Politics Coverage

How Would Obama Wield Agency-Reorganization Power?

President Obama asked Congress Friday to give him authority to consolidate executive branch agencies. Margaret Warner speaks with Roll Call's Steven Dennis and Bloomberg News' Hans Nichols about what would happen if Mr. Obama is granted the reorganization power that no president has had for almost 30 years.

RAY SUAREZ: President Obama today said he wants fast-track authority to consolidate federal agencies. He called on Congress to give him that reorganization power that no president has had for almost 30 years.

Margaret Warner has more.

MARGARET WARNER: The president invited business owners to the White House to hear his proposal.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Today, I am calling on Congress to reinstate the authority that past presidents have had to streamline and reform the executive branch.

In South Carolina, Romney Fights Back, Defends Record to GOP Voters

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As Republican presidential contenders gauge how to slow Mitt Romney's momentum, social conservative leaders plan to meet in Texas this weekend to discuss the possibility of uniting behind someone other than the former Massachusetts governor. Judy Woodruff has an update on the campaign ahead of South Carolina's primary.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The Republican presidential front-runner, campaigning in South Carolina, stepped up his defense against fellow GOP attacks on his record in business, this as the political wars intensified on the state's television airwaves.

NARRATOR: Mitt Romney helped create and ran a company that invested in struggling businesses, grew new ones, and rebuilt old ones, creating thousands of jobs. Those are the facts.

JUDY WOODRUFF: That TV commercial began airing as Mitt Romney campaigned across South Carolina today. It's a full-throated defense of his time running a private equity firm, and an effort to rebuke rivals who've painted him as a corporate raider.

NARRATOR: We expected the Obama administration to put free markets on trial, but, as The Wall Street Journal said, Mr. Romney's GOP opponents are embarrassing themselves by taking the Obama line.

Romney Defends His Time at Bain

Mitt Romney; photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Mitt Romney greets supporters at a campaign rally Thursday at the West Palm Beach, Fla., Convention Center.

2012 US Election

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