In Today’s Times:
In a series examining how the gun industry lobbies Congress, Mike McIntyre writes about how the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and a Congressional caucus provide the firearms industry with direct access to lawmakers to press industry concerns.
Having passed a resolution on Wednesday to keep the federal government operating through September, Republicans hope to advance a proposal that they say will balance the budget in a decade. Jonathan Weisman reports that the legislation is set to be unveiled next week, but that the path forward is “narrow and steep†because the measure is “politically charged.â€
Abortion rights advocates plan to sue Arkansas after the state legislature passed a law on Wednesday that bans abortions after 12 weeks, when an ultrasound can typically detect the heartbeat of a fetus, Erik Eckholm reports. The bill sailed through the Republican-controlled legislature despite objections from the state’s Democratic governor and experts on both sides of the abortion debate, who said it clearly violated the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade.
If John O. Brennan receives Senate confirmation to become the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency, he will start his tenure trying to move the agency past its legacy on torture, Scott Shane reports. The Senate is expected to approve Mr. Brennan’s nomination by the end of the week.
The White House and Democrats need a new strategy to fill a vacancy on the United States Court of Appe! als for the District of Columbia Circuit after Senate Republicans blocked Caitlin J. Halligan’s nomination to the bench a second time on Wednesday. Ashley Parker reports that Republicans oppose what they see as Ms. Halligan’s judicial activism.
The sequester might cut into some of President Obama’s leisure activities, as the White House tries to reconcile the optics of the first family’s recreation with the financial hardship that many Americans will face as a result of the broad cuts, Michael D. Shear writes.
Happening in Washington:
Economic reports expected Thursday include weekly jobless claims and preliminary estimates of fourth-quarter productivity and costs at 8:30 a.m., followed at 10 a.m. by eekly mortgage rates.
At 10 a.m., the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider four gun bills, including an assault weapons ban and a school safety measure.
Also at 10 a.m., the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold confirmation hearings for Sally Jewell for secretary of the interior.
At 11:30 a.m., the Federal Trade Commission plans to announce a crackdown on text message spam.
Mr. Obama will sign legislation to reauthorize and broaden the Violence Against Women Act. The signing will take place at 1:55 p.m. at the Department of the Interior and will include speeches by the president and the vice president.
