A Strong Start for the President

January 28, 2009 by Sarah Granger

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Week One: A Strong Start for the President
by Sarah Granger

Following inauguration last Tuesday, the new president hit the ground running with a long list of challenges to address. While most of the focus has been on his first 100 days, his first week provided a glimpse into where his priorities lie, largely in line with his agenda during the campaign. "This moment of peril must be turned to one of progress," President Obama explained one week after taking office. His most immediate major challenge being global economic problems, his weekly radio address expressed his feelings on the subject. "We begin this year and this Administration in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that calls or unprecedented action."

However, before announcing his stimulus package, he set out to make good on his promise of open government with a memorandum requiring that all agencies "adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in [the Freedom of Information Act]." He also required all appointees under his administration to submit to an Ethics pledge. The president quickly initiated a pay freeze, reportedly for administration officials earning over $100,000 annual salary. "In this challenging economic period, it is only appropriate that senior officials on the White House staff forgo pay increases until further notice."

Furthering the goals of open government, he issued an Executive Order focusing on opening Presidential records such that incumbent and former presidents must provide reason that any records cannot be released or that information defaults to being available through the National Archives.

Later in the week as predicted, President Obama reversed the "Mexico City Policy" regarding providing family planning assistance to other countries. However, he added in his statement that he wanted none of the politics of the past on this issue. "For too long, international family planning assistance has been used as a political wedge issue, the subject of a back and forth debate that has served only to divide us. I have no desire to continue this stale and fruitless debate." His reasons for reversing the policy: "The provisions of the Mexico City Policy are unnecessarily broad and unwarranted under current law, and for the past eight years, they have undermined efforts to promote safe and effective voluntary family planning in developing countries." He also expressed concern over combating HIV/AIDS in these countries.

During the White House press briefing on Tuesday the 27th, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs expressed that the president is "pleased" that the House passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, passed in the Senate earlier in the week. He is expected to sign that bill into law soon, altering existing law to require a 180-day statute of limitations on each paycheck where workers suspect pay discrimination. This was a first step in terms of addressing womens' rights issues.

After ordering prosecutors to suspend Guantanamo Bay proceedings for 120 days during a review process, the president signed three Executive Orders regarding Guantanamo Bay detainees. The first initiated reviews to determine if detainees can be transferred to other countries or whether they can be prosecuted under U.S. law, including possibly military courts. The second entailed building a Special Task Force led by the Secretary of Defense and Attorney General to review ongoing policies regarding detainees. The third requires interrogations to fall within guidelines in the Army Field Manual, orders the CIA to close "all existing detention facilities" and bans them from opening new ones.

President Obama has been talking at length with foreign leaders over the past week as has Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Action is expected soon regarding Gaza, North Korea and Iraq. The president has instigated an Economic Daily Briefing every morning, along with the Vice President. These briefings, as noted by Gibbs, are "treated and prepared with the same sort of renowned professionalism that the Daily Intelligence Briefing is."

Tuesday, the focus was on the president's economic stimulus package which he described as "just one leg in a multi-legged stool." He added "We're still going to have to have much better financial regulation, we've got to get credit flowing again, we're going to have to deal with the troubled assets that many banks are still carrying and that make the -- that have locked up the credit system." While Republicans are stalling, the president is concerned with mounting layoffs by major U.S. corporations and how this all plays into the international economic crisis. “The statistics every day underscore the urgency of the economic situation,” the president stated.

Announcing his plan, President Obama described it as follows: "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan before Congress places a down payment on this economy. It will put 460,000 Americans to work, with clean energy investments and double the capacity to generate alternative energy over the next three years. It will lay down 3,000 miles of transmission lines to deliver this energy to every corner of our country. It will save taxpayers $2 billion a year by making 75 percent of federal buildings more efficient. And it will save working families hundreds of dollars on their energy bills by weatherizing 2 million homes."

In his weekly address, the president anticipated the Republican response. "I know that some are skeptical about the size and scale of this recovery plan. I understand that skepticism, which is why this recovery plan must and will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold my Administration accountable for these results." President went to the Hill personally to talk with legislators on Tuesday, holding meetings with members of both the House and the Senate. Gibbs explained that although it may be uncommon for presidents to address legislators so directly, he expects President Obama will continue doing so in a bipartisan manner throughout his presidency. "He was interested in what they're hearing from their constituents," said Gibbs. Not bad for the first week.

All Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda are available online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/executive_orders/

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