President Barack Obama will toss the ceremonial first pitch at Nationals Park in Washington next week, the team announced Monday.

Reports emerged last year that Obama would throw out the first pitch in D.C., but the 44th president declined the invitation from the Nationals.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton appeared to confirm the appearance in a Twitter post.

According to the team, the tradition began 100 years ago, beginning with President William Howard Taft.

Obama will become the second sitting president to throw out the first pitch for the Nats. President George W. Bush did it in 2005, the team's inaugural season in D.C. and then in 2008 for the opening of their new stadium.

Last year, Obama threw out the first pitch for his favorite team, the Chicago White Sox. The president also threw out the first pitch at the All-Star Game last year.

The Washington Nationals open their season against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 5. Earlier that day, Obama will host more than 2,000 children and their families at the White House for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

(Photo: Obama throwing out first pitch in Chicago)

Actors Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher have launched a new campaign to urge the Haitian government to ban child slavery and Moore is using her Twitter account to get politicians behind the effort.
 
Moore targeted several members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who have Twitter accounts, tweeting to them over the weekend: “Help us end Child Slavery in Haiti.”
 
She specifically sent it to Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
 
Cardin responded via Twitter, writing to Moore that he is “proud to sponsor Child Protection Compact w/Boxer/Brownback.”

Moore replied back to Cardin, telling him: "Thank you 4 your leadership @senatorcardin on sponsoring Child Protection Compact but can you also ask Haitian govt to outlaw child slavery?"
 
Moore, who has more than 2.5 million followers on Twitter, urging them to “reach out to these senators as well!”
 
DNA – The Demi and Ashton Foundation – aims to eliminate child sex slavery worldwide. More information is available at www.demiandashton.org.

The Easter recess seems to have most lawmakers excited to escape the Beltway, even if only briefly -- and a handful of them took to Twitter this weekend to share their plans.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) tweeted on Sunday that he had already taken to the local slopes:

Skiing at Alta yesterday was a good way to re-charge the batteries. Went with my 9-year old daughter. So fun

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tx.) also took a break from his steady stream of posts about the economy to remark how nice it was to be back home in Austin:

Spectacular day in Austin; nice to escape the Beltway http://bit.ly/dwRupo

Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Tx) -- who made headlines last week for shouting "baby killer!" during the healthcare vote -- seemed just as excited to get back to his home state:

Looking forward to heading back to Texas this weekend. It will be good to be back in West Texas

Between her prolific NCAA March Madness updates, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) tweeted her plans to devote much of her free time to her family (her two daughters Maddie Esposito and Lily Esposito, are shown here):

These are my wonderful daughters. I'm stealing a weekend just for the three of us. The best. http://tweetphoto.com/15951208

But she quickly informed a constituent her recess was hardly a vacation: "No vacation, working in Missouri next two weeks."

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), meanwhile, returned to Arizona to celebrate his state's Navy Week:

Nice to be back at the Arizona Military Museum to celebrate Navy Week in Phoenix! http://yfrog.com/83unntj

However, not every lawmaker seemed to be enjoying the opening days of their Easter recess.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) tweeted on Sunday that he had just recently come out of surgery:

Had carotid artery surgery yesterday. Doing fine. Heading home today. Muskegon Mercy a great choice. Back full speed soon. See you soon.

And Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) arrived home considerably later than anticipated:

after great aunt's funeral in White Plains, stuck at Laguardia flight delayed to CO, wont get home till 230am!

(Cross posted from the Twitter Room)

Former first lady Barbara Bush was hospitalized Saturday morning after she complained she was "not feeling well," her spokeswoman said Sunday.

However, Bush, 84, is expected to be released from Methodist Hospital in Houston in about a day or two, doctors said this weekend.

According to Bush's chief of staff, the former first lady was not admitted for anything serious on Saturday. Rather, it was a precautionary measure, her top adviser said, noting Bush had kept up her public schedule in recent days despite not feeling "like herself."

According to reporters, former President George H.W. Bush traveled with her to the hospital.

The former first lady was most recently admitted to the hospital in 2009 for open-heart surgery, after doctors noted trouble with her aortic valve. Prior to that, she was treated in 2008 for a perforated ulcer.

After signing healthcare reform into law, agreeing to a new nuclear arms reduction treaty and moving forward with financial reform, President Barack Obama on Friday left the White House to spend the weekend with his family at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md.

Top White House aides said, "He knows he has" earned it.

"Best week we've had in a long damn time," one senior administration official told The Hill.

Aides in the West Wing are walking with a noticeable bounce in their step now that the protracted and brutal healtcare debate is behind them.

As Congress prepares to leave town for its Easter recess, Obama will take a quick break at Camp David before hitting the road again to try and keep the momentum he established with his healthcare victory.

Obama has events scheduled in Maine and North Carolina next week to talk about healthcare and the economy, respectively.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) is spending his 43rd birthday stuck on a plane in Denver, Colo., and he's not happy about it.

White House gate crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi didn't have anything in January to say to a congressional panel investigating their infamous security breach. But it appears that now they've got enough to fill an entire book.

Literary agent Sharlene Martin has confirmed to The Daily Beast that the Salahis are writing a tell-all book about their experience slipping into a White House state dinner in November, and the media firestorm that followed.

“People will be surprised when the truth about the Salahis is finally told,” Martin said.

The book deal announcement comes on the heels of reports that Bravo is shopping advertising and promotional spots on the reality show that spawned the entire Salahi affair, "The Real Housewives of D.C.," and that 12 episodes of the show will air in July.

As recently as a month ago, there was speculation that the Salahis would face criminal prosecution for making false statements to a Secret Service officer. They were recently informed that no charges would be filed, freeing the couple, and Bravo, to promote the show.

Also on the calendar for the Salahis is the polo tournament they operate, the America's Cup of Polo, scheduled for June 12. ITK received a Facebook invitation for the tournament this past week, announcing that the match would be between the USA and India.

But a spokeswoman for the Indian Embassy said Indian participation in the tournament had been cancelled in early December. ITK also contacted three of the official partner companies listed on the invitation, Georgetown Cupcake, Smith and Wesson, and Chanel. None of them were aware of being listed as partners.

America's Cup of Polo declined to comment on the sponsorships or the team arrangement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has two reasons to celebrate on Friday.

During a morning ceremony at the Capitol, the Speaker signed into law a package of fixes to the new healthcare law that Congress passed Thursday.

That move put the finishing touches on a healthcare overhaul Congress had debated for over a year.

Right after she put her signature on the bill, lawmakers and others gathered in the room sang "Happy Birthday" to celebrate Pelosi's 70th birthday.

House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) even brought out a large chocolate cake with candles (though not 70 of them).

Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), who is acting chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, joked "this legislation wasn't a piece of cake."