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Obama sprints through first full day in office
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-22 14:25 WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama sprinted through a first full day in office Wednesday, making good on vows to clean up government and taking action on pressing issues ranging from the Iraq war to the failing economy.
The new president was laying down markers — some symbolic, others rooted in nuts-and-bolts action — as he began setting the tone for his administration. He swept into Washington on a wave of expectations that the new government can overcome a deep malaise that settled on the capital city and the country during the now-departed Bush administration. "What an opportunity we have to change this country," said the 47-year-old chief executive. Deep problems confront America's first black president as he takes control of a country facing economic perils not seen in nearly eight decades even as it fights two unpopular wars. The presidential flurry began with a first post-inaugural visit to the Oval Office about 8:30 a.m. before moving on to a prayer service in the National Cathedral. At a swearing in of White House staff, Obama announced he would freeze the pay of aides earning more than $100,000, issued tough new ethics standards and said government records should not be kept secret just because officials had that power. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama took time to welcome 200 citizens to the White House Blue Room for a symbolic open house, greeting the flow of average Americans allowed into the executive mansion on a first-come-first-served basis. "Enjoy yourself, roam around," a smiling Obama told one guest as he passed through the room. "Don't break anything." The new president conferred with his brain trust about what he termed the "emergency" gripping the American economy as the House Appropriations Committee moved toward approval of $358 billion in new spending, part of the economic stimulus package making its way to his desk. The new commander in chief held his first meeting in the Situation Room, where he, Vice President Joe Biden and senior military and foreign policy officials discussed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama campaigned on a pledge to withdraw US combat forces from Iraq within 16 months, and to beef up the commitment in Afghanistan. Obama asked the Pentagon to do whatever additional planning necessary to "execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq." Sandwiched into that dizzying schedule, Obama prepared to name George Mitchell, the former Senate Democratic leader, a special envoy to the Middle East. And in phone calls to Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian and Jordanian leaders, Obama emphasized that he would work to consolidate the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, said the new White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs. Gibbs said Obama expressed "his commitment to active engagement in pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace from the beginning of his term." The shift in administrations — former President George W. Bush was back home in Texas — was underscored in far-off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where a judge granted Obama's request to suspend the war crimes trial of a young Canadian. Aides circulated a draft of an executive order that would close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay within a year and halt all war crimes trials in the meantime. Closing the site "would further the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice," read the draft prepared for the new president's signature. A copy was obtained by The Associated Press, and an aide said privately that Obama would sign a formal order on Thursday. Some of the 245 detainees currently held at Guantanamo would be released, while others would be transferred elsewhere and later put on trial under terms to be determined. The executive order was one of three expected imminently on how to interrogate and prosecute al-Qaida, Taliban or other foreign fighters believed to threaten the United States. The senior Obama official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the president would sign the order Thursday, fulfilling his campaign promise to shut down a facility that critics around the world say violates domestic and international detainee rights. Obama's first White House meetings as president meshed with quickened efforts in Congress to add top Cabinet officials to the roster of those confirmed on Tuesday and to advance the economic stimulus measure that is a top priority of his administration. The US Senate overwhelmingly voted to approve Hillary Rodham Clinton as Obama's secretary of state, joining other Cabinet members who won approved on Inauguration Day. Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner appeared before the Senate Finance Committee for a confirmation hearing, telling the panel that enactment of the new president's economic stimulus was essential. He also said the Senate's decision last week to permit use of the second $350 billion installment of a financial industry bailout "will enable us to take the steps necessary to help get credit flowing." He said Obama and he "share your belief that this program needs serious reform." Geithner also apologized for his failure to pay personal taxes earlier in the decade, calling the omission a mistake. The taxes were repaid in stages, some after an audit and the rest after a review of his returns late last year by Obama's transition team. "I should have been more careful," Geithner told the committee. Its chairman, Max Baucus said he thought Geithner had made "disappointing mistakes" but also said he needed to be confirmed so he could get to work on solving the country's financial crisis. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, forced a week delay in voting on Obama's nomination of Eric Holder as attorney general, demanding more time to question him about the administrations intentions toward those who have participated in harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects, Guantanamo trials and other topics. The committee plans to meet again next Wednesday, and Holder's confirmation is not in doubt. What the public did not see as the first full day of the Obama administration rushed by was the new leader standing alone with his thoughts in the Oval Office. He did that for about 10 minutes at the start of the day. "He wanted to absorb the moment that he was in, to think about the people who have served before him, and also to think about the work that he is now undertaking," Gibbs said. Obama also privately read a note left by his predecessor, George W. Bush. Gibbs said he didn't ask Obama about that one: "I knew he wasn't going to tell me anyway." On Wednesday night, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administered the presidential oath of office to Obama at the White House — a rare do-over just to be on the safe side. The unusual step came after Roberts flubbed the oath a bit on Tuesday, causing Obama to repeat the wording differently than as prescribed in the Constitution. The White House reassured that Obama has still been president since noon on Inauguration Day. But Obama and Roberts went through the drill again out of what White House counsel Greg Craig called "an abundance of caution." |
