Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Obama - Karzai To Meet Friday, Timetable for U.S. Withdrawal To Be Discussed - The Obama administration is considering the possibility of removing all U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission officially finishes at the end of 2014, White House officials said Tuesday.

The comments by Ben Rhodes, the White House's deputy national security adviser, come as the Pentagon and White House mull over the number of troops that could be left in Afghanistan after 2014 to fight insurgents and train Afghan security forces. CNN.com has more here.

 

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Clinton To Testify on Benghazi January 22 - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will likely testify Jan. 22 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the deadly U.S. Consulate attack in Benghazi, the panel’s top Republican said Tuesday.

 

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said on MSNBC that he has spoken with Clinton’s chief of staff and said she seems “anxious” to testify on the Hill, following weeks of hospital visits after a concussion. Politico.com has more here.

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Obama To Nominate Lew for Treasury - In another expected announcement, President Obama will nominate Jack Lew to be the next Treasury Secretary on Thursday.  He will replace outgoing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who has said he plans to leave the White House by the end of January. TheHill.com has more here.

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Biden To Meet With NRA - Vice President Biden will meet with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and a range of other groups this week as President Obama’s gun violence task force shifts into high gear.

The administration official said Biden would meet Wednesday with gun-safety organizations and groups representing shooting victims, and on Thursday with gun-ownership organizations and sportsmen’s groups. Attorney General Eric Holder will attend Wednesday’s meeting. You can read more here.

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Cuomo To Propose Wide Gun Control Measures - Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, pushing New York to become the first state to enact major new gun laws in the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Conn., plans on Wednesday to propose one of the country’s most restrictive bans on assault weapons.

According to people briefed on the talks, the governor is considering not only rewriting the state’s assault weapons ban, but also proposing more expansive use of mental health records in background checks of gun buyers, lower limits on the capacity of magazines sold legally in New York and a new requirement that gun permits be subject to periodic recertification.  The NY Times has more here.

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Eurozone Unemployment Remains High - Eurostat data published Tuesday showed unemployment in the 17-nation eurozone hit a record high of 11.8% in November, leaving 18.8 million people without work - two million more than a year ago.

At nearly 27%, Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union, and youth unemployment is more than twice as high at 56%.  CNN.com has more here.

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