Scramble for Female Votes in Mass. Senate Race

BOSTON â€" With less than four weeks before the special Senate election in Massachusetts, Representative Edward Markey’s campaign is turning its attention to one of the most important constituencies in the state â€" women.

Women tend to vote in greater numbers than men and are among the most stalwart supporters of Democrats. In their Senate race last year, Elizabeth Warren beat Scott Brown by 8 percentage points overall but by 20 percentage points among women; Mr. Markey’s campaign is relying on women for the same kind of advantage.

And like Ms. Warren, Mr. Markey needs to appeal especially to women who are independents. Independents who are men tend to favor Republican candidates, regardless of who the Democratic candidate is â€" Ms. Warren lost them, and Mr. Markey will likely lose them too, said David Paleologos, a pollster at Suffolk University. But Mr. Markey needs to win at least 35 percent of independents in order to prevail, and he can do that by appealing to independent women.

“Independent men won’t vote for Markey,” Mr. Paleologos said. “His best shot is to focus on women, not only Democratic women but independent women.”

And so it was that Carole King, the singer, who had been in Boston Thursday for a concert to raise money for victims of the Marathon bombings, took to the campaign trail Friday for Mr. Markey. She has planned a full weekend of “Women for Markey” events throughout the Boston area to stir enthusiasm among women voters and fire up campaign volunteers.

The Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts has joined the fight on behalf of Mr. Markey by highlighting his support for abortion rights as one of the most significant differences between him and his Republican opponent, Gabriel Gomez.

And an outside group over which the Markey campaign has no control is also stepping in with a series of online advertisements aimed specifically at encouraging Democratic and independent women to vote against Mr. Gomez.

Mr. Gomez, a newcomer to politics, says he personally opposes abortion but would not seek to outlaw it. His opposition runs counter to the majority view in deep blue Massachusetts, where a poll conducted in March by WBUR, the NPR affiliate in Boston, showed that 73 percent of voters said abortion should be legal in all or almost all cases.

Ms. King, appearing Friday at Zaftigs Delicatessen in Brookline, said she was supporting Mr. Markey, whom she first worked with on environmental issues, for many reasons, including his support for women.

“Ed is a strong believer in women’s health issues and making sure that women have their own right to decide for themselves,” she said as she was greeted enthusiastically by baby boomer women carrying her “Tapestry” record album as well as younger men and women volunteering for the Markey campaign.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Gomez was unable to answer questions from the Boston Globe about how he would have voted on the Blunt Amendment, which would have allowed employers to opt out of paying for birth control coverage for employees if the employers deemed it objectionable. Mr. Gomez said he had not read the amendment.

Since then, the Markey campaign and the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund have sought to portray Mr. Gomez as uninformed and unreliable on women’s issues. Various reproductive rights advocates appeared at the Gomez campaign headquarters the other day with a copy of the Blunt Amendment to underscore the point.

And on another front aimed at women, an outside group backed by a wealthy California environmental activist is aiming a slew of new media ads at college-educated women and women over 55. The group, called the NextGen Committee, is financed by Tom Steyer, a hedge-fund founder and environmental activist, who opposes many of Mr. Gomez’s positions, including his support for the Keystone pipeline.

(NextGen is one of those outside special interests of the type that Mr. Markey has railed against and tried to block from coming into the state. He has warned that such groups, like one financed by Karl Rove, a strategist for President George W. Bush, would be spending big sums for Mr. Gomez, but so far, no such Republican groups have materialized â€" only NextGen is here, on Mr. Markey’s behalf.)

NextGen is starting a series of ads against Mr. Gomez this weekend on YouTube, Pandora and Facebook, which allow their messages to be highly targeted. The ads, costing a total of about $125,000, were initially aimed at progressive voters in Massachusetts but have been refined to reach college-educated women who are 55 and older and who are either Democratic or independent.

“We can’t trust another anti-choice, anti-Social Security, pro-assault weapon and pro-big oil Republican,” says the ad on Facebook as it shows a picture of Mr. Gomez with images of Mr. Bush and Mitt Romney.

“College-educated women and women over 55 are very reliable voters in supporting a Democrat when the Republican is in the wrong place on issues like choice, gun safety, Social Security and kids,” said Chris Lehane, a California-based Democratic consultant who is helping Mr. Steyer reach this audience.

“We analyzed the prior special elections in Massachusetts,” Mr. Lehane said, “and it is clear Markey wins so long as these demographic cohorts (a) vote and (b) are aware of where the Republican stands on some key issues.”

The images of Mr. Bush and Mr. Romney are important in reaching these women, he said, because the women view them as the electoral equivalents of Freddy Kruger and Norman Bates.

Bachmann Opponent Says He Will Not Run

A Minnesota hotelier who lost a close race against Representative Michele Bachmann last year and was gearing up for a rematch in 2014 has said that he will not run after all â€" just two days after Mrs. Bachmann, a fiery Tea Party Republican, said she would not seek re-election.

The hotelier, Jim Graves, a Democrat who founded the AmericInn hotel chain, told the MinnPost in an interview that, in essence, he had already won since Mrs. Bachmann dropped out of the race.

“With Michele Bachmann now stepping down, I’ve been talking to my friends and family and frankly, the feeling is, ‘Mission Accomplished,’” he said.

“There’s no way anyone could run and win who would be worse than Michele Bachmann,” Mr. Graves added. “So we accomplished that task.”

Mrs. Bachmann’s exit, which comes as she contends with numerous federal and local investigations into possible violations of campaign finance law, certainly lengthened Mr. Graves’s odds at winning the seat. Mrs. Bachmann, a onetime presidential candidate, would have been a focus of efforts by the national Democratic Party to unseat vulnerable Republicans. And Mrs. Bachmann barely won over Mr. Graves last year with a margin of barely 1 percentage point.

A Republican to replace Mrs. Bachmann has not yet stepped forward. A number of names have emerged as possible candidates, including a former gubernatorial candidate and several state legislators.

Mr. Graves said he was making his announcement so soon because he wanted to give Democrats ample time to decide and declare for the race.

Follow Jeremy W. Peters on Twitter at @ jwpetersNYT .

The Early Word: New Direction

In Today’s Times

• President Obama plans to nominate James B. Comey, a former Justice Department aide to President George W. Bush, to become his next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Michael S. Schmidt reports. He adds that the pick makes a strong statement about bipartisanship as the president faces criticism from Republicans, but it is also palatable for Democrats because Mr. Comey is known for putting the law above politics.

• As Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. meets with the news media on Thursday to address concerns about how the Justice Department investigates leaks of classified information, he faces accusations from Republicans that he misled them about whether his agency has considered prosecuting journalists as spies for publishing government secrets, Charlie Savage and Jonathan Weisman write.

• Mark Landler names politics as one of the factors influencing the disparate impact that the furor over last September’s deadly attacks on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, has had on the State Department careers of Susan E. Rice and Victoria Nuland.

• The president’s trips â€" official, political and personal â€" are drawing heightened scrutiny as automatic budget cuts force federal workers to take furloughs and shutter popular programs like White House tours, Michael D. Shear and Peter Baker write.

• Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, the Tea Party Republican firebrand, has decided not to seek re-election next year, cutting off her tough bid for a fifth term as she faces a widening federal inquiry of her campaign spending, Jeremy W. Peters reports.

Happenings in Washington

• Economic reports expected Thursday include first-quarter gross domestic product and weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m., followed at 10 a.m. by the pending home sales index for April and weekly mortgage rates.

