Frenetic White House Braces for Congress' Roadblocks

Long-term push for big items will go with day-to-day small initiatives
By Gabriel Winant,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 7, 2009 10:46 AM CDT
Frenetic White House Braces for Congress' Roadblocks
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, second from right, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi share a laugh prior to President Barack Obama signing the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

They knew it would happen: Despite impressive speed out of the blocks, the Obama administration now faces the inevitable slowdown to a typical congressional crawl, as its agenda meets resistance from members of both parties. Energy and global warming plans are likely to be the toughest sell, Mike Allen writes on Politico, with financial overhaul and some health care plan most likely to make it through this year.

Obama had signed twice as many bills as his two immediate predecessors before he addressed Congress for the first time. “I felt like we were at the hoop every day,” one official tells Politico. But now the strategy will be to keep the public’s confidence by touting smaller initiatives. “You need credibility with the public that we get it, and we do: It’s going to take some time.” Says another official, “I try not to get optimistic or pessimistic. I just try to look at it as: Are we making progress? And I just continually see progress.”
(More Obama administration stories.)

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