OBAMA AGENDA: Obama sends AUMF to Congress
The president is sending a new three-year authorization for the use of force against ISIS -- with limits about troop involvement -- to Congress today.
Obama is pushing back at the notion - published in David Axelrod's book - that he misled voters for political reasons about his position on same sex marriage. "“I think David is mixing up my personal feelings with my position on the issue,” Obama said in an interview with Buzzfeed. “I always felt that same-sex couples should be able to enjoy the same rights, legally, as anybody else, and so it was frustrating to me not to, I think, be able to square that with what were a whole bunch of religious sensitivities out there."
Writes the Washington Post: "The Obama administration is considering slowing its planned withdrawal from Afghanistan for the second time, according to U.S. officials, a sign of the significant security challenges that remain despite an end to the U.S. and NATO combat mission there."
As leaders from France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine gather to try to negotiate a peace deal, fighting is still raging in Ukraine, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The AP writes about how the death of an ISIS recruiter once held at Gitmo is complicating efforts to close the prison.
Western nations are shutting their embassies in Yemen.
Israelis are wondering if Benjamin Netanyahu has gone too far in the ongoing back-and-forth with Obama, reports the LA Times.
CONGRESS: Recapping the DHS mess
A recap of the DHS mess, from the New York Times: "With a little over two weeks until the Department of Homeland Security runs out of money, Republican leaders in Congress publicly announced Tuesday what had become a grim, if private, truth in the Capitol — they are at an impasse, with no easy way out."
The House is expected to send the Keystone XL pipeline bill to the president's desk, where Obama has pledged to veto it.
OFF TO THE RACES: RNC’s Trailblazers, DCCC’s one-term wonders
The RNC hosts its third annual Trailblazers event to honor black Republicans. According to prepared remarks, Chairman Reince Priebus will tell attendees "We are committed to being present 365 days a year. So it’s not just about making history, it’s also about making a difference in people’s lives. We don’t ask for votes just so we can win. We ask for votes so we can get to work on expanding opportunity."
The DCCC is launching its "One-Term Wonders" site later today, highlighting 15 freshman members it will be targeting in the coming cycle.
BUSH: Spokeswoman Kristy Campbell tells NBC: ""The Right to Rise PAC accepted Ethan Czahor's resignation today. While Ethan has apologized for regrettable and insensitive comments, they do not reflect the views of Governor Bush or his organization and it is appropriate for him to step aside. We wish him the best."
POLITICO: "Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will raise money on Wall Street on Wednesday at an eye-popping $100,000 per-ticket Park Avenue event hosted by private equity mogul Henry Kravis and his wife."
The Wall Street Journal: "Jeb Bush’s Foreign Policy Seen Leaning Toward His Father’s" MORE: "One early indication suggests he is leaning toward his father’s more pragmatic and restrained philosophy. The former Florida governor is considering naming Meghan O’Sullivan as his top foreign-policy aide; several people familiar with the deliberations describe her as the front-runner for the post."
CHRISTIE: Chris Christie now says he has “grave concerns” about Common Core, per the Des Moines Register.
The Washington Post's dispatch from Christie's Iowa trip: "Gone were the bluster and bravado that have made Chris Christie a long-touted contender for the White House. The new Chris Christie was serious, earnest, calmly gesturing as he spoke — hoping to reach the kind of moderate, business-friendly Republican voters he will need if he is to compete in Iowa and eventually take the GOP presidential nomination."
CLINTON: POLITICO reported last night that Priorities USA Action has struggled to reach its fundraising goal of as much as $500 million.
The New York Times on discontent in Clintonworld: "Lingering tensions between Hillary Rodham Clinton’s loyalists and the strategists who helped President Obama defeat her in 2008 have erupted into an intense public struggle over who will wield money and clout in her emerging 2016 presidential campaign. At issue is controlling access to the deep-pocketed donors whose support is critical to sustain the outside organizations that are paving the way for Mrs. Clinton’s campaign. It is a competition that has been exacerbated, many Clinton supporters said, by Mrs. Clinton’s reluctance to formally enter the race and establish a campaign organization with clear lines of authority."
JINDAL: Former Romney aide Gail Gitcho is joining pro-Jindal super PAC “Believe Again,” CNN reports.
PROGRAMMING NOTES.
*** Wednesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: Tamron Hall speaks with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Senior Editor at the Hollywood Reporter Eriq Gardner about Jon Stewart stepping away from the Daily Show, UNC Senior and USA Today collegiate correspondent Jalessa Jones about the shooting of 3 Muslim students at the University, MSNBC’s Trymaine Lee about the NYPD cop indicted after killing a man in a stairwell in Brooklyn, First African-American Chairman of the Board, CEO and President of the United States Tennis Association Katrina Adams
*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: Andrea will interview former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod, Buzzfeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith, USA Today’s Susan Page, the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza and Susan and Richard Selke, the parents of Marine Clay Hunt to talk about the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act.