Administration

At fuel efficiency event in Rose Garden today, President Obama said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been "cracking the whip and making Congress so productive over the last several days."

Obama's plug comes as Pelosi is under significant fire from Republicans over whether she knew the U.S. used enhanced interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, on detainees in 2002.

- Sam Youngman

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will give President Obama a copy of Mark Twain's "Pleasure Excursion to the Holy Land" when they meet today, according to Haaretz.

The essay is part of Twain's book "The Innocents Abroad."

Here is Haaretz's description of the work:

In his travel memoir, Twain describes a 1867 trip to the Land of Israel, which he finds a backward and desolate place devoid of culture or law. "Renowned Jerusalem itself, the stateliest name in history, has lost all its ancient grandeur, and is become a pauper village," he states, calling it a country where prosperity had died out, a place of lost splendor and beauty where joy has turned to sorrow, and where silence and death prevail in its holy places.

You can read the work here (Via Jake Tapper).

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USA Today pulled together a breakdown of where members of the Obama administration officials are delivering graduation addresses this year. (Scroll to the bottom of the link)

One of the most sought after who has been under the radar so far: Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Gates will speak at the U.S. Military Academcy, Wichita High School, and the University of Washington in Seattle. Gates is a Wichita High alum.

Personally most notable: Attorney General Eric Holder will speak at Columbia College's commencement on Tuesday and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will speak at Barnard College's on Monday - my mom's alma maters.

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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, like the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is giving away a trip the Democrats' big June 18 fundraiser that will be headlined by President Obama.

In an email, Jon Vogel, the DCCC's executive director, encouraged supporters to contribute to the committee. With a donation, the email says, the contributor will be entered into a drawing for a free trip to the fundraiser.

"If you are our lucky winner, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will provide you with a paid trip (airfare/hotel included) to Washington, D.C. to attend the President's Dinner," Vogel wrotes. "This exclusive event will cap off a whirlwind of activity for you and a guest. Meetings and issue briefings with party leaders, receptions with top political officials and a tour of Washington are some of the exciting activities waiting for you."

Check out the full email after the jump. Read more...

White House senior adviser David Axelrod told The Hill on his way into a luncheon with Democrats on health care reform that the Obama administration believes a July date for health care reform is realistic in the Senate.

"We think so," Axelrod said. "We appreciate the commitment of the speaker and we want to make that happen."

Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was more cautious, however, declining to guarantee that the legislation can be passed by that month since the plan has multiple components that must go through multiple committees.

"I don't know. I can't tell you," he said. "We do have some challenges here... Senator Baucus and the Finance Committee are working overtime, and they want to have their part of the work product finished - I don't want to give a date, but soon. They really are working hard on it, and so we have to get the other complimentary parts through the HELP committee and other places to make this a total package. If they can do it by July 31 in the House, that'll be a great starting point."

- J. Taylor Rushing

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday that he espouses the view that President Obama should at least consider (if not select) a woman for the Supreme Court.

Obama is considering who he will nominate to replace retiring Justice David Souter.

"I do believe, as many do," Leahy said on MSNBC, "that with nine members of the Supreme Court and only one is a woman...certainly he should consider a woman" for one of those posts.

Leahy, along with Senate Judiciary ranking member Jeff Sessions, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), met with Obama Tuesday morning to discuss scheduling the roll out of the nominee and the confirmation hearings that will follow. Obama has said he wants the nominee to be confirmed by the beginning of the Supreme Court's next session in October.

Leahy also said that he and others have "passed on names" of possible jurists to the president. He would not say who he has recommended, however.

But speaking about the possibility of Obama's choice being a woman, Leahy said: "I would be delighted if it is."

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President Obama will not release hundreds of photos that are said to detail detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan, Fox News is reporting.

Obama reportedly instructed his legal team that he was became uncomfortable with releasing the photos because he thought they would endanger U.S. troops abroad.

An unnamed White House official told Fox News the following:

"Obama would be the last to excuse the actions depicted in these photos," the official continued. "That is why the Department of Defense investigated these cases, and why individuals have been punished through prison sentences, discharges, and a range of other punitive measures.

"But the president strongly believes that the release of these photos, particularly at this time, would only serve the purpose of inflaming the theaters of war, jeopardizing US forces, and making our job more difficult in places like Iraq and Afghanistan."

In late April the administration said it planned to make the photos available after the American Civil Liberties Union Union filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for their release.

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President Obama hosted a meeting with corporate and union bigwigs on healthcare for the second consecutive day Tuesday, this time to talk with large employers about programs they've put in place to encourage employees to use preventive medicine.

"One element of cost is that where companies are able to take initiatives to make their employees healthier, to give them incentives and mechanisms to improve their wellness and to prevent disease, companies see their bottom lines improve," Obama said after the meeting.

The president singled out companies like Safeway, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson for programs they've used to, for example, get workers to cut smoking, lose weight and exercise.

"If we can do that in individual companies, there's no reason why we can't do that for a country as a whole," Obama said. "All this designed to save taxpayers money, save businesses money and ultimately make the American people healthier and happier and make sure that we're getting a better bang for our healthcare dollar."

On Monday, Obama made a big splash by meeting with corporate, union and trade association executives to discuss their pledge to reduce national healthcare spending by $2 trillion over 10 years.

- Jeffrey Young

A (not so surprising) theme is developing in the coverage of who President Obama will pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter: There is pressure on Obama to select a woman and/or a Hispanic.

What is interesting, though, is watching whether that expectation grows to the point where Obama can't nominate, say, a white male.

The White House appears to be very wary of that possibility, making sure recent stories include significant coverage of the argument that Obama will likely get to appoint another justice during his tenure in the White House.

It is worth noting up front that all of the articles are mostly anonymously sourced, so it wouldn't be surprising if Obama picked someone under the radar.

We noted Monday that MSNBC's "First Read" published a new shortlist naming Diane Wood, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Jennifer Granholm, Janet Napolitano and Merrick Garland. That list is mostly women (Garland is not) and including one Hispanic (Sotomayor). "First Read" focused on Napolitano.

The New York Times profiled Wood on Monday. Wood has impressive credentials (Yale Law, clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun) and University of Chicago Law School Prof, which is how she knows Obama. The NYT also provides this useful link to key cases that have defined Wood's career.

The Washing Post, meanwhile, has been focused on Hispanics and, in particular, Sotomayor. The Post profiled Sotomayor last week, then wrote a front pager Tuesday about Hispanics and their desire for a justice on the court. It is in the Post story Tuesday that the idea that even if Obama doesn't pick a Hispanic this time, he still could in his next appointment. In fact, that point is made in the third graf:

But the White House is constructing its appointment strategy on the belief that this will not be his only appointment to the court and that he need not reach his goal of changing the racial, ethnic and gender balance on the court with just one pick. Read more...

In advance of a White House meeting with President Obama Monday, the heads of six major interest groups penned a letter vowing to work together to reduce healthcare spending by $2 trillion dollars over the next 10 years.

Obama will formally announce the initiative following the meeting but the White House previewed the proposals Sunday. "These groups are voluntarily coming together to make an unprecedented commitment," Obama will say, according to excerpts of remarks he will deliver Monday.

"To achieve all of these goals, we have joined together in an unprecedented effort, as private sector stakeholders -- physicians, hospitals, other health care workers, payors, suppliers, manufacturers, and organized labor -- to offer concrete initiatives that will transform the health care system," says the letter, which is available here.

The chief executives of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the American Medical Association (AMA), the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the Service Employees International Union's healthcare division (SEIU Healthcare) signed the letter. Read more...