A Snapshot of the Growing Ranks of Women in Congress

Mark Wilson/Getty Images Female members of the House Democratic caucus posed for a photograph on Thursday on the steps of the Capitol.

Perhaps the first sign of the historic number of women - 20 in the Senate and 81 in the House - gracing the 113th Congress came at 10:45 Thursday morning, when the 61 female members of the House Democratic caucus gathered on the House steps for a group photo.

Favoring hues of deep reds and blues, they gathered in the chilly January air, waving to old friends and greeting the new. They laughed and joked, cheekily inviting Representative Barney Frank, a departing Democrat from Massachusetts, to hop in the picture. (He politely demurred.) At one point, a young male aide to Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, scurried up to grab some of the members' coats, juggling the fur and wool throw-overs in his left hand while trying to snap iPhone photos with his right.

As latecomers wandered up, the women called for the photographer to wait, pointing out the stragglers.

“Here comes Rosa! Here comes Rosa!” they cheered, referring to Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, who came jogging up from the left side.

They urged Representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin to hurry, as she made her way down the steps and to t he group. “I'm coming!” she said, to laughter.

But Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida emerged from the House moments too late, just as the group was dispersing. However, all was not lost; the photographer took some shots of the late arrivals, and the caucus plans to Photoshop them in.

Follow Ashley Parker on Twitter at @AshleyRParker.

Obama Signs Tax Deal Remotely Using Autopen

President Obama's decision to quickly sign the tax bill passed by Congress this week required him to reach across the Pacific Ocean and the continental United States to do so.

Not literally, of course. But rather than have the bill flown to Hawaii, where he is vacationing with his family, the president directed that the bill be signed with the White House autopen.

The device allows Mr. Obama to affix his signature to legislation without actually holding the pen. He's done it twice before - once to extend the Patriot Act while he was in Europe and again to sign an emergency spending bill while he was traveling in Ind onesia.

It's not exactly routine, but Mr. Obama remains the first and only president in the country's history to use the device, which used to be reserved for signatures on mass mailings.

As noted here, when the president first used the device, the legal justification was penned by the legal advisers to Mr. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush. In a 2005, memorandum, the lawyers concluded an autopen signature would carry the weight of the law.

“We emphasize that we are not suggesting that the president may delegate the decision to approve and sign a bill, only that, having made this decision, he may direct a subordinate to affix the president's signature to the bil l,” wrote Howard C. Nielson, Jr., the deputy assistant attorney general for the office of legal counsel.

Follow Michael D. Shear on Twitter at @shearm.

Protect Your iPhone With a Vision From Australia

The “Rain Making” iPhone 5 case by Ronnie Tjampitjinpa for Cygnett.

“The Bronx” iPhone 5 case by Tats Cru for Cygnett.

Cygnett, an Australian maker of gadget accessories and cases, is strengthening its brand in the United States with a new line of slim-fit cases for the iPhone 5.

Cygnett joined with some visionary artists for the line, called the Icon Art Series, to create some striking looks, including bright graffiti designs by Tats Cru, the Bronx-based muralists, and hypnotic birds by the Australian illustrator Nathan Jurevicius. I was partial to the bold designs by the Australian indigenous artist Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, which gave the cases an out-on-the-edge feel.

The minimalist cases of the Icon line, which cost $30 apiece, snap on an iPhone 5 easily. The hard shell is durable with a soft finish that makes it easy to hold, but it's slim enough to slide in and out of pockets. The cases do not have much padding, but they offer enough protection to safeguard a phone when it's dropped, as I did twice with mine.

As with most cases from Cygnett, the Icon cases come with a screen shield kit, which includes a clear screen protector, a microfiber cloth and an installation card. But after several attempts to apply the adhes ive screen protector and smooth out the air bubbles with the card, I gave up. Fortunately, the cases also have a slight bezel that protects the screen.

The cases have a small opening for the volume buttons, so small in fact that I had trouble reaching the button with my thumb (a thumbnail works better). The top and bottom are open for easy access to the power button, charging port and speaker.

Cygnett makes other cases that offer better protection, including the WorkMate series, which has a similar heavy-duty polycarbonate shell but adds a shock-absorbing, rubberized silicone lining. The WorkMate cases are indeed rugged, but the Icon cases are more eye-catching.

Protect Your iPhone With a Vision From Australia

The “Rain Making” iPhone 5 case by Ronnie Tjampitjinpa for Cygnett.

“The Bronx” iPhone 5 case by Tats Cru for Cygnett.

Cygnett, an Australian maker of gadget accessories and cases, is strengthening its brand in the United States with a new line of slim-fit cases for the iPhone 5.

