White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Obama to Nominate Dan Tangherlini to Admin of GSA

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A little more than a year later and President Barack Obama annoucned today his plan to nominate Acting Director Dan Tangherlini as the Administrator of the General Services Administration.

Having served in his current role since last April, Tangherlini is a former CFO from the Department of Treasury, a D.C. City Administrator and Deputy Mayor under former Mayor Adrian Fenty from ’06 to ’09. In a statement released today, the president said “As Acting Director, Dan helped restore the trust of the American people in the General Services Administration by making the agency more efficient, accountable and transparent. I want to thank Dan for his leadership over the past year and for agreeing to continue serving in the Administration.”

Which is well and good since Tangherlini is known for slashing spending at GSA after the previous Administrator was admonished for a Las Vegas trip. His other claim to fame involves the oversight to sell off the J. Edgar Hoover building in Downtown Washington. But it isn’t that hard for Tangherlini, who is a local favorite when it comes to dealing with D.C. Proper Government and Federal Government.

Fingers crossed he can figure out a way to keep Washington from losing track of what’s structurally important: more Bike Shares and dogs and cats on Amtrak.

Capricia Marshall To Leave State Dept. By End of Summer

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Capricia Marshall, Cheryl Mills and Chelsea Clinton

Capricia Marshall is out of the newly-minted John Kerry State Department sometime at the end of the summer. Speaking to the Reliable Source on Monday, the soon-to-be-former-Chief-of-Protocol issued a non-offcial announcement and reminded readers that she’s a long-time member of Hillary Clinton‘s team. She’s spent the last 20 years working for the former Secretary of State, and may join her depending on decisions for the 2016 race with this kicker to the Source: “If she decides to run, I’ll be behind her 100 percent.”

Well, as everyone in D.C. knows–even Presidents on the campaign trail–just be careful to watch where you’re running before you follow someone down there.

Returning To Normal, White House Announces Science Fair 2013

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After last week’s events, a return to teaching fundamentals has to be a good thing. President Obama hosts the White House Science Fair today which focuses on core programs like science, technology, engineering and math or STEM. The program will focus as a springboard for his new “Educate to Inovcate” campaign which the White House Press Office describes as “an all-hands-on-deck effort to get more girls and boys inspired to excel in these key subjects.”

“When students excel in math and science, they help America compete for the jobs and industries of the future,” said President Obama in a statement. “That’s why I’m proud to celebrate outstanding students at the White House Science Fair, and to announce new steps my Administration and its partners are taking to help more young people succeed in these critical subjects.”

And just what are the next generation of scientists working on? There’s a $250 prosthetic arm that’s cheap thanks to 3D printing; cooling pads for athletes and even “crowdsourcing” cancer detection. The selection runs the entire spectrum of STEM and showcase what the White House is hoping to promote through the Innovate campaign.

“If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you’re a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too,” the President’s statement said.

In the meantime, check out the video of President Obama and a marshmallow gun from last year.

Photos: White House Easter Egg Roll 2013

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As spring blossoms in Washington–not that the lack of Cherry Blossoms help–we come to look upon the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. Held for the fifth year under President Obama, the Easter Egg Roll was presented this year in part with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Get Up And Move campaign.

“Today we’re going to have more than 30,000 people who will pass through this yard in celebration of nutrition and health and activity,” she said. “And we could not do this if it were not for all of our wonderful volunteers, our staff, all of the terrific performers and athletes who have taken time out of their lives and their busy days to make this important. So we need to give all of them a round of applause for all their hard work.”

The annual basketball and tennis outing was not as easy for POTUS. Per the Pool:

“POTUS stepped to free throw line and kids were asked to stand on opposite sides, depending on whether they think he would sink it. Most kids moved in one direction, but one boy went to the “miss” side.

“Oh, man,” a stunned POTUS said, hands on hips. The boy didn’t budge. And three others joined.

In sharp form, POTUS released the ball. It bounced off the rim and circled it — miss.

“Come on. Come on. Did you see that?” Obama said.

It got worse. A little while later, after playing tennis, Obama started to take shots amid the kids and pros.

Miss. Miss. Off the rim. Miss. Miss. Off the rim. Airball. He moved closer to the net.

