Obama ends vacation and gears up to resume political fights
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President Obama returned to Washington today, ending a holiday vacation that was marred by a crisis over airline security and a growing threat from foreign terrorists.
It wasn’t just the weather that marked the difference between Washington and Hawaii. Temperatures were about 50 degrees cooler when Obama and his family touched down around noon EST today, but in many ways, things are hotter in Washington than in Hawaii.
“I asked the president if he had any special message for you guys,” deputy press secretary Bill Burton told the traveling media on Air Force One on the way to Oahu on Christmas Eve, fresh from the Senate’s vote on healthcare overhaul. “He would like for you to relax and to not anticipate any public announcements or news-making events.”
Instead of tranquillity, Obama was buffeted by the failed attack on an airliner bound to Detroit from Amsterdam. Even though the plane landed safely, the incident touched off a series of questions on whether air travel was safe and a partisan brawl with Republicans complaining that the Obama administration has reacted too slowly.
Obama is scheduled to meet with John Brennan, his counter-terrorism advisor, who is leading the review of airline security. Obama is also expected to meet Tuesday with Homeland Security officials.
In addition to airline security, Obama must wrestle with what to do about Yemen, emerging as another foreign policy terror front, along with Pakistan and the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Domestically, Obama will have to help resolve the sharp differences between the House and Senate healthcare bills. The issues of financial regulation, climate legislation and immigration reform also loom.
Obama will lay out his priorities in his State of the Union address and the release of his budget shortly thereafter.
-- Michael Muskal
