Politics

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ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish.

It seems like the keyword in Washington these days is deadline: debt ceiling deadlines, tax deadlines, spending cut deadlines. Well, today, President Obama called for a delay on a looming deadline: the automatic spending cuts that are set to kick in on March 1.

The AFL-CIO begins a big push this week to build momentum for comprehensive changes to the nation's immigration laws.

But it wasn't long ago that organized labor viewed illegal workers in the U.S. as a threat — and fought against proposals that would lead to citizenship.

Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, referenced the labor movement's history with the immigration issue in a YouTube message to members late last year.

A confidential Justice Department memo obtained by NBC News outlines legal theories the Obama administration has used to justify killing American citizens abroad. Here are five key questions and answers about the document:

1) What is it?

Florida voters in 2010 approved constitutional amendments by nearly 2-to-1 margins that forbade state legislators from coordinating with political parties or favoring incumbents when drawing new congressional districts.

So what did lawmakers in Tallahassee do? The Republican leaders in charge of drawing new maps coordinated with Republican Party consultants to protect Republican incumbents.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, if you're planning something special this Valentine's Day, here's another question you might want to ask that special someone first: What's your credit score? In our Money Coach today, we'll hear about why some singles are asking this question pretty early in the dating game these days.

So what did you do during the blackout on Super Bowl Sunday? Other than, say, apply some deer antler spray?

For most Americans, it was trying to figure out the ScuttleButton puzzle on Super Bowl Sunday. Actually, it's always difficult trying to solve ScuttleButton while watching the game on Super Bowl Sunday. But now it's time to focus on the new puzzle.

(We updated the top of this post at 1:30 p.m. ET.)

Looking to head off deep, automatic spending cuts set to kick in on March 1, President Obama on Tuesday afternoon said that to avoid the negative economic effects that come with "political disfunction," Congress should move quickly to pass "a smaller package of spending cuts and tax reforms" that won't hurt the economy.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

President Obama delivers his State of Union address a week from today. That speech is expected to expand on proposals the president put forth at his inauguration. One surprise in his inaugural address was a call to do more on climate change - that after a campaign that mostly ignored concerns about the environment. NPR's Ari Shapiro looks at what environmental groups are expecting now.

ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: President Obama's inaugural address spent a full eight sentences on climate, more than any other subject.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Now, on the same as that funeral, President Obama continued his push for tougher gun laws. He was talking yesterday in Minneapolis on a subject he is expected to address in next week's State of the Union speech.

NPR's David Welna reports.

The Boston Herald caused a bit of a stir Monday, reporting that Mitt Romney's eldest son, Tagg, is considering a bid for the Massachusetts Senate seat long held by new Secretary of State John Kerry.

Louie and guest co-host, UTEP Political Science professor Gregory Rocha, talk with Congressman Beto O'Rourke about his first 4 weeks in office.  O'Rourke talks about the debt ceiling, committee appointments, immigration reform, assistance for veterans, and gun control.  http://orourke.house.gov/  O'Rourke's El Paso district office is located at 303 N. Oregon St., M-Thu 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Fri 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.  915-541-1400.  Aired Feb. 2, 2013.

The debate over gun control continues to dominate the headlines. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate doubles the number of African-American members by welcoming William 'Mo" Cowan. He replaces John Kerry. Host Michel Martin talks politics with Republican strategist Ron Christie and Keli Goff, political correspondent for The Root.

Last week, former Sen. Chuck Hagel faced a very critical confirmation hearing in his quest to become the next secretary of defense, and President Obama and a bipartisan group of senators made the pitch for immigration reform. Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin speaks with NPR's Mara Liasson about the week in politics.

Host Laura Sullivan talks with The Atlantic's James Fallows about the news this week Chuck Hagel's confirmation hearing, the Chinese cyber-attack of The New York Times, and that newspaper's obituary of former New York City Mayor Ed Koch.

The White House has released proof that President Obama really did shoot skeet — at least once — at the Maryland presidential retreat, last summer.

Of all the individuals in President Obama's first-term Cabinet, physicist Steven Chu was arguably the least likely to be found in official Washington.

The Energy Department secretary, after all, was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist from the University of California, Berkeley, the first science laureate to serve as a Cabinet secretary.

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

That attack in Turkey came on Hillary Clinton's last day as secretary of state. She says it's another reminder that we live in complex and dangerous times.

SECRETARY HILLARY CLINTON: But I leave this department confident, confident about the direction we have set.

CORNISH: Employees crammed the State Department's lobby to see her off, and Clinton appeared wistful.

CLINTON: I am very proud to have been secretary of state. I will miss you. I will probably be dialing up just to talk.

(LAUGHTER)

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

No one is watching more closely how this latest immigration debate will shake out than our next guest.

Carlos Gutierrez was Secretary of Commerce during George W. Bush's second term. He went on to advise Mitt Romney in his recent run for president. After the election, Gutierrez founded a superPAC called Republicans for Immigration Reform, which gives you a sense of where he's coming from, and he supports Senator Rubio's position.

Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown will not seek the Republican nomination for Senate in a special election to replace Sen. John Kerry, the Democrat who on Friday was being sworn in as secretary of state.

The decision leaves Republicans in deep blue Massachusetts scrambling to find a candidate who can be competitive in a special election just five months away.

Brown, who won a 2010 special election for the seat of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, lost the seat in November to Democrat Elizabeth Warren.

The issue in this week's podcast is about follow-through. Yes, there have been hearings on gun legislation, but what will get passed? Yes, there's a bipartisan group of senators working on immigration changes, but what will Congress ultimately do? Plus: John Kerry leaves the Senate and history is made in his (temporary) successor. And two more senators say they've had enough.