• Mr. Obama will return from Chicago in the afternoon.

• At noon, Quinnipiac University’s polling institute will release the results of a national survey involving the Benghazi attacks, the Internal Revenue Service and The Associated Press.

• The winner of the National Spelling Bee will be crowned Thursday night as the competition comes to a c-l-o-s-e. The finals begin at 8 p.m.

Rhode Island’s Chafee to Join Democratic Party

BOSTON â€" Gov. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, the only Independent governor in the nation, plans to switch to the Democratic Party as he faces a tough re-election fight next year.

Mr. Chafee, who served in the United States Senate as a Republican, had discussed the possibility of becoming a Democrat for months and spoke last year at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

He was unavailable for comment on Wednesday, but a spokesman, Christian Vareika, confirmed the news after it was first reported by Politico. Mr. Vareika said Mr. Chafee would announce his decision Thursday morning in his hometown, Warwick.

He said the governor had concluded that “the priorities and principles that have guided him throughout his career align with the Democratic Party’s,” particularly with regard to public education, job creation and equal rights.

With three-fourths of voters disapproving of his job performance and the state’s economy limping along, analysts say that becoming a Democrat may be Mr. Chafee’s best shot at winning re-election. His apparent hope is that as a Democrat, President Obama will step in on his behalf and help him through a difficult primary.

Mr. Chafee and Mr. Obama, who overlapped in their short Senate careers, have developed a supportive relationship. Mr. Chafee backed Mr. Obama in his battle against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary in 2008 and supported him again in 2012.

In turn, Mr. Obama stayed out of the Rhode Island governor’s race in 2010 and did not endorse the Democratic candidate “out of respect for his friend Lincoln Chafee,” an Obama spokesman said at the time.

In a statement issued Wednesday through the Democratic National Committee, Mr. Obama said, “I’m delighted to hear that Governor Chafee is joining the Democratic Party.” But he gave no hint as to whether he would endorse anyone in a Democratic primary.

By contrast, Gov. Peter Shumlin of Vermont, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, indicated in a statement that the association would stay neutral in any intramural battle. “We are excited to welcome Governor Chafee to the ranks of Democratic governors and look forward to enthusiastically supporting whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee in Rhode Island,” he said.

At the moment, Mr. Chafee’s prospects for re-election seem fairly low. Various Democrats are lining up to run against him, including two potentially strong contenders: Gina Raimondo, the state treasurer, and Angel Taveras, the mayor of Providence.

“His move comes from thinking, ‘If I don’t switch parties, I’m going to lose anyway,’ ” said Wendy Schiller, a political scientist at Brown University. “And maybe as a Democrat, the president can come out for him wholeheartedly or at least help dry up the funding for the other candidates.”

But this will be tricky, she said, in part because Ms. Raimondo is a woman and Mr. Taveras a Latino, both representing important Democratic constituencies. Mr. Chafee is “a white patrician Yankee who was a Republican,” Dr. Schiller said.

Former E.P.A. Administrator Joins Apple

Apple has hired Lisa P. Jackson, who served as chief of the Environmental Protection Agency during President Obama’s first term, to serve as the company’s senior environmental adviser, Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, announced on Tuesday.

Mr. Cook spoke at D: All Things Digital, a technology conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., on Tuesday.

Ms. Jackson, who oversaw some of the administration’s biggest environmental initiatives, including rules doubling automobile fuel efficiency and the first regulations limiting emissions of mercury and other toxins from power plants, will report directly to Mr. Cook. The company has pledged to significantly reduce its energy use and carbon footprint by substituting renewable energy for fossil fuels at its data centers.

She became a lightning rod for Republican critics of the administration’s efforts to address climate change and reduce power plant and coal mine pollution.

Ms. Jackson said in a statement late Tuesday, “Apple has shown how innovation can drive real progress by removing toxins from its products, incorporating renewable energy in its data center plans, and continually raising the bar for energy efficiency in the electronics industry. I look forward to helping support and promote these efforts, as well as leading new ones in the future aimed at protecting the environment.”

The company has been under fire recently for employing foreign tax shelters to reduce its United States tax bill.

The Early Word: Beachheads

In Today’s Times

• President Obama’s visit to the Jersey Shore seven months after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the famous coastline made for good optics as he and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey appeared together, Michael D. Shear and Mark Leibovich report. For Mr. Obama it was a snapshot of a rare bipartisan partnership that has worked, and for Mr. Christie it was proof that he stands apart from the kind of ideological rigidity that could alienate large swaths of the Democratic-leaning electorate of New Jersey.

• Congressional Republicans are increasing pressure on the Obama administration over the handling of the September Benghazi attacks, this time by targeting several top aides to Hillary Rodham Clinton with subpoenas for information, Jeremy W. Peters reports.

• The White House is expected to name Jason Furman, the deputy director of the National Economic Council, as chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, Annie Lowrey writes. He is one of the last holdovers from the original Obama administration who helped manage the financial crisis and deep recession.

Around the Web

• A group of lawmakers has joined a mounting campaign urging the Washington Redskins football team to change its name, Politico reports. The representatives sent a letter to the team owner and other National Football League officials saying the name is “a racial, derogatory slur.”

Happening in Washington

• A luncheon and panel discussion Wednesday about the impact of technology on women and democracy will include Madeleine K. Albright, the former secretary of state, and Tina Brown, the editor in chief of The Daily Beast.

Clinton Aides Are Focus of Subpoena for Benghazi Talking Points

WASHINGTON â€" Several top aides to Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former secretary of state, are targets of the latest subpoena for information about the drafting of talking points after the siege last fall on an American compound in Benghazi, Libya.

Representative Darrell Issa, the California Republican who is the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, wrote in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry that the Obama administration’s refusal to cooperate fully with a House investigation left him “with no alternative but to compel the State Department to produce relevant documents through a subpoena.”

Mr. Issa’s move was the latest effort by Congressional Republicans to increase pressure on the Obama administration as they proceed with a series of investigations into two controversies that have ensnared the White House: the handling of the Benghazi attacks and the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups that sought tax-exempt status.

Through hearings on Capitol Hill and other requests for documents, e-mails and other correspondence inside the executive branch, Republicans have sought to determine what Mrs. Clinton knew about Benghazi and whether she might have played a larger role than acknowledged in the administration’s response.

Republicans have accused the Obama administration of misleading the American people by initially focusing on an anti-Islamic video as the impetus for the attacks, which killed four Americans. Later on, administration officials settled on terrorism as an explanation for the attack.

Specifically, Mr. Issa and Republicans in Congress have zeroed in on how administration “talking points” were revised to exclude any mention of terrorism before Susan E. Rice, the United Nations ambassador, went on television to discuss the attacks.

Mr. Issa’s letter says that the State Department is “withholding documents related to the Benghazi talking points,” and that those documents are “crucial to the committee’s investigation.”

The letter goes on to list 10 State Department officials whose correspondence might be relevant to the subpoena, including Mrs. Clinton’s former chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, and other top advisers like Philippe Reines, Victoria Nuland and Patrick Kennedy.

Clinton Aides Are Focus of Subpoena for Benghazi Talking Points

WASHINGTON â€" Several top aides to Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former secretary of state, are targets of the latest subpoena for information about the drafting of talking points after the siege last fall on an American compound in Benghazi, Libya.

Representative Darrell Issa, the California Republican who is the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, wrote in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry that the Obama administration’s refusal to cooperate fully with a House investigation left him “with no alternative but to compel the State Department to produce relevant documents through a subpoena.”

