Today’s Times
- Several Senate Republicans on Tuesday said they would not participate in a filibuster of the first major gun control bill since 1993, appearing to clear a blockade previously threatened by a group of conservatives, Jennifer Steinhauer and Jonathan Weisman report. But if the Senate were to begin a consideration of a series of gun safety proposals, they would still face a long and difficult journey across the chamber’s floor.
- With a coordination and energy that echo a Supreme Court nomination fight, the Obama administration is testing an aggressive new strategy on federal appeals court nominees that the White House and Senate Democrats are hoping will put Republicans in a bind, Jeremy W. Peters reports. They want conservatives to approve Sri Srinivasan, who is highly regarded, or risk forcing a change to Senate rules that could prevent Republicans from filibustering future nominees.
- A 12-minute tape surfaced on the Internet on Tuesday morning revealing a conversation between members of Senator Mitch McConnell’s campaign team as they discussed using a potential oppontent’s problems with depression as electoral fodder, Sarah Wheaton reports. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into allegations that his campaign headquarters was bugged, with Mr. McConnell. a Kentucky Republican, calling it “quite a Nixonian move.â€
- The American Conservative Union, one of the oldest and largest conservative advocacy groups, has formed a behind-the-scenes partnership with business lobbyists to tame the activists who have pushed Republican leaders in Congress to adopt some of the most austere spending limits in decades, Nicholas Confessore reports.
Happenings in Washington
- President Obama will deliver a statement on his 2014 fiscal budget from the White House Rose Garden. Later, he will host a dinner with 12 Senate Republicans in the Old Family Dining Room.
