Two Top Republicans Support Nuland Nomination

Two of the strongest Republican critics of the Obama administration’s handling of the attack on the diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, offered strong support nonetheless on Friday for the nomination of Victoria Nuland, who played a role in editing the much-disputed talking points about the incident.

Senators John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina released a joint statement praising Ms. Nuland, whom President Obama nominated to be assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.

“Ambassador Victoria Nuland has a long and distinguished record of service to our nation in both Republican and Democrat administrations,” the senators said. “She is knowledgeable and well-versed on the major foreign policy issues as well as respected by foreign policy experts in both parties. We look forward to her upcoming confirmation hearings in the United States Senate.”

The statement seemed to signal that Republicans would not punish Ms. Nuland for the Benghazi affair. As a State Department spokeswoman, she expressed concern about the original draft of talking points after the Sept. 11 attack in Libya, pressing to delete references to past C.I.A. warnings about possible dangers because they might give grist to Congressional critics.

But Ms. Nuland has the advantage of strong ties in both parties, having been a career foreign service officer under Republican and Democratic administrations. She was deputy national security adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney and ambassador to NATO under President George W. Bush, and she stayed on under Mr. Obama to work for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Two Top Republicans Support Nuland Nomination

Two of the strongest Republican critics of the Obama administration’s handling of the attack on the diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, offered strong support nonetheless on Friday for the nomination of Victoria Nuland, who played a role in editing the much-disputed talking points about the incident.

Senators John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina released a joint statement praising Ms. Nuland, whom President Obama nominated to be assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.

“Ambassador Victoria Nuland has a long and distinguished record of service to our nation in both Republican and Democrat administrations,” the senators said. “She is knowledgeable and well-versed on the major foreign policy issues as well as respected by foreign policy experts in both parties. We look forward to her upcoming confirmation hearings in the United States Senate.”

The statement seemed to signal that Republicans would not punish Ms. Nuland for the Benghazi affair. As a State Department spokeswoman, she expressed concern about the original draft of talking points after the Sept. 11 attack in Libya, pressing to delete references to past C.I.A. warnings about possible dangers because they might give grist to Congressional critics.

But Ms. Nuland has the advantage of strong ties in both parties, having been a career foreign service officer under Republican and Democratic administrations. She was deputy national security adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney and ambassador to NATO under President George W. Bush, and she stayed on under Mr. Obama to work for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Obama and Christie to Reunite on Jersey Shore

WASHINGTON â€" President Obama and Gov. Chris Christie, Republican of New Jersey, will reprise their pre-election tour of the coastal areas ravaged by Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday, a White House official said Friday morning.

“The president will speak about the importance of reigniting and expanding economic opportunity for middle-class families who were hard hit by the storm, and meet with businesses and homeowners who have benefited from the recovery efforts,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the trip has not been officially announced.

Just days before the 2012 presidential election in November, Mr. Christie and Mr. Obama, a Democrat, produced dramatic, bipartisan images of cooperation as they walked together along New Jersey’s coast, surveying the damage and talking to displaced residents.

Mr. Christie was criticized at the time for his effusive praise of Mr. Obama by some Republicans who feared it would give the president a last-minute boost in his re-election campaign over Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.

But Mr. Christie, who has at times been an outspoken critic of the president, waved aside the talk, saying that responding to natural disasters requires leaders to put aside their differences. He heaped praise on Mr. Obama for responding quickly and forcefully to help New Jersey in the storm’s aftermath.

“If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me,” Mr. Christie told reporters in the immediate aftermath of the powerful storm.

A replay of the side-by-side imagery of the two men will no doubt rekindle some of the same criticism, especially for Mr. Christie, who faces re-election next year and could also be contemplating a bid for the presidency in 2016.

Mr. Christie has carefully honed his image as a tough-talking conservative whose blunt language appeals to many in his party. But New Jersey is also a heavily Democratic state that typically demands that its leaders find a way to work across the aisle. Being seen again with the president could help.

But the challenge for Mr. Christie is to stoke his bipartisan appeal without undermining his appeal to conservative voters who hold the key to the Republican presidential nomination, which will begin in earnest in less than three years.

In the past, Mr. Christie has done that by carefully picking his moments to deliver harsh assessment’s of the president’s performance.

At a rally in Richmond, Va., last fall, during the last few weeks of the presidential campaign, Mr. Christie lashed out at Mr. Obama, saying the president had never learned how to lead anything, having served as a community organizer, state legislator and one-term United States senator.

“He’s like a man wandering around a dark room, hands up against the wall, clutching for the light switch of leadership, and he just can’t find it,” Mr. Christie said at the rally just days before Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast.

That rhetoric was gone a few days later, replaced by praise for the president’s effort.

Obama and Christie to Reunite on Jersey Shore

WASHINGTON â€" President Obama and Gov. Chris Christie, Republican of New Jersey, will reprise their pre-election tour of the coastal areas ravaged by Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday, a White House official said Friday morning.

“The president will speak about the importance of reigniting and expanding economic opportunity for middle-class families who were hard hit by the storm, and meet with businesses and homeowners who have benefited from the recovery efforts,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the trip has not been officially announced.

Just days before the 2012 presidential election in November, Mr. Christie and Mr. Obama, a Democrat, produced dramatic, bipartisan images of cooperation as they walked together along New Jersey’s coast, surveying the damage and talking to displaced residents.

Mr. Christie was criticized at the time for his effusive praise of Mr. Obama by some Republicans who feared it would give the president a last-minute boost in his re-election campaign over Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.

