In New Ad, Conservative Group Questions Hagel\'s Ethics

The American Future Fund, a conservative group opposed to the nomination of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary, is opening up a new front in its effort against him with a national television campaign painting him as ethically challenged.

The ad for the most part cobbles together flare-ups from Mr. Hagel’s tenure in the Senate to argue that he is not qualified to head the Defense Department, and its producers hope to draw attention to the issue of his ethics in his coming confirmation hearings.

In the commercial, which is to run on CNN and Fox News Channel this week, an announcer asserts that “while serving in the Senate, Chuck Hagel declined to pulicly disclose millions in ‘underlying assets.’ ’’ The spot is referring to an issue investigated by The Hill newspaper regarding whether Mr. Hagel appropriately listed the assets of a group he had a financial stake in, McCarthy Group Inc. But Mr. Hagel was not accused of any wrongdoing by the Senate ethics committee.

The ad goes on to say Mr. Hagel “accepted gold-plated trips from lobbyists - and campaign cash from banking interests he was supposed to be regulating.” It is making reference to flights Mr. Hagel took on the corporate jet of Novartis along with four other Republican lawmakers cited in a 2003 USA Today article, and to accommodations the American Bankers Association provided him and his wife in Orlando, Fla., when he was a featured speaker for the group, according to ! a 1999 Associated Press report.

The ad notes that Mr. Hagel sits on the board of Chevron, which has received numerous Pentagon contracts, and that he “even sits on the board of a private equity firm with investments in Iran.’’ The spot appears to be referring to his board appointment to Deutsche Bank’s Americas advisory board. The New York Times reported in August that federal and state prosecutors were investigating whether Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions “funneled billions of dollars through their American branches for Iran, Sudan and other sanctioned nations.” The bank said it had not done business wth Iran since before a sanctions loophole closed in 2008 that made such activity legal under certain conditions.

American Future Fund strategists said they were spending $500,000 to place the spot on CNN and Fox.

Reid Optimistic for Filibuster Deal in Senate

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said Tuesday that Democrats and Republicans were making progress toward resolving their differences over the filibuster, but he left the door open for an explosive backup plan that even some in his own party are resisting.

Speaking after a meeting with Senate Democrats, Mr. Reid said that he was hopeful a deal could be reached within the next day and a half. But if that does not happen, he said he would move forward with what has been called the “nuclear option,” which would allow changes to filibuster rules with only a bare majority of 51, instead of the usual two-thirds that is required.

“I’ve had some positive meetings with Senator McConnell,” Mr. Reid said, referring to his Republican counterpart, the minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “During the recess our staffs worked on this. We had another meeting today. And I hope that within the next 24 to 36 hours we can get something to agree on.”

If not, he said luntly, “We’re going to move forward on what I think needs to be done.”

And he indicated that despite some objections within his own conference to changing the rules with a simple majority, he had enough votes to do so.

“The caucus supports me on that,” he said.

The nuclear option has troubled Democrats like Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, who are sensitive to the notion that the rules of the Senate are something of a sacred text and should not be tampered with by exploiting a loophole.

“I have problems with the nuclear option,” Mr. Levin said Tuesday, acknowledging that his opposition may not matter in the end. “I may be one of a very few.”

The option Mr. Reid has said he would support would take advantage of a rules quirk that allows the Senate to remain indefinitely in its first day of session, the only day on which rules changes can be made.

Mr. Reid has not adjourned the Senate since it first met on Jan. 2, ! meaning that it is technically still in its first day. His hope is to make the filibuster, which senators can use to block legislation from moving forward, far less common in the Senate.

Republicans have used the filibuster to block many Democratic measures, as Democrats did themselves when they were in the minority. But Republicans have used the filibuster far more frequently in recent years, leading frustrated Democrats to conclude that the only way to break the Senate’s gridlock is to change the rules.

Mr. Reid’s proposal would not eliminate the filibuster. Rather, he wants to prevent it from being used to thwart debates on bills and require that senators actually be present on the floor when they filibuster a bill, something that has not been necessary for years despite the mythology created by movies like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”

Marine Band Confirms Beyoncé Inauguration Performance Was Pre-Recorded

Beyoncé’s performance of the national anthem at President Obama’s second inauguration on Monday was everything it should be: soaring, moving, symbolic and musically superlative. It also wasn’t live.

The R&B diva only pretended to sing, lip-syncing the words to a backing track. What the listeners heard was a version she had recorded at a Marine Corps studio in Washington on Sunday night, a spokeswoman for the Marine Band said.

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times Beyoncé on Monday.