Mr. Issa’s move was the latest effort by Congressional Republicans to increase pressure on the Obama administration as they proceed with a series of investigations into two controversies that have ensnared the White House: the handling of the Benghazi attacks and the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups that sought tax-exempt status.

Through hearings on Capitol Hill and other requests for documents, e-mails and other correspondence inside the executive branch, Republicans have sought to determine what Mrs. Clinton knew about Benghazi and whether she might have played a larger role than acknowledged in the administration’s response.

Republicans have accused the Obama administration of misleading the American people by initially focusing on an anti-Islamic video as the impetus for the attacks, which killed four Americans. Later on, administration officials settled on terrorism as an explanation for the attack.

Specifically, Mr. Issa and Republicans in Congress have zeroed in on how administration “talking points” were revised to exclude any mention of terrorism before Susan E. Rice, the United Nations ambassador, went on television to discuss the attacks.

Mr. Issa’s letter says that the State Department is “withholding documents related to the Benghazi talking points,” and that those documents are “crucial to the committee’s investigation.”

The letter goes on to list 10 State Department officials whose correspondence might be relevant to the subpoena, including Mrs. Clinton’s former chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, and other top advisers like Philippe Reines, Victoria Nuland and Patrick Kennedy.

One Area in Which Congress Excels: Naming Post Offices

Pillory Congress all you want as do-nothing or dysfunctional, as its critics often have. But in one respect, lawmakers in the Capitol are remarkably productive: they name post offices like nobody’s business.

A new report from the Congressional Research Service, the nonpartisan research division of Congress, found that about 20 percent of laws passed in recent years were for naming post offices.

As Congress has become less and less efficient, the numbers are all the more striking. In the 111th Congress, which met from 2009 to 2010, members passed 383 statutes, 70 of which named post offices. In the 112th Congress, the last Congress to meet before the current one convened in January, members passed 46 measures naming post offices, out of 240 statutes over all.

The report notes that many of the post offices were named for officials of local renown. But others were named for better-known figures like Ronald Reagan (three times), Gerald R. Ford (twice), Bob Hope, Nat King Cole and Mickey Mantle.

Many have been dedicated to soldiers who died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. One post office in Louisville, Ky., was named to honor all local residents who have died in those conflicts. It is called the Iraq and Afghanistan Fallen Military Heroes of Louisville Memorial Post Office Building.

The House, where most of the measures naming post offices originate, has evidently become somewhat self-conscious about the amount of time it spends on the issue. So for this Congress, the 113th, the House committee that oversees the issue produced new guidelines that direct members to consider such bills expeditiously “so as to minimize the time spent.”

Passing these bills has become routine, and it is usually done without much debate or dissent. The practice has been to get all members of a state’s delegation to agree on a post office dedication before moving the bill to the floor.

There are other restrictions as well. Post offices cannot carry the names of people who are living, with the exception of former presidents, vice presidents and elected officials over 70.

The process is relatively inexpensive, a fact that helps explain why it has become so common in a Congress that is averse to anything that could be considered remotely wasteful. “There is no change in the way renamed post offices are identified in the U.S.P.S.’s listings of post offices,” the report notes.

Renaming plaques, which cost between $250 and $500, are bought at the expense of the United States Postal Service. The service also has responsibility for any ceremonial costs. Those are also kept tight.

“The protocol includes inviting the honored individual and his or her family,” the report says, “an honor guard, a religious figure for an invocation, media notification, and light refreshments such as cake and punch.”

The Early Word: Calculations

In Today’s Times

• Peter Baker delves into how President Obama’s re-election chances played into his decision to shift the nation’s approach on counterterrorism, a process that resulted in the changes the president announced last week.

• Mr. Obama plans to nominate three judges to the federal appeals court in Washington, despite facing roadblocks to confirmation in the Senate, where Republicans â€" who would rather eliminate the vacant seats at the court â€" wield enough power to stall or kill some nominations, Michael D. Shear writes.

• Despite partisan divisions among the justices of the Supreme Court, Adam Liptak finds evidence in recent rulings of a striking degree of harmony on the bench.

Happenings in Washington

• Economic reports expected Tuesday include home price indices for March and the first quarter at 9 a.m., followed at 10 a.m. by the consumer confidence index for May.

• At 9 a.m., Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, is scheduled to deliver remarks to a conference of physician assistants in Washington. She is expected to lay out strategies for meeting the needs of new patients entering the system under the new health care law.

• Starting at 10 a.m., the Supreme Court will begin issuing orders and opinions.

• The attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., will deliver keynote remarks to 70 new citizens at 11:15 a.m. during a special naturalization ceremony in the Justice Department.

• After touring areas of the New Jersey coastline still recovering from Hurricane Sandy, President Obama will return to the White House for a meeting with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at 4:30 p.m. in the Oval Office. At 5:30 p.m., he will speak at an event in the East Room for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

McCain Travels to Syria to Meet With Rebel Forces

WASHINGTON â€" Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who has called vocally for the United States to intervene militarily in Syria, traveled to Syria on Monday to meet with rebel forces fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, according to a spokesman for Mr. McCain. It was the first time that a United States senator had gone to Syria to meet with the rebels since the conflict there began two years ago.

Mr. McCain entered Syria from southern Turkey, according to his spokesman, Brian Rogers, who added that the senator had been in the region to attend the World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan over the weekend.

In 2011, Mr. McCain traveled to Libya to meet with rebel forces there while they were fighting Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, and made similar calls for the United States to provide military aid to the rebels. The United States did ultimately provide military support, along with several European countries, and Colonel Qaddafi’s regime was toppled.

Since the conflict in Syria began, Mr. McCain and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, have harshly criticized President Obama for not doing more to help the rebels. They argue that the president, who has authorized the shipment of night-vision goggles and body armor, should establish a no-fly zone and provide weapons to the rebels.

While in Syria, Mr. McCain met with Gen. Salim Idris, the leader of the military wing of the Supreme Military Council, a Syrian opposition group. The Obama administration considers General Idris much more of a moderate than the leaders of the Nusra Front, which has ties to Al Qaeda and is better financed and organized. Mr. Obama has refused to provide the rebels with military support because he fears that would empower the more radical elements of the opposition.

After the Israeli military struck a major Syrian military research center near Damascus this month, Mr. McCain said the strike had weakened the argument that Syria’s air defense system would be difficult for the United States to penetrate.

“The Israelis seem to be able to penetrate it fairly easily,” he said on May 5 on “Fox News Sunday.”

The United States, Mr. McCain said, could easily strike the Syrian defenses “with cruise missiles, cratering their runways, where all of these supplies, by the way, from Iran and Russia are coming in by air.”

Sunday Breakfast Menu, May 26

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Still echoing through Washington, President Obama's speech Thursday on shifting the nation's approach to counterterrorism will be up for debate on the Sunday shows.

Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, will join ABC's “This Week” to talk about the president's plan and the continuing investigation into whether the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.

Gen. John R. Allen, who commanded American forces in Afghanistan before retiring in February, will also appear on the program, discussing the fallout from the scandal that led to the resignation of David H. Petraeus as director of the Central Intelligence Agency last year. He is also expected to weigh in on the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as sexual assault in the military. And participants in ABC's panel discussions will include Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee; Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York; and Dennis C. Bl air, a retired admiral who used to be the nation's top intelligence official.

Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, will talk about Mr. Obama's speech on “Fox News Sunday.” Bob Dole, a former senator and the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, will share his thoughts on today's Republican Party as he approaches his 90th birthday in July.

As parts of Oklahoma rebuild after last week's devastating tornado, CBS's “Face the Nation” and CNN's “State of the Union” will feature discussions about the recovery with Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma.

CBS will also talk to Senators Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, and Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, whose state is also no stranger to rebuilding after major storms. The lawmakers will also talk about immigration legislation and the investigations into the I.R.S. and the September attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. Plus, CBS will feature a panel on extreme weather.

In addition to Ms. Fallin, Representative Michael G. Grimm, Republican of New York, and Mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean of Joplin, Mo., will join CNN to talk about storm recovery. Mr. Grimm's district, which includes Staten Island, suffered many of New York's casualties from Hurricane Sandy last year, and one of the deadliest tornadoes in history hit Joplin in 2011. Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who is chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, will also be on the program to discuss Mr. Obama's speech.

NBC's “Meet the Press” will not air this Sunday.

Senator Bernard Sanders, independent of Vermont and chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, will be on C-Span's “Newsmakers,” talking about issues including the backlog of benefits claims for veterans.

Colin L. Powell, the retired general and former secretary of state, appeared on Bloomberg's “Political Capital” on Friday. Repeats of the program air throughout the weekend.

Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, will join Bloomberg's “Capitol Gains” at noon Eastern time to talk about his investigation into how Apple avoided paying billions of dollars in taxes. He is chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which questioned Timothy D. Cook, the company's chief executive, last week.

Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, will join Univision's “Al Punto” at 10 a.m. Eastern time to talk about the progress of the Senate's immigration proposal.

Mr. Durbin and Representatives Trey Radel, Republican of Florida, and Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, will talk about immigration on Telemundo's “Enfoque,” which airs at noon Eastern time.

Obama Consoles Town Flattened by Tornado

Doug Mills/The New York Times President Obama visited victims of the tornadoes on Sunday in Moore, Okla.

MOORE, Okla. - President Obama walked among 10-foot-tall piles of tornado debris littered with children's schoolbooks on Sunday as he offered the condolences of a nation to a town nearly wiped off the map by a storm.

Standing next to the rubble that was once Plaza Towers Elementary School - and the place where seven children lost their lives when the tornado touched down a week ago - the president declared his confidence that Moore would rebuild and recover, and he pledged the support of his government, and the nation, toward that goal.

“This is a strong community with strong character,” Mr. Obama said with a grim face as he stood with Mary Fallin, the Republican governor of Oklahoma, and other local officials. “There's no doubt they will bounce back. But they need help.”

A president who is often locked in a struggle with Republicans over their disdain for expansive federal agencies, Mr. Obama has repeatedly found himself pledging the full power of the government to confront natural disasters. On Tuesday, the president will return to the New Jersey coast to witness the rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy.

In Oklahoma, Mr. Obama took a brief walk through the remains of what once was a thriving suburb south of Oklahoma City. American flags, flapping in the stiff winds of the warm spring day, were among the rubble.

But the piles also contained reminders of the lives torn apart by winds that topped 200 miles per hour as the twister cut a 20-mile path of destruction through town.

There were 2012 yearbooks from the Plaza Towers school and one workbook titled “Jamal's Surprise.” There were several waterlogged encyclopedias and a pink baby doll stroller. In another pile was a purple plastic toy camcorder and a pink child's parka. Every few feet, crumpled cars blocked the way and twisted metal littered yards that once had lawns. The only trees remaining had no bark and no leaves.

Secret Service agents stood in pairs on the roofs of military vehicles. The only sounds were the hum of a portable generator and the rush the wind.

As he has in other places struck by disaster - Joplin, Mo.; the Jersey Shore; West, Tex.; Colorado Springs; Tuscaloosa, Ala.; and the Gulf Coast - Mr. Obama was the consoler in chief, with the television cameras rolling. He promised Moore residents that his administration would stay with them - as it has, he said, in the other communities - as the Oklahomans rebuilt.

“When I say that we've got your back, we keep our word,” Mr. Obama said outside the school.

The president's visit symbolizes the money and resources of the federal government. More than 450 federal employees remain in Oklahoma a week after the tornado ripped through Moore. Officials said about 4,200 people had registered for a total of $3.4 million in immediate aid made available by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Rebuilding will probably cost billions, with a portion coming from the federal government.

For Mr. Obama, natural disasters like the one in Moore provide a tangible example of his political philosophy - how a robust investment in government can provide returns for its citizens. The grim aftermath of each crisis can test the Republicans' opposition to such policies.

Governor Fallin has repeatedly said that the federal government is bloated and inefficient and needs to be reduced in size and ambition. In her State of the State address in 2012, she disparaged the federal government, making no exception for agencies like FEMA.

“Our success stands in stark contrast to the record of dysfunction, failed policies and outrageous spending that occurs in Washington, D.C.” she told state lawmakers. “In Oklahoma, we could teach Washington a lesson or two about fiscal policy and the size and proper role of government.”

But faced with financial and logistical damages that are beyond the resources of her state, Ms. Fallin has acknowledged the need for federal assistance. In an interview with Glenn Beck on his Internet show, the governor explained the need to work with the federal emergency agencies.

“FEMA was very good to respond, and the president did call yesterday, and they did give us notice last night that our federal emergency disaster declaration was approved,” she said.

In his remarks in Moore on Sunday, Mr. Obama made a point of noting that federal funds had not only paid for disaster relief efforts, but also for the training of local and state police officers and firefighters that helped them to respond quickly after the tornado struck.

“We've got to make sure that those resources remain in place,” Mr. Obama said before visiting with law enforcement officials at a firehouse that now serves as a recovery command center. “We can't just wait until the disaster happens.”

In recent days, Republicans in Congress have seized on a series of controversies involving the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service and the State Department, in part to argue that Mr. Obama presides over a government that has grown too big to control.

Other fights are looming in Washington over the deficit, the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, and the president's proposal for increased preschool spending, a higher minimum wage and a new commitment to infrastructure projects.

Those arguments will continue over the next several weeks as the two parties bicker over the proper size and role of government. The president and the Republicans in Congress may yet battle over the cost of providing long-term assistance to disaster victims.

But in places like Oklahoma, the differences have narrowed for now. Faced with the destructive power that nature can wield, both parties seem more than willing to embrace the need for a well-financed government that can respond quickly.

In his remarks, Mr. Obama recalled hearing that a Bible had been found after a tornado touched down in Oklahoma the day before the one that hit Moore. The Bible, he said, was open to a passage: “A man will be as a hiding place from the wind and a cover from the tempest.”

“It's a reminder,” Mr. Obama said, “as Scripture often is, that God has a plan.”

Wind Down the War on Terrorism? Republicans Say No

Republican lawmakers on Sunday criticized President Obama's vision for winding down the war on terrorism, using talk show appearances to accuse him of misunderstanding the threat in a way that will embolden unfriendly nations.

“We show this lack of resolve, talking about the war being over,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “What do you think the Iranians are thinking? At the end of the day, this is the most tone-deaf president I ever could imagine.”

In his first major foreign policy address of his second term, Mr. Obama said last week that it was time for the United States to narrow the scope of its long battle against terrorists and begin a transition away from a war footing.

In addition to renewing his call to close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, he said he would seek to limit his own war powers. He also issued new policy guidelines that would shift the responsibility for drone strikes to the military from the Central Intelligence Agency, and said there would be stricter standards for such attacks.

