In Today’s Times
- The Obama administration is keeping mum about whether it is using a controversial provision in the Patriot Act to collect data about business communications involving Americans, after the program was disclosed in a court order on Wednesday evening. Charlie Savage and Edward Wyatt write that many questions about the scope and duration of the program remain unanswered, and its disclosure comes as the Obama administration faces criticism for using aggressive tactics to pursue leaks of classified information.
- By elevating Susan E. Rice to national security adviser and Samantha Power to replace her as ambassador to the United Nations, President Obama has put two outspoken advocates of intervention in humanitarian crises on a national security team known for its cautious approach to conflicts abroad, Mark Landler writes.
- In his second-term appointments and nominations, Mr. Obama is showing a willingness to offend Republicans with his selections as he tries to balance his newfound freedom from re-election concerns with a desire to forge bipartisan deals, Peter Baker observes.
- Ashley Parker recalls the Congressional career of Representative John D. Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, as he becomes the longest-serving member of the House when he serves his 20,997th day on Friday.
- In the continuing battle over who should have access to emergency contraception, the Obama administration is considering how to respond to a federal appeals court’s orders on Wednesday to make two-pill versions of emergency contraception available to women of all ages without a prescription or sales restrictions, Pam Belluck and Michael D. Shear report.
- Sabrina Tavernise explains that a federal panel’s recommendation for the government to collect better data on guns to help researchers understand the impact of firearms faces opposition from gun advocates reluctant to accept more reporting requirements and a Congress seeking budget cuts.
Happenings in Washington
- Economic reports expected Thursday include weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m., followed at 10 a.m. by weekly mortgage rates.
- At 9:30 a.m., the House Committee on Ways and Means will hold a hearing on the “spending culture and conference abuses†at the Internal Revenue Service, with testimony from Daniel I. Werfel, the acting commissioner of the agency; the head of its small business and self-employment division; and two Treasury inspectors general.
- At 10 a.m., Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will make her first appearance before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources since she was confirmed in April, as the panel examines her agency’s programs and activities.
- At the same time, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and the Justice Department’s inspector general are expected to testify before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee at a budget hearing for the agency.
- At 10:30 a.m., environmental experts and officials will update the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on environmental restoration in the Gulf of Mexico three years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
- Michael Froman, the president’s pick to become the next United States trade representative, will testify when the Senate Finance Committee takes up his nomination at 11 a.m.