The spokeswoman, Master Sgt. Kristin duBois, said the weather was good and the Marie Band had no trouble with intonation during most of the prelude and ceremony, nearly two and half hours of music. Still, at the last minute, she said, Beyoncé and the band received orders to use a recorded version of the national anthem.

“We don’t know why,” Sergeant duBois said. “But that is what we were instructed to do so that is what we did. It’s not because Beyoncé can’t sing. We all know Beyoncé can sing. We all know the Marine Band can play.”

A publicist for Beyoncé did not immediately return telephone calls and e-mail messages.

Sergeant duBois said it is standard operating procedure to record the music for the inauguration in advance, in case the weather is bad and it becomes impossible for musicians to keep their instruments in tune. Four years ago, for instance, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and two colleagues used backing tracks during their performance at President Obama’s first inaugu! ration because of the bitter cold.

It was not immediately clear who made the decision to ask Beyoncé to lip-sync the anthem on Monday, Sergeant duBois said. The band’s director, Col. Michael J. Colburn, received orders from the event’s organizers to switch to a backing track just before Beyoncé went on. “The entire performance was live except for the national anthem,” Sergeant duBois said.

Beyoncé recorded the song in a studio at the Marine Barracks Annex on Sunday night, using tracks already laid down by the Marine Band, Sergeant duBois said.

In Video, Conservative Group Pastes Liberal Stamp on Obama

Less than 24 hours after President Obama‘s inaugural speech, Republicans in Washington are seizing on it as evidence that Mr. Obama is the liberal they always insisted he was.

In an Internet video released Tuesday morning, Crossroads GPS, the fund-raising group founded by Karl Rove, cites commentary by members of the news media, who said the address was proof of a liberal agenda.

“The most liberal speech Barack Obama has ever given,” one TV anchor says in the video.

“Unapologetically liberal,” another anchor say..

“You will have a lot of them saying, finally, the president is laying out his real agenda,” Rick Klein, the Washington editor for ABC News, says. “And guess what He’s a liberal.”

The video suggests that Republicans are eager to revive the accusation against Mr. Obama as the president pushes a second-term agenda that includes gun control, steps on climate change and an immigration overhaul.

They had trouble making the label stick in some quarters during the first four years, in part because Mr. Obama sometimes disappointed his own liberal base with compromises.

But the speech on Monday indicated that the president’s days of treading lightly toward a liberal agenda may be over. And if so, the Republicans are ready to try to take political advantage.

“If the media is calling Obama’s policies liberal,” the video asks, “what can we expect in the next four years”

Follow Michael D. Shear on Twitter at @shearm.

The Early Word: Solemnly Sworn

In Today’s Times

• The President Obama who emerged Monday is different from the one who took office four years ago. Richard W. Stevenson writes that while Mr. Obama has faced an exhausting series of crises and political problems at home and abroad since taking office in 2009, the improved state of the economy and the winding down of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq offer him “the opportunity to master his own presidency.” The president’s speech on Monday outlined the liberal values that will shape the policy he will present over the next month through his State of the Union address and his budget.

• President Obama placed great emphasis on the environment, energy and climate change during his Inaugural Address, but Mr. Stevensn and John M. Broder write that the White House is tempering expectations for how Mr. Obama will prioritize the issue in his second term as he grapples with gun control, immigration and the federal budget. Taking a lesson from his first term, Mr. Obama is considering administrative steps to act on climate and energy issues and sidestep opposition in Congress while building public support for reform, instead of pushing a big legislative vehicle.

• Renewing his oath of office on Monday, President Obama opened his second term articulating a progressive vision for government to a crowd of supporters that stretched from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, Peter Baker writes. After a speech that spanned gay rights, the environment, equality and opportunity, the Obamas attended two balls before calling it a night.

• Elsewhere in The Times’s inauguration coverage! , Elisabeth Bumiller wrote a diary of the day’s unscripted events, Sheryl Gay Stolberg captured the crowd, and Monica Davey explored the uncertainty and anxiety in Springfield, Ill., where Mr. Obama first announced his plans to run for president.

Happening in Washington

• At 10 a.m., the National Association of Realtors will release a report on existing home sales for December.

• At 10:30 a.m., the president, the vice president and their wives will attend the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service at the National Cathedral. At 9 p.m., they will attend the Staff Inaugural Ball at the Walter E. Washingtn Convention Center.

• At 11:30 a.m., members of the House of Representatives will discuss the debt limit and their agenda for the 113th Congress during a “Conversations With Conservatives” event in the Rayburn House Office Building.

• Advocates on both sides of the abortion debate will hold various events to mark the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, including a blogging day and a vigil at 5 p.m. in front of the Supreme Court.