In Today's Times:
What does it mean to be “a progressive Democrat in the age of austerity� Jackie Calmes writes that it's the debate President Obama set off Wednesday with his budget proposal for 2014, in which he puts cost-saving changes to Medicare and Social Security - signature Democratic entitlement programs - on the table with demands for concessions from Republicans on taxes and spending. The president had dinner with a group of Senate Republicans on Wednesday night to press his case on the budget, gun control and immigration.
A Democratic senator has reached a deal with a Republican colleague that will allow the full Senate to begin considering legislation requiring background checks for gun purchases, Jennifer Steinhauer writes in explaining the deal, how it came together and the outlook in the Senate.
As advocates for an overhaul of immigration laws rallied on Capitol Hill and around the country, an evenly split bipartisan group of eight senators announced a legislative deal on Wednesday. Julia Preston and Ashley Parker explain a central tenet of the proposed bill that would link a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants to enforcement goals for border control.
The nomination process for Sri Srinivasan to serve on the powerful federal appeals court in Washington is going much smoother than it did for Caitlin Halligan, who withdrew from consideration in March. Jeremy W. Peters reports that Mr. Srinivasan appears headed toward easy confirmation after he breezed through a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday, despite differences between Democrats and Republicans over using the filibuster on judicial nominees.
The Postal Service is blaming Congress for forcing the agency to shelve plans to cut mail delivery to six days a week from five, a move it said was necessary to cut costs, Emmarie Huetteman writes.
Happening in Washington:
Economic reports expected Thursday include weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m., followed at 10 a.m. by weekly mortgage rates.
President Obama's schedule includes a meeting with members of the Financial Services Forum at 11 a.m. at the White House and a conference call focused on youth summer employment at 12:05 p.m. He will award the Medal of Honor to Capt. Emil J. Kapaun, an Army chaplain, in an East Room ceremony at 2:10 p.m., before meeting with Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the United Nations, at 2:55 p.m.
At 9:30 a.m., the House Armed Services Committee will hear testimony on the defense budget for 2014 and beyond from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Gen. Â Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The House intelligence committee will conduct a hearing at 10 a.m. focused on worldwide threats with Mr. Hagel, James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence; John O. Brennan, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency; Â Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; and Robert Mueller, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will take up Gina McCarthy's nomination to be administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency at 10:30 a.m.
The roster of administration officials testifying on Capitol Hill about the president's budget proposal include Treasury secretary Jacob J. Lew ( at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.); Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano (10 a.m.); Education secretary Arne Duncan (10 a.m.); Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan (10 a.m.); and Jeffrey Zients, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (2 p.m.).
