In Today’s Times:
- Harnessing support from both sides of the aisle, the Senate passed the most significant overhaul of the immigration system in a generation on Thursday, Ashley Parker and Jonathan Martin report. But the bill’s next roadblock is the House, which Republican leaders say will not take up the Senate measure, looking instead at narrower legislation.
- While the recently expired Supreme Court term had elements of modesty, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has been playing a long game, persuading the more liberal justices to join compromise opinions as he patiently sways the court to the right, Adam Liptak writes.
- President Obama had been hoping his trip to Africa would offer an opportunity for his first face-to-face meeting as president with Nelson Mandela, of whom Mr. Obama has long been an admirer. But Mr. Mandela’s illness has ended the chances of a meeting between the two men, both of whom made history as the first black presidents of countries with deep racial divides, Michael D. Shear reports.
- Federal Reserve officials worked Thursday to quell fears of a quick, early end to its stimulus campaign, saying that while they were increasingly optimistic about economic growth, the Fed would continue its effort to reduce borrowing costs as long as necessary, Binyamin Appelbaum reports.
Washington Happenings:
- Continuing his Africa tour in Senegal on Friday, Mr. Obama will attend an event focused on food security for West African farmers. Later, he and his family will trav! el to South Africa, where he will visit the United States Consulate in Johannesburg.
- Representative Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California, and Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, Republican of Florida, will talk about what could stand in the way of Congress passing comprehensive immigration overhaul at Bloomberg Government on Friday.
- The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is scheduled to consider a resolution on Lois Lerner, the former head of the Internal Revenue Service’s division on exempt organizations, and her potential waiver of her right not to incriminate herself at a hearing in May.
