In Today’s Times:
The days of serving unacknowledged on the front lines of war are coming to an end for many soldiers: The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it would lift its official ban on women serving in combat roles. Elisabeth Bumiller and Thom Shanker write that the move will open up hundreds of thousands of jobs for women in the armed forces because combat roles are seen as crucial to career advancement.
Now that the House has passed a bill to waive the country’s borrowing limit until May without requiring offsetting spending cuts â€" a measure that the Senate could take up and pass as early as next week â€" lawmakers’ attention now turns to a partisan fight over across-the-board spending cuts and a possible government shutdown in March, Jonathan Weisan writes.
Senate leaders are expected to announce new rules on Thursday aimed at curbing use of the filibuster to stall or kill legislation or presidential nominations. Jeremy W. Peters explains that Republicans have tentatively agreed to a framework for changes that would speed up procedure in the Senate in exchange for a concession from Democrats on allowing amendments to bills once they reach the floor.
Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia has become a barometer among his colleagues on gun control, testing just how far lawmakers might be able to go without angering voters. Mr. Peters writes that the path to any new gun laws has to come through West Virginia and a dozen other states represented b! y Democrats in the Senate.
Summing up Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s long-awaited testimony before Congress about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, Michael Gordon writes while she explained what the State Department was doing to protect diplomats since the attack, she did little to clarify the role of the White House in overseeing the American presence in Libya or explain why the Pentagon had few forces available to respond.
The surprisingly poor returns for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli elections this week have left him weakened and have set the stage for improvements in the chilly relationship between the Israeli leader and President Obama, Mark Landler writes.
Around the Web:
Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, are headed to Washington on Friday for a reception in their honor, according to The National Journal. They will also attend the Alfalfa Club dinner on Saturday, CNN reported.
Happening in Washington:
Economic data expected today includes weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m., followed at 10 a.m. by leading economic indicators for December and weekly mortgage rates.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on Senator John Kerry’s nomination to be secretary of state at 10 a.m.
Simultaneously, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will meet to discuss the country’s mental health system.
At 11 a.m., members of Congress and a coalition of mayors, law enforcement officers, gun safety organizations and other groups will hold a news conference to introduce legislation on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition-feeding devices.
At 1:45 p.m., Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will participate in a live videoconference about the administration’s efforts to curb gun violence. The conversation will be hosted by Google+ and streamed live at http://whitehouse.gov.
At 4:35 p.m., Mr. Obama will meet with Secretary Clinton.