Mr. Graham, a strong supporter of the drone program, said he objected to changing the standards. Separately, he called for a special counsel to investigate both the Justice Department, which has come under scrutiny for seizing journalists' phone records, and the Internal Revenue Service, which has acknowledged that it unfairly targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.

Democrats, including Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, praised Mr. Obama for what they said was a necessary rebalancing of civil liberties and national security interests. “We have to balance our values,” Ms. Wasserman Schultz said Sunday on the ABC News program “This Week.”

But at least two lawmakers - the current and former chairmen of the House Homeland Security Committee, Representative Michael McCaul of Texas and Peter T. King of New York - complained specifically about the president's remarks about Guantánamo Bay.

Mr. McCaul warned against closing the detention center, especially if it meant moving prisoners to the United States. “Name me one American city that would like to host these guys,” he said on the CNN program “State of the Union.”

More than half the remaining 166 detainees at Guantánamo Bay are Yemeni; of these, 56 have been cleared to go home. Mr. Obama has proposed repatriating detainees when he can, but will still face the thorny question of what to do several dozen men who cannot be prosecuted and who have been deemed to be too dangerous to release.

Mr. King, appearing with Ms. Wasserman Schultz on “This Week,” said the detention facility had been a success. “Many experts believe it did work,” he said, adding that he was “very concerned about sending detainees back to Yemen.” Noting that Mr. Obama had campaigned on a promise to close the prison, he said the president “could have done a lot more than he has done if he was serious about it rather than just moralizing.”

In calling for a special counsel, Mr. Graham said the Justice Department had begun to “criminalize journalism” and had engaged in “an overreach” in investigating leaks of classified national security information. He also complained of an “organized effort” within the I.R.S. to target political opponents of the president. “I think it comes from the top,” he said, although current and former I.R.S. officials have said Mr. Obama did not know of the targeting.

Wind Down the War on Terror? Republicans Say No

Republican lawmakers on Sunday assailed President Obama’s vision for winding down the war on terrorism, using talk show appearances to accuse him of misunderstanding the terror threat in a way that will embolden unfriendly nations.

“We show this lack of resolve, talking about the war being over,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “What do you think the Iranians are thinking? At the end of the day, this is the most tone-deaf president I ever could imagine.”

In his first major foreign policy address of his second term, Mr. Obama said last week that it is time for the nation to narrow the scope of its long battle against terrorists and begin a transition away from a war footing.

In addition to renewing his call to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he said he would seek to limit his own war power. He also issued new policy guidance that would shift responsibility for strikes by unmanned drone aircraft to the military from the Central Intelligence Agency, and said there would be stricter standards for such strikes. Mr. Graham, a strong supporter of the drone program, said he objected to changing the standards.

Democrats appearing on the television Sunday, including Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, praised Mr. Obama for what they view as a necessary rebalancing of civil liberties and national security interests. “We have to balance our values,” Ms. Wasserman Schultz said on the ABC program “This Week.”

But Republicans, including Mr. Graham, criticized the speech. At least two lawmakers - the current and former chairmen of the House Homeland Security Committee, Representative Michael McCaul of Texas and Peter King of New York - said that Mr. Obama had struck the wrong balance.

They complained specifically about the president’s remarks on Guantanamo Bay. Mr. McCaul warned against closing the facility, especially if it meant moving detainees to the United States.”Name me one American city that would like to host these guys,” he said on the CNN program “State of the Union.”

More than half the remaining 166 detainees at Guantanamo Bay are Yemeni; of these, 56 have been cleared to go home. Mr. Obama has proposed repatriating detainees when he can, but will still face the thorny question of what to do several dozen men who cannot be prosecuted and who have been deemed to dangerous to release.

Mr. King, appearing alongside Ms. Wasserman Schultz on ABC, said the detention facility had been a policy success. “Many experts believe it did work,” he said, adding that he was “very concerned about sending detainees back to Yemen.” Noting that Mr. Obama had campaigned on a promise to close the prison, he said the president “could have done a lot more than he has done if he was serious about it rather than just moralizing.”

Obama to Visit With Tornado Victims

MOORE, Okla. â€" President Obama will arrive in Tornado Alley on Sunday to once again perform the grim task of reassuring residents of a devastated community that their government stands by them in their moment of grief.

A president who is often locked in a struggle with his Republican rivals over their disdain for expansive federal agencies, Mr. Obama has repeatedly found himself pledging the full power of the government to confront natural disasters. On Tuesday, the president will return to the New Jersey coast to witness the rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy.

In Oklahoma, Mr. Obama will walk through the rubble of what once was a thriving suburb south of Oklahoma City. He will deliver emotional and financial support to residents who have lost homes and families who have lost people they love.

As he has in other places â€" Joplin, the Jersey Shore, West Texas, Colorado Springs, Tuscaloosa and the Gulf Coast â€" Mr. Obama will again become the consoler-in-chief, with the television cameras rolling.

But he will also bring, as he often does, money and resources. More than 400 federal personnel remain in Oklahoma almost a week after the tornado ripped through Moore. Officials said that about 2,200 people in Oklahoma had registered for relief aid made available by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

For Mr. Obama, natural disasters like the one in Moore provide a tangible example of his political philosophy â€" how a robust investment in government can provide needed returns for its citizens in times of need. The grim aftermath of such crises test the philosophy of the president’s political opponents.

Mary Fallin, the Republican governor of Oklahoma, has repeatedly said that the federal government is bloated and inefficient and needs to be reduced in size and ambition. In her State of the State address in 2012, Ms. Fallin disparaged the federal government. making no exception for agencies like FEMA.

“Our success stands in stark contrast to the record of dysfunction, failed policies, and outrageous spending that occurs in Washington, D.C.” she told lawmakers. “In Oklahoma, we could teach Washington a lesson or two about fiscal policy and the size and proper role of government.”

But faced with financial and logistical damages that are beyond the resources of her state, Ms. Fallin has acknowledged the need for federal assistance. In an interview with Glenn Beck on his Internet show, the governor explained the need to work with the federal emergency agencies.

“FEMA was very good to respond, and the president did call yesterday and they did give us notice last night that our federal emergency disaster declaration was approved,” she said, adding that the declaration “will help us get the resources that we need and the federal financial support that we need to help these communities.”

In recent days, Republicans in Congress have seized on a series of incidents involving the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service and the State Department, in part to argue that Mr. Obama presides over an overbearing government that has grown too big to control.

Other fights are looming in Washington over the deficit, the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, and the cost of the president’s proposals for increased preschool spending, a higher minimum wage and a new commitment to infrastructure projects.

Those arguments will continue to rage over the next several weeks as the two parties bicker over the proper size and role of government. The president and the Republicans in Congress may yet battle over the cost of providing long-term assistance to disaster victims.

But meanwhile, in places like Oklahoma, the immediate differences have narrowed. Faced with the awesome destructive power that nature can wield, both parties seem more than willing to embrace the need for a well-funded government that can respond quickly.

As the two leaders tour the remains of schools, hospitals and homes on Sunday, both will agree on that.

Sunday Breakfast Menu, May 26

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Still echoing through Washington, President Obama’s speech Thursday on shifting the nation’s approach to counterterrorism will be up for debate on the Sunday shows.

Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, will join ABC’s “This Week” to talk about the president’s plan and the continuing investigation into whether the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.

