- On Wednesday, May 27, Secretary of State Clinton reiterated the Obama administration’s call for a complete halt to construction on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Secretary Clinton was speaking at a press conference with Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. A spokesman for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated that Israel will continue to allow "natural growth" of existing settlements. President Obama will travel to Egypt next week to give an address on the relationship between the United States and the Muslim world.
- Also on Wednesday, Army chief of staff General George Casey testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee regarding the Army budget. General Casey indicated that the Army was planning for another decade of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the Obama administration’s commitment to remove combat troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.
- The Associated Press reports that National Security Advisor James L. Jones has been assigned to settle a dispute between the Central Intelligence Agency and the Director of National Intelligence. Currently, the CIA station chief represents the DNI at U.S. embassies and consulates. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair wants the ability to designate a member of another intelligence agency to be his representative in some countries. CIA director Leon Panetta has objected to this plan, claiming that would create competing chains of command and potentially endanger intelligence operations.
- President Obama has directed his National Security Advisor to create a policy for declassifying information. The President’s memorandum instructs the National Security Advisor to consider several options designed to insure that officials do not classify information "for self-serving reasons or simply to avoid embarrassment." Among these options are the creation of a National Declassification Center and a restoration of the presumption against classification. On January 21 the President issued a similar order that established a commission to consider the release of presidential records.
- The White House announced the nomination of several new ambassadors. The list includes the ambassadors to the United Kingdom, France, and Japan. Many of the nominees were top fundraisers for the Obama campaign, and some are criticizing the President for continuing the practice of naming financial backers to overseas diplomatic posts.
- On Thursday, May 28, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack issued a directive that places a one-year moratorium on road construction in national parks. The directive covers national forests in all states except Idaho, which developed its own roadless forest rule under a Bush administration policy that gave states more authority over road-building policy. First instituted by the Clinton administration in 2001, the roadless rule has been the subject of litigation for the past decade. This moratorium is meant to be a first step towards clarifying the legal status of the roadless rule, which has been in doubt due to conflicting rulings in the Ninth and Tenth Circuits.
- President Obama met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the Oval Office on Thursday. In remarks after the meeting, the President reaffirmed his commitment to a two-state solution and called on both sides to fulfill their obligations under the Annapolis framework. The Washington Post reports that President Abbas has declared he will not negotiate until Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu freezes all settlement activity and endorses Palestinian statehood.
- On Friday, May 29, the White House released the results of a sixty-day review of cyberspace policy. The review contains a number of recommendations designed to increase cybersecurity. Speaking from the East Room, President Obama announced that he will appoint a "cybersecurity czar." The czar, not yet chosen, will be a member of the National Security Council and National Economic Council.
- The Department of Labor suspended a rule affecting the H-2A guest worker visa program. The rule, approved just before President Bush left office, made it easier for employers to hire foreign workers when American workers are unavailable.
- On Friday the Justice Department filed a response in the case of Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. Obama. The court had issued an order on May 22 demanding that the Government show why it should not face sanctions over the failure to provide access to classified documents related to the NSA’s warrentless wiretapping program. In its response, the Government argues that it has no obligation to disclose classified information, despite the judicial order to do so, because the President has determined that the plaintiffs do not have a need to know the information. The court will hold a hearing on this response on Wednesday, June 3.
- On Saturday, May 30, the President used his weekly address to call on the Senate to quickly confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor, his nominee to replace retiring Justice David Souter. President Obama highlighted Judge Sotomayor’s qualifications and expressed his hope that the Senate would confirm her before the Supreme Court begins deciding what cases to hear in the coming Term.
- On Sunday, May 31, the New York Times reported that the President would send Richard Holbrooke to visit refugee camps in northeast Pakistan. The refugees are fleeing from the conflict in the Swat Valley, where the Pakistani Army has been battling Taliban-aligned groups since the beginning of May.
- On Monday, June 1, the Supreme Court announced that the federal government will have an additional thirty days to file an appeal in ACLU v. Department of Defense. This follows the Obama administration’s reversal of its decision to release the prisoner abuse photos at issue in the case. The administration now has until July 9 to file an appeal to the Supreme Court. SCOTUSblog indicates that during this time the administration will ask Congress to change the Freedom of Information Act so that law could no longer require the release of the photographs.
- Also on Monday, automaker General Motors filed for bankruptcy protection. The White House has released a fact sheet that outlines the administration’s plans for restructuring the company. That plan would see the government investing another $30 billion in GM. In remarks following the announcement, President Obama indicated that the government would be a "reluctant shareholder" in the company that would take a "hands-off" approach to management. He said that the ultimate goal was to complete the restructuring and end the government’s involvement with the company as quickly as possible.
- On Tuesday, June 2, the Associated Press reported that President Obama intends to nominate Representative John McHugh to be Secretary of the Army. Mr. McHugh is a Republican Congressman from New York, and is currently the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.
- The President signed the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act on Tuesday. The Act creates a commission to plan and execute activities in celebration of the hundredth birthday of Ronald Reagan in 2011. The Commission includes six members of Congress. In a signing statement, President Obama declared that members of Congress who serve on the Commission could participate only in "ceremonial or advisory functions" and not in "administration of the act" due to the separation of powers and Appointments and Ineligibility Clauses of the Constitution.
- SCOTUSblog reports that the U.S. District Court has granted the government’s request for a speedy appeal in Maqaleh v. Gates. The court had previously ruled that detainees held at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan have the right to challenge their detention in court, based on the precedent set by the Supreme Court in Boumediene v. Bush. That decision will now be put on hold so that the government may immediately appeal.
Tags: Executive Action Report
