respectfully dispose†means, so your guess is as good as ours. The portraits will be replaced by the official photos of President Obama and Vice President Biden as soon as prints become available, which probably means most offices won’t see these smiling faces until March, according to GSA.
The Bush family is mourning the death of the first cat, India, the White House announced yesterday. She was 18 years old, or about 88 in cat years. The American Shorthair black cat’s role as a first pet was often overshadowed by her more famous Scottish terrier siblings Barney and Miss Beazley. But that didn’t seem to bother India, who was also known as Kitty or Willie. According to her bio on the White House website, she preferred spending time in the White House library and aspired to be a presidential historian. The White House said in a statement: India…
We’re hearing this morning that President-elect Barack Obama has settled on a handful of appointments for key positions handling energy and environmental issues. Among the likely picks: Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to serve as secretary of the Energy Department. Lisa Jackson, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Carol Browner, former EPA administrator during the Clinton administration, to serve in a new White House position coordinating energy and climate control initiatives across goverment. Nancy Sutley, deputy mayor for energy and environment in Los Angeles, to head the White…
Samuel Heyman, the founder of the Partnership for Public Service, received the Presidential Citizens Medal in a White House ceremony today. Heyman founded the nonprofit in 2001 to try to improve the federal government and promote it as a good place to work as the Baby Boomer generation prepares to retire. The citation Bush awarded Heyman reads: As a lawyer, public servant and philanthropist, Samuel Heyman has acted on his steadfast devotion to our nation. By encouraging young leaders to answer the call of public service, he has helped promote a vibrant federal work force. The United States honors Samuel…