Gen. John R. Allen, who commanded American forces in Afghanistan before retiring in February, will also appear on the program, discussing the fallout from the scandal that led to the resignation of David H. Petraeus as director of the Central Intelligence Agency last year. He is also expected to weigh in on the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as sexual assault in the military. And participants in ABC’s panel discussions will include Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee; Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York; and Dennis C. Blair, a retired admiral who sed to be the nation’s top intelligence official.

Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, will talk about Mr. Obama’s speech on “Fox News Sunday.” Bob Dole, a former senator and the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, will share his thoughts on today’s Republican Party as he approaches his 90th birthday in July.

As parts of Oklahoma rebuild after last week’s devastating tornado, CBS’s “Face the Nation” and CNN’s “State of the Union” will feature discussions about the recovery with Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma.

CBS will also talk to Senators Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, and Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, whose state is also no stranger to rebuilding after major storms. The lawmakers will also talk about immigration legislation and the investigations into the I.R.S. and the September attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. Plus, CBS will feature a panel on extreme weather.

In addition to Ms. Fallin, Representative Michael G. Grimm, Republican of New York, and Mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean of Joplin, Mo., will join CNN to talk about storm recovery. Mr. Grimm’s district, which includes Staten Island, suffered many of New York’s casualties from Hurricane Sandy last year, and one of the deadliest tornadoes in history hit Joplin in 2011. Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who is chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, will also be on the program to discuss Mr. Obama’s speech.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” will not air this Sunday.

Senator Bernard Sanders, independent of Vermont and chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, will be on C-Span’s “Newsmakers,” talking about issues including the backlog of benefits claims for veterans.

Colin L. Powell, the retired general and former secretary of state, appeared on Bloomberg’s “Political Capital” on Friday. Repeats of the program air throughout the weekend.

Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, will join Bloomberg’s “Capitol Gains” at noon Eastern time to talk about his investigation into how Apple avoided paying billions of dollars in taxes. He is chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which questioned Timothy D. Cook, the company’s chief executive, last week.

Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, will join Univision’s “Al Punto” at 10 a.m. Eastern time to talk about the progress of the Senate’s immigration proposal.

Mr. Durbin and Representatives Trey Radel, Republican of Florida, and Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, will talk about immigration on Telemundo’s “Enfoque,” which airs at noon Eastern time.

Q & A: Answering Readers\' Queries on Drones

The administration acknowledged Wednesday targeting American citizens in drone strikes, a day before a speech during which President Obama is expected to provide his first detailed justification for the targeted killing program run by the C.I.A. and the Pentagon. Readers were invited to ask the national security reporting team of The New York Times questions about drones, via nytimes.com and Twitter, and they responded to selected questions below, ahead of Mr. Obama's speech at 2 p.m. on Thursday. (Note: That's half an hour later than originally scheduled.)

Q.

Where have drones been deployed under the Obama administration? To what extent did the Bush administration use drones?
Which administration officials, current or former, have expressed skepticism about drone strikes? How many prominent military personnel have done so? -Eric Adamcik

A.

Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan, the Obama administration has used armed drones in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya. There has been a significant escalation of drone strikes under Mr. Obama compared with President George W. Bush, although it was during the final months of the Bush administration when the surge in drone strikes in Pakistan began. -MARK MAZZETTI

Q.

Does President Obama, and those that advise him on the use of drones, have any doubts at all that the program is not working, considering the Al Qaeda resurgence in Iraq, Syria, and Africa? -Ed

A.

Most counterterrorism analysts would argue that the upheavals in these countries, and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa, are more the result of the tumult unleashed by Arab Spring than the efficacy of the drone program. But as The Times reported Tuesday, some former senior Bush and Obama administration security officials have expressed concern that the short-term gains of drone strikes in eliminating specific militants in countries like Pakistan and Yemen may be outweighed by long-term strategic costs.

“We're seeing that blowback,” Gen. James E. Cartwright, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in March. “If you're trying to kill your way to a solution, no matter how precise you are, you're going to upset people even if they're not targeted.” -ERIC SCHMITT

Q.

What are we doing to make drone strikes more effective and accurate in order to minimize or eliminate civilian casualties? -George

A.

The drones themselves are fairly accurate. In other words, they hit what they are trying to hit. But a drone strike is only as good as the intelligence supporting it. If the intelligence leading to a drone strike is bad, then there is a greater chance that a drone strike will kill civilians, or kill someone who posed no threat to the United States. There have also been cases of the C.I.A. and Pentagon carrying out drone strikes on individuals after being fed intelligence by that person's rivals. -MARK MAZZETTI

What are the procedures taken to screen potential targets of strikes? Under what circumstances are they carried out? #AskNYT

- Ryan Fedasiuk (@RyanFedasiuk) 22 May 13

A.

The actual procedures are classified, so it is very difficult to know exactly what takes place before a drone strike is carried out. One particularly controversial aspect of the program is the use of “signature strikes” - when the C.I.A. carries out the strike not based on intelligence about a specific individual but on “patterns of activity” of people at a compound or suspected training camp. Obviously, the procedures for these types of strikes are different than for the first category. -MARK MAZZETTI

Q.

How many people have been killed in signature strikes? -David Keppel

A.

Like so much about the drone program, the toll of the strikes is not made public. But signature strikes - in which suspected but unidentified militants are targeted because they are in an extremist-controlled area and are carrying arms or making bombs - have been responsible for some of the largest death tolls in the drone program. It is safe to say that hundreds of men have been killed in Pakistan by signature strikes. -SCOTT SHANE

Q.

Has there been a serious discussion within the administration and national security apparatus of a possible permanent judicial framework for approving drone strikes - whether a military tribunal or a secret panel of judges or anything else? If so, how close is this to coming to fruition? -Brooke

A.

There has been a good deal of talk in recent months about the possibility of judicial review before drone strikes, something along the lines of the Foreign International Surveillance Court, which approved Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants. But it does not appear that this idea is gaining much traction. Besides the practical questions - could judges review intelligence information and issue a judgment on a very short timeline?- other questions have been raised about the constitutionality of such a “drone court.” -MARK MAZZETTI

Has there been a review of Abdulrahman Al-Awlaki's killing? Has anyone been held accountable? #askNYT

- Tyler Hinkelman (@TylerHinkelman) 22 May 13

A.

Like most counterterrorism operations, the strike in Yemen that killed Anwar al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, who had not been accused of terrorism and was not the intended target, remains classified and cloaked in secrecy. It is unknown whether an investigation was done of the errant strike or whether anyone was reprimanded or otherwise held accountable. American officials speaking anonymously have said only that the strike was intended to kill an Egyptian militant who appears not to have been present. -SCOTT SHANE

Q.

If we didn't use drones, wouldn't we just revert back to regular planes with human pilots? If so, I see the use of drones to be saving American lives. -Stan Brodsky

A.

The United States might revert to manned aircraft, but more likely it would weigh the costs of losing an aircraft and its crew against the importance of the target. As a result, some targets might not be struck. Or the United States might put more pressure on the local government to carry out a raid or arrests, possibly with the help of American logistical, intelligence and operational support. If the target was important enough â€" like Osama bin Laden â€" the United States would still risk aircraft and their crews, and possibly commandos to conduct the mission. -ERIC SCHMITT

@nytimes. Can the US assist Nigeria's fight on Boko Haram threat with the drone technology?
#AskNYT

- itunu ogunderu (@streetafriquan) 22 May 13

A.