But time and again, he missed. Of 22 shots POTUS took, he made two. (22 was general consensus of poolers)[.]”

At least reading went a little better for Obama than the pick-up game.

White House Easter Egg Roll Has POTUS and K-POTUS Switch Desks

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While everyone is enjoying a rather foggy morning in Washington, there’s a distinct lack of “fool” for today’s April Fool’s. The St. “Patty”‘s Day equivalent of pranking folks and generally making the Internet unreliable doesn’t occur often inside the Beltway. Except President Obama has seemed to take a shine to Robby “Kid President” Novak as Click points out:

The diminutive POTUS replacement showed up to make the formal announcement for the 2013 White House Easter Egg Roll back in February. Today he’s one of many special guests including Beasts of the Southern Wild‘s Quvenzhané Wallis, NASCAR’s Danica Patrick, Minnesota Viking Adrian Peterson, Elmo, Abby, Gordon and Rosita from Sesame Street, the full cast of Super Sprowtz and pop group The Wanted.

There’s also an “Eggtivity Zone” that ” will represent the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition as players and coaches from professional sports teams teach kids how to play sports and show kids easy, fun ways to stay active and fit.” Eggsciting.

They’ll also be a bevy of costumed characters running around the White House lawn throughout the day. According to the White House, more than 300,000 Washington residents can be expected to attend throughout the day. So hopefully you’ve got your ticket and are already in line–we hear POTUS is showing up early to make an appearance. No fooling.

Obama and Kerry Inadvertently Have Soccer-Themed Day

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Sport Zone: Football
The other kind of football has returned to Washington. On a completely seperate-but-interesting moment saw the Obama administration have to deal with sports while the rest of D.C. attend the Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 8.

Flanked by 2012 MLS Champions Los Angeles Galaxy and recent Stanley Cup champions Los Angeles Kings, the Chicago native proved Washingtonians can at least play nice with rivals as long as it is sports related.
“So I’m going to be a good sport — these guys pointed out that they beat my Blackhawks last night. I will also say that, given this season how rare it is to beat the Blackhawks, I want to congratulate them for that as well,” said President Obama. The President then received duel Galaxy/Kings jerseys–number 44 of course–and ball from recent Galaxy re-signer Landon Donovan.

Meanwhile, proven that he can’t be outclassed so quickly, Secretary of State John Kerry headbutted a soccer ball. Then he continued his audition for Dave Letterman’s Stupid Human Tricks and made our day a little brighter. In actuality this is day two of John Kerry’s meetings with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. The soccer shots came when Kerry was introduced to Zahra Mahmoodi, the captain of the Afghanistan National Soccer Team, and a group of female entrepreneurs from Afghanistan.

While no such thing like an Intermural Capitol Hill Soccer Association exists–unlike say this awkwardly named Washington association— this seems like a great way to kick off the league.

Obama Announces Additional Nominations for State Dept, Heritage Abroad

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Earlier this morning President Barack Obama announced the next three individuals for positions in the administration. “It gives me great confidence that such dedicated and capable individuals have agreed to join this Administration to serve the American people. I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” said President Obama.

They include Ambassador Deborah K. Jones, currently Scholar-in-Resident at the Middle East Institute, for Ambassador to Libya; Ambassador James Knight, currently Assistant Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, for Ambassador to the Republlic of Chad. And Lesley Weiss, currently Director of Community Services and Cultural Affairs for NCSJ, to be Member and Chair for the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.

Both Jones and Knight will require nominations to be approved in upcoming Congressional sessions while Weiss will be appointed at an upcoming date.

The Donald Denied Reopening White House Tours, Obama May Anyway

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Not even The Donald can reopen The White House tours shuttered by the sequester. Or to be more accurate, The White House said “No thanks” when the notable centerpiece of NBC’s The Apprentice took to his new beloved medium of Fox News to take on the administration.

In the ultimate act of media ourobouros, Politico quoted White House Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer on CNN earlier after Trump commented on a Tweet from Newt Gingrich. So much back and forth between the news mediums makes our head spin as pundits go from Twitter to TV to Politico and back again. So why exactly can’t it work? Pfeiffer explained earlier:

“It doesn’t work that way; we can’t have private individuals paying the Secret Service — so that’s not how it works. This is about a very tough budget cut that the Secret Service has to take because of the sequester. It’s why we should have avoided the sequester to begin with.”

