Washington Day Ahead: Appropriations Committee Loses Appeal

The House Appropriations Committee is no longer a coveted perch; the Senate agrees to limit delaying tactics; Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin criticizes President Barack Obama.

TOP GOVERNMENT STORIES

Appropriations Panel Loses Allure in Congress Targeting Spending

Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party favorite and critic of government spending, took a pass. Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz opted out. California Republican John Campbell said no thanks.

Senate Leaders Agree to Speed Debate, Confirmation Procedures

Leaders of the U.S. Senate have agreed to speed the chamber’s pace of work by abolishing some delaying tactics and removing about 400 federal jobs from those requiring a confirmation vote.

Palin Calls Obama State of the Union ‘Half-Baked’ on Facebook

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has her own interpretation of the “winning the future” theme of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech.

Obama Names Carney Spokesman in Completion of Staff Changes

President Barack Obama yesterday picked Jay Carney, Vice President Joe Biden’s spokesman and a former Time Magazine journalist, as his press secretary as he wraps up a staff shakeup two years into his administration.

Senator Who Shot Cap-and-Trade Bill in Ad Named to Energy Panel

The Senate committee with primary jurisdiction for U.S. energy policy added Joe Manchin, the former West Virginia governor who won office after using climate-change legislation for target practice in a 2010 ad.

TODAY ON BLOOMBERG TV: Martin Baily, a chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton administration, appears at 11:15 a.m. to talk about economic growth and the deficit; and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou appears at noon to discuss his country’s economy.

WHITE HOUSE President Barack Obama addresses Families USA’s 16th Annual Health Action Conference at 10:20 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.

REPORTS The Commerce Department will issue its first estimate of fourth- quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s final index for January consumer sentiment will be released at 9:55 a.m.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM U.S. NEWSPAPERS

Pimco’s Gross Says Debt-Limit Battle Is ‘Unacceptable,’ AP Says

Treasuries are poised to fall as the debate on increasing the U.S. debt limit intensifies, Bill Gross, who runs the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., was quoted by Associated Press as saying.