Maybe. President Obama in February announced that about 100 American soldiers had been sent to Niger in West Africa, just north of Nigeria, to help set up a new base from which unarmed Predator aircraft would conduct surveillance in the region. The Predators in Niger are providing information to support the French-led operation in neighboring Mali that in January drove fighters affiliated with the local Qaeda affiliate and other Islamic extremists out of a desert refuge the size of Texas in the northern part of Mali. Nigeria has resisted unspecified offers of Pentagon assistance to help its fight against Boko Haram, but so far, drone flights are not on the table. Nigeria has carried out air and ground assaults against suspected Boko Haram bases at the country's northeastern edge.

Q.

How pervasive is domestic drone use in the U.S.A.? Follow up: Are there signs that state and local police will gain access to drone technology? -Ken

A.

Yes, drones are probably coming to a sheriff's department near you. Dozens of police forces and sheriff's offices have petitioned the government to fly drones in domestic airspace, according to a list compiled by the Federal Aviation Administration. But it's not just the sheriff's office of Orange County, Fla., and the Seattle Police Department - a number of universities such as Pennsylvania State and Kansas State have also applied for permission to fly drones.

But, before Senator Rand Paul starts planning another filibuster, it is important to note that these are applications for unarmed drones, not the armed kind. Still, I don't think it's far-fetched that police forces could be carrying out armed drone strikes in the not-too-distant future. Police forces give snipers permission to kill in hostage situations - would there be a big difference if they started using drones? -MARK MAZZETTI

Can the drones be used for good? Like delivering my Sunday paper on time! RT@NYTimes Send us your questions about U.S. drone policy. #AskNYT

- Sean Green (@seantgreen) 22 May 13

A.

In fact, drones are already being used for many purposes other than surveillance or killing, and the list is growing every day. Farmers use drones to inspect their fields, power companies to examine their lines and disaster responders to assess damage. For the moment, newspaper and pizza delivery remain on the drawing board, but many experts believe that the civilian purposes of drones will soon eclipse their military use. -SCOTT SHANE

The Early Word: Pivot

In Today's Times:

• In a speech Thursday afternoon at the National Defense University, President Obama is expected to announce changes in his counterterrorism policy that include restricting the use of unmanned aircraft to target terrorism suspects and shifting control of the drones from the Central Intelligence Agency to the military. The move, Charlie Savage and Peter Baker explained, “underscores a desire by the president and his advisers to balance them with other legal and diplomatic tools” as the president tries to distance himself from his predecessor on terror.

• After a contentious hearing on Wednesday, Lois Lerner, the Internal Revenue Service official at the heart of a Congressional inquiry into the agency, may have to appear again before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Jeremy W. Peters reports. Representative Darrell Issa of California, the panel's Republican chairman, said Ms. Lerner had waived her Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination when she gave an opening statement on Wednesday denying that she had done anything wrong.

• As the Senate immigration bill moves to the chamber floor for debate, its supporters are trying to shore up support among Republicans by strengthening provisions on border security, Ashley Parker and Julia Preston write. The Senate is expected to begin debating the bill in June.

• The Federal Reserve is reluctant to scale back its efforts to stimulate the economy until monetary policy makers see stronger signs that the job market is improving and a decline in the unemployment rate, Nelson D. Schwartz writes, drawing from the testimony Wednesday of Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed chairman, and minutes from the last meeting of the bank's policy-setting committee.

• As Congress moves to pass a five-year farm bill, Representative Stephen Fincher, a Republican farmer from Tennessee, has emerged as a huge supporter of cutting $20 billion from the federal food stamp program. There's just one thing: he's one of the biggest beneficiaries of federal farm subsidies, having received $3.5 million in payments since 1999, according to an independent study, Ron Nixon reports.

Happening in Washington:

• Economic reports expected Thursday include new home sales for April and weekly mortgage rates at 10 a.m., preceded by weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m.

• At 9:30 a.m,. a subpanel of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology will hold a hearing on “restoring U.S. leadership in weather forecasting” with Barry Myers, the chief executive of AccuWeather, and Jon Kirchner, the president of GeoOptics.

• At 11 a.m., the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold its first nomination hearing on Penny Pritzker's selection to be commerce secretary.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association will issue its initial outlook for the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season during a news conference at 1:00 p.m.

• At 1:30 p.m., President Obama will speak at the National Defense University on the administration's counterterrorism policy.

Analysis of Key Points From Obama\'s Speech on Drones

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In his first major speech on counterterrorism of his second term, President Obama on Thursday opened a new phase in the nation's long struggle with terrorism by announcing that he is restricting the use of unmanned drone strikes, which have been at the heart of his national security strategy.

Mark Mazzetti, a reporter for The Times who covers the intelligence community and is the author of “The Way of the Knife,” a book about the United States' use of drones, provided analysis and context about American drone policy during the president's speech.

3:06 P.M. What Next for Drone Program?

Now that the speech is over, one of the big outstanding questions is just how transparent the Obama administration will be about drone strikes in the future. Will administration officials begin to publicly confirm strikes after they happen?

There was no mention of this in the speech, and it is telling that the president did not mention the C.I.A. at all. It seems quite certain that past operations in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere are not going to be declassified anytime soon.

Also, moving operations from the C.I.A. to the Pentagon does not automatically mean that the strikes will be publicly discussed. The Pentagon is carrying out a secret drone program in Yemen right now, and it is very difficult to get information about those operations.

- Mark Mazzetti

2:49 P.M. Obama to Lift Moratorium on Detainee Transfers

The most significant part of President Obama's remarks about Guantánamo Bay was his announcement that he is lifting the moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen. Of the 86 detainees approved for transfer when “security conditions” are met, 56 of them are from Yemen. In theory, this move could lead to a significant reduction in the prison population.

- Mark Mazzetti

2:47 P.M. The Debate Over the Use of Force Authorization

There is fierce debate about whether Congress should renew the Authorization for Use of Military Force law that was passed in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks. While some argue that a new authorization is necessary given that the group that attacked the United States on 9/11- Al Qaeda - is vastly different than it was nearly 12 years ago. On the other hand, some argue that a new A.U.M.F. would only be a license to wage a war indefinitely.

- Mark Mazzetti

2:45 P.M. Drones and America's Image Abroad

President Obama raised the question of whether the long-term costs of drone strikes, including the reported killings of innocent civilians and declining image of America in many Muslim countries, may outweigh the short-term benefits of eliminating specific militants.

The month after a drone strike killed the American-born terrorist leader Anwar al-Awlaki, another drone strike mistakenly killed his 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, who had set off into the Yemeni desert in search of his father. In April, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights conducted a rare public hearing on the use of drones. A Yemeni man who had studied in the United States said a drone strike on his village in Yemen turned his neighbors against the United States.

The man, Farea al-Muslimi, said:

“Now, however, when they think of America, they think of the fear they feel at the drones over their heads. What the violent militants had failed to achieve, one drone strike accomplished in an instant.”

In December, The Times's Declan Walsh reported that militants in Pakistan's tribal belt recorded confessions and executions of men accused of aiding drones attacks in Pakistan, deepening an atmosphere of paranoia and mistrust.

- Shreeya Sinha

2:38 P.M. Obama Keeps the Door Open to a Drone Court

The United States government has been debating the idea of setting up a court to oversee targeted killings, something akin to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which oversees eavesdropping on American soil.

It is significant that President Obama appears open to the idea of a “drone court.” As he points out, there are constitutional questions in having a group of judges review drone strikes before they are carried out. The president has not said he will endorse this idea, but his mentioning of it in the speech at least means it will remain a part of the conversation.

