Today's Times
- The first concrete responses to the massacre in Newtown, Conn., began to take shape on Tuesday, Adam Nagourney reports. State leaders proposed measures to curb gun violence, corporations distanced themselves from the shootings and the White House pointed to gun control measures that President Obama would champion in the months ahead.
- The deaths of the Connecticut schoolchildren have upended standard political calculations for Mr. Obama and presented a choice that goes to the heart of his approach to governance, Peter Baker writes. With the election over, the president's core supporters believe that this is a moment that will define his second term.
- With Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, emerging as a front-runner to be the president's next secretary of defense, critics are taking aim at his record on Israel, saying some of his comments have drawn the ire of Jewish leaders, Mark Landler reports.
- Republican leaders in the House struggled to persuade their caucus to rally around Speaker John A. Boehner's “Plan B,†a proposal that would allow tax rates to rise only on incomes over $1 million and leave in place spending cuts to military and domestic programs, Jonathan Weisman reports. Representative John Fleming, a conservative Republican from Louisiana, dismissed the speaker's plan as a poi ntless “messaging exercise.â€
Around the Web
- Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, was sworn in as president pro tempore of the Senate. The appointment makes him the third in line of succession to the presidency, Politico reports.
- It is now up to Mr. Obama whether former presidents George Bush and George W. Bush get a United States courthouse named after them, The Washington Post reports.
Happenings in Washington
- Mr. Obama will deliver remarks at the diplomatic corps holiday reception at the State Department.
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