Already Yellowstone announced a late opening–by a week–that has caused tourists and small businesses to grumble about experiencing the Great Outdoors. Meanwhile this morning President Obama may review the suspended tours for school trips and students according to Post Politics. From his interview with ABC News:

“I’m always amused when people on the one hand say the sequester doesn’t mean anything and the administration’s exaggerating its effects and then whatever the specific effects are, they yell and scream and say, ‘Why are you doing that?’ Well, there are consequences to Congress not having come up with a more sensible way to reduce the deficit.”

Obama Scores With Gridiron Club Dinner

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Obama Waves to Press

Not only was this weekend unseasonably nice compared to the Snowquester,but President Barack Obama attended the 125th Gridiron Club and Foundation Dinner. (Technically the fifth for the combined Club and Foundation, but as if memories go back that far in Washington these days).

Attending for the second time since 2011, President Barack Obama opened up with remarks that brought the Beltway press to be responsible for their pleas about access and Bob Woodward’s recent fear of threats. Or, as scarily brought up by The Reliable Source, “Is it possible he’s beginning to like these dinners?”

“Before I begin, I know some of you have noticed that I’m dressed a little differently from the other gentlemen. Because of sequester, they cut my tails. My joke writers have been placed on furlough,” the president said. That’s what happens when your star speechwriter goes off to Tinseltown. Other politicans that stopped by this year include Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Al Franken (“How do you start off being one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live and end up being the second-funniest Senator in Minnesota? How the mighty have fallen.”)

Some of the choicer cuts with a Favreau–although we can’t imagine he didn’t have at least one pass at this–less Obama:

On Woodward:
“Now I know that some folks think we responded to Woodward too aggressively. But hey, when has — can anybody tell me when an administration has ever regretted picking a fight with Bob Woodward? What’s the worst that could happen?”

On White House Correspondents Dinner Chairman Ed Henry:
“While we’re on this subject, I want to acknowledge Ed Henry, who is here — who is the fearless leader of the Washington press corps now. And at Ed’s request, tonight I will take one question from the press. Jay, do we have a question? Surprisingly, it’s a question from Ed Henry. ‘Mr. President, will you be taking any questions tonight?’ I’m happy to answer that. No, Ed, I will not.”

Proof That Favreau Must’ve Written Something:
“But all these changes to my team are tough to handle, I’ve got to admit. After nine years, I finally said goodbye to my chief speechwriter, Jon Favreau. I watched him grow up. He’s almost like a son to me, he’s been with me so long. And I said to him when he first informed me of his decision, I said, ‘Favs, you can’t leave.’ And he answered with three simple words — ‘yes, I can.’ Fortunately, he did not take the prompter on his way out. That would have been a problem.”

And just to show the President is well aware of his Internet status, he ended his speech on a nerd note:
“So I want to thank everybody for not just a wonderful evening — and, Chuck [Lewis], I want to thank you for your outstanding presidency — but I also just want to thank you for the work that you do each and every day. And in the words of one of my favorite Star Trek characters — Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise — ‘May the force be with you.'”

Kid President Announces This Year's White House Easter Egg Roll

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If the Obama administration ever had a clear challenge, it may be overcoming the charm and charisma of Kid President. A part of the Soul Pancake Channel, this time Kid President is bringing word of the 2013 White House Easter Egg Roll to us through a somewhat more official channel:

The lottery to get a ticket for the annual roll, being held on April 1, starts today and closes on Monday, February 25. The theme this year, chosen by First Lady Michelle Obama, is “Be Healthy, Be Active, Be You!”

This year’s souvenir eggs come in four bold colors – purple, blue, yellow, pink – and include the stamped signatures of the President and First Lady. A commemorative teal “Bo” egg featuring the First Dog’s paw print is included only in the 2013 5-pack Collector’s Egg Set.

The White House also invites all elementary and middle school students to submit poster designs for the 2013 Easter Egg Roll. Designs should reflect this year’s theme, “Be Healthy, Be Active, Be You!” The First Lady will select the winning design, which will be used as part of the White House 2013 Easter Egg Roll program. Submissions are due by March 5 and can be sent here.

We have to admit, even Robert Frost would probably be allowed to think this is cool.