Cygnett joined with some visionary artists for the line, called the Icon Art Series, to create some striking looks, including bright graffiti designs by Tats Cru, the Bronx-based muralists, and hypnotic birds by the Australian illustrator Nathan Jurevicius. I was partial to the bold designs by the Australian indigenous artist Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, which gave the cases an out-on-the-edge feel.

The minimalist cases of the Icon line, which cost $30 apiece, snap on an iPhone 5 easily. The hard shell is durable with a soft finish that makes it easy to hold, but it's slim enough to slide in and out of pockets. The cases do not have much padding, but they offer enough protection to safeguard a phone when it's dropped, as I did twice with mine.

As with most cases from Cygnett, the Icon cases come with a screen shield kit, which includes a clear screen protector, a microfiber cloth and an installation card. But after several attempts to apply the adhes ive screen protector and smooth out the air bubbles with the card, I gave up. Fortunately, the cases also have a slight bezel that protects the screen.

The cases have a small opening for the volume buttons, so small in fact that I had trouble reaching the button with my thumb (a thumbnail works better). The top and bottom are open for easy access to the power button, charging port and speaker.

Cygnett makes other cases that offer better protection, including the WorkMate series, which has a similar heavy-duty polycarbonate shell but adds a shock-absorbing, rubberized silicone lining. The WorkMate cases are indeed rugged, but the Icon cases are more eye-catching.

Tip of the Week: How to Control the Music in iTunes 11

Apple's recent overhaul of its iTunes music-management program for Windows and Mac computers gave the software a new look. The ability to shrink the full iTunes window down to a “miniplayer” (a small streamlined bar that shows the name of the current track and playback controls) survived the redesign and can still be summoned by pressing Control-Shift-M in the Windows version or Command-Option-M on a Mac.

Along with standard audio playback controls, the iTunes 11 miniplayer includes icons for searching the library, queuing up new tracks with the new Up Next feature and beaming the computer's sound to external speakers. If neither iTunes window size suits you, you can also double-click the album cover of the track currently playing (displayed in either the full window or the miniplayer) to pop out a larger version of the cover that you can resize - and one that also displays music playback controls when you roll the mouse over the image.

The Early Word: In With the New

In Today's Times:

• The 113th Congress will convene in a few hours, but lawmakers are already bracing for the next fiscal fight over the debt ceiling. Jackie Calmes and Michael D. Shear write that President Obama has no plans to negotiate with Republicans, who are demanding spending cuts as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling in February, setting the stage for another standoff that could imperil the economic recovery.

• Negotiations over the so-called fiscal cliff may have provided President Obama a new avenue for negotiating with Congress, which begins its 113th session today with several fiscal deadlines approaching. Jonathan Weisman explains that as House Republicans seek to block the president's agenda, Mr. Obama may be able to overcome their opposition by getting party leaders in the Senate to forge bipartisan deals. Mr. Obama is set to begin executing his “game plan” in the coming weeks with a goal of reaching a broad agreement with Congress on revenues and spending.

• A relief package for victims of Hurricane Sandy will become a priority for the House, as Speaker John A. Boehner moves to quiet the bitter uproar from Northeast Republicans that followed his decision to quash an existing aid bill. Raymond Hernandez reports that Mr. Boehner plans to bring the aid to a vote in two steps, a $9 billion relief package on Friday and a $51 billion package on Jan. 15.

• David Leonhardt writes that the fiscal deal reached this week is full of small victories for President Obama an d his Congressional allies, but that it cost them some leverage in future fiscal battles. While the fight helped Mr. Obama steer federal policies to help the poor and the middle class, it failed to provide the certainty of a long-term agreement, which would have helped him avoid some coming battles.

• Gen. John Allen, the top American commander in Afghanistan, has come up with plans to keep as many as 20,000 American troops there after the scheduled troop withdrawal in 2014. Elisabeth Bumiller and Eric Schmitt report that President Obama is expected to discuss a range of options for the American military when he meets with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, next week.

• Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is out of the hospital and expected to make a full recovery after receiving treatment for a blood clot in her head. But, as Denise Grady and Mark Landler explain, Mrs. Clinton's history of blood clots has raised questions about whether she can sustain the breakneck pace she has worked at since 2007 and her prospects as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016.

Happening in Washington:

• At 4 a.m., the American Bankers Association will release a report containing third-quarter delinquency data for several consumer loan categories.

• Economic reports scheduled for release today include weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m., followed at 10 by weekly mortgage rates.

• The 113th Congress convenes for the first time at n oon.

• Government officials plan to mark the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with a ceremony at 3 p.m. at President Abraham Lincoln's cottage in northwest Washington.