White House: Domestic agenda won't suffer as security takes forefront

The unemployment rate has reached a double-digit, 26-year high as Democrats head into an election year, causing anxiety for several incumbents.

White House spokesman Bill Burton said the fallout from the attempted Christmas Day bombing will not derail the administration’s efforts to pass a jobs-creation bill.

Burton said people "can anticipate there's going to be a very heavy push to get Americans back to work, to get the economy as strong as it can be, along with some of the other things that we left behind at the end of the year to get finished up here — healthcare, financial regulatory reform, things like that."

But he also said the president will address national security issues. On Sunday, the United States and United Kingdom closed their embassies in Yemen because of al Qaeda security concerns.

"Along with what's happening on these counterterrorism measures and Yemen, we've also got issues to deal with Iran and North Korea and Pakistan," Burton said. "And you can bet that the president and his principals and deputies will all be taking on their full plates of work with rested minds, hopefully, and we'll be able to make some good progress here right out of the starting gate."

Burton spoke to the press aboard Air Force One as the president returned to Washington from his Hawaiian vacation.

Obama is scheduled to meet with the heads of his intelligence agencies Tuesday to discuss security and intelligence failures that allowed an alleged terrorist to board a flight into the U.S.

On Christmas Day, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly attempted to bomb a Delta Airlines flight over Detroit.

Burton said not to expect a published final review after the meeting that Obama ordered. But, he said, Obama has not been waiting for the review to begin implementing new security measures.

"If you look what's happened so far over the course of this review, the president hasn’t just waited for all the different pieces to come in before acting," Burton said. "You see [the Transportation Security Administration] has already taken increased security measures. There's already been a rescrubbing of all the different lists. So safety and security measures are moving forward even as the review goes on."

There have been numerous concerns about the White House's handling of the Flight 253 attack and the president acknowledged the incident marked a "systemic failure" of the nation's intelligence system.

It has also led to bipartisan bickering. Some Republicans have charged Democrats with failing to stop a terrorist plot before it reached the nation's borders, while Democrats have excoriated Republicans for trying to score "political points" from the ordeal.

Domestic items also will preoccupy Congress when it returns in mid-January.

Burton said it is premature to say that cap-and-trade legislation is dead for 2010.

"I think that folks are still working very hard to get some comprehensive energy legislation done," Burton said.

Both chambers of Congress also have to hammer out a conference report on healthcare reform.

And the House passed a $155 billion jobs-creation bill on Dec. 16, before it adjourned for the holiday recess. Not a single Republican voted for the plan, which passed 217-212. Almost 40 Democrats voted against the plan, mainly citing deficit concerns. They were mostly centrists and junior members elected from swing districts. The bill is now waiting approval from the Senate.

"So stay tuned," Burton said.