began work in earnest yesterday, twisting arms and stroking egos in Congress to garner support for a planned $775 billion (£525 billion) recovery plan for an economy that he described as “very sick”.
On his first full day back in Washington since the election, the President-elect dispatched his daughters to their new school before heading to Capitol Hill to prepare for one of the most difficult inheritances faced by an incoming president.
At every turn yesterday, he underlined the gravity of the crisis and the need for national unity. After speaking with his economic team, he declared: “The situation is getting worse. We have to act and act now to break the momentum of this recession.”
Later, meeting with Congressional leaders from both parties, he said: “We are in one of those periods in American history where we don’t have Republican or Democratic problems, we have American problems. My commitment as the incoming president is going to be to reach out across the aisle to both chambers to listen and not just talk, to not just try to dictate but try to create a partnership.”
In an effort to appease Republicans and some conservative Democrats worried about the growth of public spending, Mr Obama’s aides have disclosed that the package will include about $300 billion of tax cuts for middle-class workers and businesses. They also suggested that he would propose long-term “radical reforms” to rein in a federal deficit projected to reach trillions over coming years.
Although the Democrats have majorities in both Houses, Republicans would still be able to muster enough votes to block or delay the spending programme which, they fear, heralds a new era of wasteful “big government”.
Hopes that a Bi
ll could be ready for Mr Obama to sign into law on January 20, the day of his inauguration, have dissipated after Republican leaders signalled that they would not be rushed into agreeing any deal until next month at the earliest.
On his flight from Chicago to Washington on Sunday, Mr Obama allowed himself to glance back at the life he leaves behind, admitting that he had “choked up a little bit” over leaving his family home for an inauguration this month when — more than at any time in the past 50 years — there is such a heavy weight of expectation bearing down on the new president.
His press secretary, Robert Gibbs, was grimly focusing on the task ahead. He conceded that Congressional scepticism towards the spending programme made it “very, very unlikely” that the Bill would be passed within the coming fortnight.
Mr Obama was yesterday at pains to emphasise that he intended to be responsible and transparent over how money was spent. “It’s not going to be sufficient for us to fall back into the old Washington ways and simply throw money at the problem,” he said.
He added, however, that the American people expected leaders to “share the same sense of urgency that I do — we’re going to move quickly and not going to get bogged down by old-style politics on either side”.
Mr Obama indicated that he still wanted to speed the recovery programme through Congress, saying: “I expect to sign a Bill for creating three million jobs for the American people shortly after taking office.” When pressed for a precise timetable, he replied: “The end of January or the first week of February.”
Previous presidents have seen policies halted because of poor relations with Congress and Mr Obama’s two-year economic stimulus plan will be an early test of his campaign theme of transcending partisan political divisions.
Aides say that he does not want the bare minimum of 60 senators needed to overcome filibuster blocking tactics. Instead, they say, he is seeking at least 80 votes, indicating genuine cross- party support for the programme.
Some of the shine surrounding the new administration, however, has come off in recent weeks, with scandal swirling around the alleged attempt by the Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to sell Mr Obama’s vacant Senate seat.
Yesterday Roland Burris, the black politician picked by the Governor to replace Mr Obama, left Chicago for Washington, insisting that he would be taking up the seat even though Democrats have vowed to block his appointment. “I don’t have to separate myself from Rod Blagojevich,” he said. “This is all politics and theatre but I am the junior Senator according to every law book in the nation.”
The ructions over Mr Blagojevich may have accelerated the removal of Bill Richardson from Mr Obama’s list of Cabinet appointees on Sunday. The New Mexico Governor said that he would not accept the position of commerce secretary because of a pending federal investigation into contracts awarded by his state to a firm that had given him political donations.
Yesterday Mr Richardson said that the investigation would ultimately clear his administration of any wrong-doing, adding that he had not been pushed out by Mr Obama but had withdrawn because it was “the right thing to do”.
— Barack Obama is preparing to fill one of the last key posts in his administration by appointing Leon Panetta as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (Tom Baldwin writes).
The nomination of the veteran former congressman and White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton reflects the difficulty that Mr Obama has encountered in finding a candidate untainted by controversy over the interrogation techniques and wiretapping conducted by the CIA under President Bush.
Mr Panetta, 70, has little direct experience of intelligence. Others thought to have been lined up for the job, such as John Brennan, former director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, had to withdraw from consideration after criticism from liberal activists over his role in the agency’s detention and interrogation programme.
ody, a separate oxygen supply, and a completely sealed interior to protect against a chemical attack.
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