But Mr. Christie, who has at times been an outspoken critic of the president, waved aside the talk, saying that responding to natural disasters requires leaders to put aside their differences. He heaped praise on Mr. Obama for responding quickly and forcefully to help New Jersey in the storm’s aftermath.

“If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me,” Mr. Christie told reporters in the immediate aftermath of the powerful storm.

A replay of the side-by-side imagery of the two men will no doubt rekindle some of the same criticism, especially for Mr. Christie, who faces re-election next year and could also be contemplating a bid for the presidency in 2016.

Mr. Christie has carefully honed his image as a tough-talking conservative whose blunt language appeals to many in his party. But New Jersey is also a heavily Democratic state that typically demands that its leaders find a way to work across the aisle. Being seen again with the president could help.

But the challenge for Mr. Christie is to stoke his bipartisan appeal without undermining his appeal to conservative voters who hold the key to the Republican presidential nomination, which will begin in earnest in less than three years.

In the past, Mr. Christie has done that by carefully picking his moments to deliver harsh assessment’s of the president’s performance.

At a rally in Richmond, Va., last fall, during the last few weeks of the presidential campaign, Mr. Christie lashed out at Mr. Obama, saying the president had never learned how to lead anything, having served as a community organizer, state legislator and one-term United States senator.

“He’s like a man wandering around a dark room, hands up against the wall, clutching for the light switch of leadership, and he just can’t find it,” Mr. Christie said at the rally just days before Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast.

That rhetoric was gone a few days later, replaced by praise for the president’s effort.

Obama and Christie to Reunite on Jersey Shore

WASHINGTON â€" President Obama and Gov. Chris Christie, Republican of New Jersey, will reprise their pre-election tour of the coastal areas ravaged by Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday, a White House official said Friday morning.

“The president will speak about the importance of reigniting and expanding economic opportunity for middle-class families who were hard hit by the storm, and meet with businesses and homeowners who have benefited from the recovery efforts,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the trip has not been officially announced.

Just days before the 2012 presidential election in November, Mr. Christie and Mr. Obama, a Democrat, produced dramatic, bipartisan images of cooperation as they walked together along New Jersey’s coast, surveying the damage and talking to displaced residents.

Mr. Christie was criticized at the time for his effusive praise of Mr. Obama by some Republicans who feared it would give the president a last-minute boost in his re-election campaign over Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.

But Mr. Christie, who has at times been an outspoken critic of the president, waved aside the talk, saying that responding to natural disasters requires leaders to put aside their differences. He heaped praise on Mr. Obama for responding quickly and forcefully to help New Jersey in the storm’s aftermath.

“If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me,” Mr. Christie told reporters in the immediate aftermath of the powerful storm.

A replay of the side-by-side imagery of the two men will no doubt rekindle some of the same criticism, especially for Mr. Christie, who faces re-election next year and could also be contemplating a bid for the presidency in 2016.

Mr. Christie has carefully honed his image as a tough-talking conservative whose blunt language appeals to many in his party. But New Jersey is also a heavily Democratic state that typically demands that its leaders find a way to work across the aisle. Being seen again with the president could help.

But the challenge for Mr. Christie is to stoke his bipartisan appeal without undermining his appeal to conservative voters who hold the key to the Republican presidential nomination, which will begin in earnest in less than three years.

In the past, Mr. Christie has done that by carefully picking his moments to deliver harsh assessment’s of the president’s performance.

At a rally in Richmond, Va., last fall, during the last few weeks of the presidential campaign, Mr. Christie lashed out at Mr. Obama, saying the president had never learned how to lead anything, having served as a community organizer, state legislator and one-term United States senator.

“He’s like a man wandering around a dark room, hands up against the wall, clutching for the light switch of leadership, and he just can’t find it,” Mr. Christie said at the rally just days before Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast.

That rhetoric was gone a few days later, replaced by praise for the president’s effort.

The Early Word: Redefining the Fight

In Today’s Times:

• President Obama outlined his plan on Thursday to transition away from the continuous, global state of war that has gripped the United States since Sept. 11, 2001, describing a more targeted counterterrorism effort that would involve limiting his war power and reigniting the debate over how to fight terrorism, Peter Baker reports.

• Under the counterterrorism blueprint the president described Thursday, the Central Intelligence Agency’s duties would shift away from paramilitary work and to more traditional spying and analysis â€" a transition some experts say could take a while, Mark Mazzetti reports.

• Refusing to resign from her position as head of the Internal Revenue Service’s division on tax-exempt organizations, Lois Lerner was put on administrative leave on Thursday after invoking the Fifth Amendment and declining to testify before a House committee investigating the I.R.S., Jonathan Weisman reports.

• The Senate confirmed Mr. Obama’s nominee for a long-empty seat on an important appeals court on Thursday, but tensions mounted over a sluggish confirmation process portending tough times for other nominees, Jeremy W. Peters reports.

• With the July 1 deadline looming to avoid a doubling of student loan interest rates, the House passed a bill on Thursday basing rates on market trends and cutting off federal subsidies. Unpopular with Democrats, the move is sure to lead to the next Congressional showdown, Jonathan Weisman reports.

Washington Happenings:

• Mr. Obama will travel to Annapolis, Md., on Friday to give the commencement address at the United States Naval Academy, as he did in 2009. Later, he will sign a bill posthumously honoring the four girls killed in a Birmingham, Ala., church bombing in 1963 with a single Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor Congress can bestow.