Category: White House

President Obama urges Congress to stop the sequester — the harmful automatic cuts that threaten thousands of jobs and affect our national security from taking effect on March 1. This week, the President visited his old neighborhood in Chicago, conferred one of the nation’s highest civilian honors, met with the President of Italy, and continued to urge Republicans to close tax loopholes for the wealthy to prevent dangerous across-the-board budget cuts that are slated to take effect on March 1st …

Just 10 days from now, Congress might allow a series of severe and automatic budget cuts to take place that will hurt our economic growth, add hundreds of thousands of Americans to the unemployment rolls, and threaten military readiness. But, as President Obama said this morning, these cuts don’t have to happen — Congress has the power to stop them. In 2011, President Obama explained today, Congress passed a law saying that if they couldn’t agree on a plan to …

In this week’s address, President Obama calls for quick action on the proposals he made during the State of the Union to grow our economy and create jobs, including making America a magnet for manufacturing, strengthening our education system through high-quality preschool for every child, and raising the minimum wage This week, the President delivered the first State of the Union address of his second term, and then brought his proposals to factories in North Carolina and a school in …

This week, in the State of the Union, President Obama outlined his plan for a thriving middle class and a strong America. He described a strategy that will make the United States a magnet for jobs and manufacturing, equip every American with the skills they need to do those jobs, and ensure that hard work leads to a decent living — through investments in manufacturing, clean energy, infrastructure, and education. If you prefer the text version, you can read it …

The White House has been hard at work on the 2013 State of the Union address and when President Obama addresses the nation, we’ll broadcast an online-only enhanced version of the address with graphics, data, and useful stats that will help you go deeper — and see the information that informed the President’s policy decisions. You can watch the speech on whitehouse.gov or with the white house app on iphone, ipad and android devices. To be part of the discussion …

President Obama urges Congress to act to avoid a series of harmful and automatic cuts — called a sequester — from going into effect that would hurt our economy and the middle class and threaten thousands of American jobs. The President urges Congress to find a balanced approach to deficit reduction that makes investments in areas that help us grow and cuts what we don’t need. This week, the President honored our nation’s top scientists and innovators, nominated a new …

In a statement from the briefing room yesterday, President Obama explained that while our economy is headed in the right direction, looming automatic budget cuts will cost jobs and slow down our recovery.  But, those deep, indiscriminate cuts to job-creating investments and defense spending, also known as the sequester, don’t have to happen, the President said. He’s already worked with Democrats and Republicans in Congress to cut the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion through a balanced mix of spending …

In this week’s address, President Obama calls on Congress to work together on a balanced approach to reduce our deficit and promote economic growth and job creation. This week, the President announced his choice for his new Chief of Staff, pushed for comprehensive immigration reform, and invited the Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year, Presidential Innovation Fellows, law enforcement officials, 60 Minutes, and the Miami Heat to the White House.

Today, President Obama spoke from Las Vegas about creating a fair and effective immigration system that lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. “I’m here because most Americans agree that it’s time to fix a system that’s been broken for way too long.” President Obama said. “I’m here because business leaders, faith leaders, labor leaders, law enforcement, and leaders from both parties are coming together to say now is the time to …

President Obama discusses his nomination of Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission and Richard Cordray to continue as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This week, Washington D.C. was transformed into an historic stage, with an estimated one million people on hand to witness the President and Vice President take the Oath of Office at the United States Capitol. Through it all, West Wing Week was there, from the terrace of the Capitol to backstage …

From Vice President Joe Biden: Taking the oath of office is a serious piece of business. And being part of an inauguration has a way of focusing the mind on what’s to come. That’s what President Obama meant earlier today when he said, “My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.” In the months ahead, we’re going to be tested, and nothing about the challenges we …

President Obama reiterates his commitment to do everything in his power to implement a series of common sense measures that would reduce gun violence in America. The President started off that effort with 23 concrete actions his Administration is taking immediately under its existing legal authority. But to have a lasting impact, Congress must join the administration by passing common sense laws like requiring a universal background check for anyone trying to buy a gun, and restoring a ban on …

Wednesday President Obama announced a plan to help protect our kids and communities from gun violence. You’re going to hear a lot about it, but I wanted to make sure you got a chance to get the facts, straight from me. After hearing from Americans from across the political spectrum, we decided to focus on some key priorities: closing background check loopholes, banning military-style assault weapons, making our schools safer, and increasing access to mental health services. The ideas we …

Today President Obama invited the White House Press Corps to the East Room for one last news conference as his first term comes to an end. Before taking questions from the assembled journalists, the President took a moment to reflect on the past four years, and look ahead to his agenda for the next term. President Obama today invited the White House Press Corps to the East Room for one last news conference as his first term comes to an end. …

President Obama hosted Afghan President Hamid Karzai this week at the White House for talks on the partnership between our two nations and the role of U.S. troops in that country. In this week’s address, President Obama discusses how we will end the war in Afghanistan and how our goal of ensuring that al Qaeda never again uses Afghanistan to launch attacks against America is within reach. Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that’s happening at …

Right now, Vice President Biden is leading an effort to develop a new set of policies to reduce gun violence and prevent tragedies like the shooting in Newtown Conn.  Yesterday, as part of that work,  the Vice President met with victims’ groups and gun safety organizations at the White House.   Following those meetings, the Vice President held conference calls with governors of both parties, and state and local elected leaders from across the United States. The Vice President listened to the …

By Jay Carney White House Press Secretary Let’s not let arguments over the Constitution’s Second Amendment violate the spirit of its First. President Obama believes that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. However, the Constitution not only guarantees an individual right to bear arms, but also enshrines the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press — fundamental principles that are essential to our democracy. Americans may disagree on matters of public policy and express …

In this week’s address, President Obama talks about the bipartisan agreement that Congress reached this week which prevented a middle-class tax hike, congratulates the newly sworn-in members of Congress, and looks forward to working with the new Congress in the new year to continue to grow our economy and shrink our deficits in a balanced way. Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that’s happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This week, the President spent several days in …

This week, Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives joined the Senate in passing the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. That means middle-class families won’t see an increase in their income tax rates. We’ve avoided the fiscal cliff. President Obama will sign the legislation soon. Last night, he described the agreement as, “one step in the broader effort to strengthen our economy and broaden opportunity for everybody.” “Under this law, more than 98 percent of Americans and 97 …

President Obama urges Congress to meet its deadlines and responsibilities, protect the middle class from an income tax hike, and lay the groundwork for future progress on more economic growth and deficit reduction. Welcome to the “Best of the West (Wing Week)!” That’s right, folks, West Wing Week took some time over the holidays to reflect on a busy year in video, and to bring you some highlights from the archive. But first, a quick wrap up of the President’s …