- Mark Mazzetti

2:32 P.M. Obama Addresses Kill-Versus-Capture Policy

The president said that the United States does not order drone strikes when it has the ability to capture terrorists. Broadly, both the Bush and Obama administrations have determined that Pakistan's tribal areas are areas where capture is not possible. Not only are Pakistanis opposed to American “boots on the ground,” but the writ of the Pakistani government does not extend to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA. As a result, there have been hundreds of drone strikes in Pakistan and only a very small number of capture operations.

- Mark Mazzetti

2:26 P.M. The Role of the C.I.A. in Targeted Killings

President Obama spoke of using “remotely piloted aircraft referred to as drones.” He made no mention of the fact that the Central Intelligence Agency is running the bulk of the drone program. There are clearly concerns inside the Obama administration about publicly acknowledging the C.I.A.'s role in targeted killing operations.

Mr. Obama said he would impose a higher standard on authorizing such aerial attacks and shift responsibility more from the C.I.A. to the military, but that statement is a bit misleading. Even if the C.I.A. is not pulling the trigger on drone strikes in the future, the agency will still be deeply involved in the intelligence support for the strikes.

- Mark Mazzetti

2:17 P.M. Concern Over Drone Strikes and Response in Arab World

Parts of President Obama's speech suggest an evolution not only in how the administration views the drone program but also in how the United States views events in the Arab world.

“The decisions we are making now will define the type of nation - and world - that we leave to our children,” the president said. This could be a nod, in general, to the concern that drone strikes might be having a radicalizing effect in countries like Pakistan and Yemen, where the C.I.A. has most often used drone strikes to kill suspected militants.

At one point in the speech, Mr. Obama refers to “unrest in the Arab world.”

Remember when it used to be called the Arab Spring?

2:11 P.M. More Militants Killed Than Captured

In his speech, President Obama spoke of a “strong preference” for capturing militants rather than killing them. During his presidency, a far greater number of militant suspects have been killed than captured.

- Mark Mazzetti

2:03 P.M. Polls Show Strong Public Support for Drone Strikes

There is strong public support for drone strikes against suspected terrorists outside the United States, according to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll.

The support for using unmanned aircraft to carry out bombing attacks in foreign countries cuts across party lines â€" 79 percent of Republicans approve of the targeted killing of suspected terrorists, as do 64 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of independents.

However, the findings of a Gallup Poll taken in March indicate that drone strikes against American citizens or attacks within the United States have much less support. Just over half, 52 percent, disapprove of launching airstrikes against American citizens living overseas who are suspected of terrorism; 41 percent approve.

Two-thirds of the American public opposes drone strikes within the United States against suspected terrorists. Eight in 10 oppose targeting American citizens suspected of terrorism who live here.

The Times/CBS News poll was conducted April 24-28 with 965 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for all adults. The Gallup poll was conducted March 20 and 21 with 1,020 adults. The questions were each asked of half of the sample and have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 6 percentage points. Both national polls were conducted using landlines and cellphones.

- Marjorie Connelly

1:59 P.M. Tracing the Rise and Decline of Drone Strikes

In an address on Thursday at the National Defense University, President Obama is expected to outline changes to the way the United States uses drones. The graphics below help trace the rise and decline of drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen.

This May 2012 analysis shows that though President Obama inherited the drone program, the number of strikes drastically increased in his first term. In 2009, as terrorist plots increasingly emanated from Yemen, the president began a broader aerial campaign there.

The New York Times; Source: Long War Journal

The Times reported on Wednesday that the number of drone strikes has been in decline. “Strikes in Pakistan peaked in 2010 and have fallen sharply since then; their pace in Yemen has slowed to half of last year's rate; and no strike has been reported in Somalia for more than a year,” wrote The Times's Scott Shane.

Source: Long War Journal

Reasons for the decline may reflect a shift in the administration's counterterrorism approach, as the contentious debate over their legal basis, their precision and the reported backlash they have produced in the Muslim world continues.

- The New York Times

1:53 P.M. Q. & A.: Answering Readers' Queries on Drones

Readers were invited to ask the national security reporting team of The New York Times questions about drones, via nytimes.com and Twitter, and they responded to selected questions.

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Alabama Republican to Retire From House

Representative Jo Bonner, Republican of Alabama, will resign from Congress this fall to take a job at the University of Alabama.

Mr. Bonner, 53, has represented Alabama's First Congressional District since 2003. He said in a statement that he was resigning effective Aug. 15 to become vice chancellor of government relations and economic development at the University of Alabama system, a newly created position.

Mike Brantley/AL.com, via Associated Press Representative Jo Bonner announcing his resignation on Thursday.

His retirement means Gov. Robert Bentley, a Republican, must set a special election for the seat. The district covers Mobile and Baldwin Counties and is considered solid Republican terrain. The district voted for Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election, and Mr. Bonner faced no Democratic opponent in the general election.

Addressing his constituents in a statement on Thursday, he said, “I trust you know that serving as your congressman this past decade has truly been one of the highest honors of my life.”

Mr. Bonner is an alumnus of the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, where his older sister, Judy L. Bonner, is president. He will move to Tuscaloosa for the job.

Mr. Bonner stepped down as chairman of the House Ethics Committee in 2012 after six years on the panel. His feuds with Representative Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California, when she was chairwoman of the panel in 2010 are well known. The two clashed when Ms. Lofgren scheduled the censure trial for Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York, for after the November elections, and again when Mr. Bonner blocked her attempts to fire two investigators involved in the case of Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California.

He remains a member of the Appropriations Committee, where he earned a reputation for securing federal earmarks for his district and for directing federal resources to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Noting the challenges facing the country during his time in office - the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, the 2010 BP oil spill and the recession - Mr. Bonner highlighted his achievements bringing shipbuilding and aerospace jobs to the region through ThyssenKrupp, Austal and Airbus.

Obama Defies Critics With State Dept. Choice

WASHINGTON - President Obama defied Republican critics on Thursday by nominating to a high-ranking State Department job an official involved in editing controversial talking points about the attack last year in Libya.

Mr. Obama sent the Senate his choice of Victoria Nuland, a former spokeswoman for the State Department, as assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs. Ms. Nuland had long been in line for the position, but some had questioned whether the nomination would go forward after drafts of the talking points became public.

Ms. Nuland suggested revisions to talking points prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency after the terrorist attack that killed four Americans at the diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11. In an e-mail, she urged deleting mention of past warnings of terrorism in Libya because lawmakers could use that “to beat the State Department for not paying attention.”

Her confirmation hearings may serve to revive the furor. But Ms. Nuland, a career Foreign Service officer, has strong ties on both sides of the aisle, having served as deputy national security adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney and ambassador to NATO under President George W. Bush.

Mr. Obama on Thursday also nominated Douglas E. Lute, his adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan, to be the next ambassador to NATO, replacing Ivo Daalder, who is leaving Brussels this summer to become president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

A career Army officer, Mr. Lute first went to work for Mr. Bush as his Iraq and Afghanistan war coordinator and stayed on under Mr. Obama, focused specifically on Afghanistan.
He retired as a lieutenant general in 2010, remaining in the White House as a civilian and helping shape the president's plan to withdraw combat forces by the end of 2014.

A version of this article appeared in print on 05/24/2013, on page A8 of the NewYork edition with the headline: Obama Defies Critics With State Dept. Choice.