First 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency
[2] Obama quickly began attempting to foster support for his economic stimulus package, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
[5][6] Obama's accomplishments during the first 100 days included signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 relaxing the statute of limitations for equal-pay lawsuits;[7] signing into law the expanded State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP); winning approval of a congressional budget resolution that put Congress on record as dedicated to dealing with major health care reform legislation in 2009; implementing new ethics guidelines designed to significantly curtail the influence of lobbyists on the executive branch; breaking from the Bush administration on a number of policy fronts, except for Iraq, in which he followed through on Bush's Iraq withdrawal of U.S. troops;[8] supporting the UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity; and lifting the 7½-year ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
[16] While Obama began preparation for his first 100 days during the presidential transition following his election,[17] he stated that America only has one president at a time, especially for issues related to international affairs.
[17] During the first hundred days in office presidents are highly scrutinised and heading into the period Obama's intention was to attempt to execute several plans that are going to be watched closely.
[21][22][23][24] CNN listed a number of economic issues which "Obama and his team [would] have to tackle in their first 100 days", foremost among which was implementing a recovery package to deal with the 2007–2008 financial crisis.
[29] Clive Stafford Smith, a British human rights lawyer, expressed hopes that Obama would close Guantanamo Bay detention camp within the time period.
[22] In addition, there were speculations in Jakarta that he might return to his former home city within the first 100 days[30] after presidential aides announced his intention to hold a major foreign policy speech in the capital of an Islamic country.
[50] Since Robert Gates was a member of the previous administration, his letter of resignation (a formality at the end of a President's term) was simply not accepted, and he did not need confirmation.
[59] At the conclusion of Obama's first week as President, Hilda Solis, Tom Daschle, Ron Kirk, and Eric Holder had yet to be confirmed, and there had been no second appointment for Secretary of Commerce.
[63] On February 12, Judd Gregg withdrew his nomination as Secretary of Commerce, citing "irresolvable conflicts" with President Obama and his staff over how to conduct the 2010 census and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
[66][67] The same day rumours abounded that former Democratic two-term Washington governor Gary Locke would be named as the third Obama Commerce Secretary nominee.
[72] By comparison, Bill Clinton only had one outstanding Cabinet confirmation at the end of his first day in office and George W. Bush had all but one approved before February 1, 2001.
Bush), Obama has largely focused on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a proposed economic stimulus package totalling nearly $1 trillion.
Richardson withdrew his nomination on January 5 because of scrutiny regarding a pay to play scandal in which he was being investigated because his donors curiously received a lucrative transportation contract.
Daschle paid his back taxes six days before his first confirmation hearings with the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
[78] On February 3, The New York Times called the Daschle nomination into question both for his tax issues and for his extensive private sector work in the health services industry.
[81] He apologised to the United States Senate Committee on Finance for having overlooked paying $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes earlier this decade.
[citation needed] The vote on Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor had originally been scheduled for February 5, but she faced delayed confirmation hearings due to her pro-labor activities as a board member of American Rights at Work and because of $6,400 in unpaid tax liens against her husband's auto repair business.
Judd cited policy differences between himself and the Obama administration as his primary reasons and noted that unlike earlier withdrawals he was not having difficulties with the vetting process.
[64][92][93] Gregg has a track record of opposing funding for the Census, that is highlighted by his tenure as the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Budget.
The Congressional Black Caucus and National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials both expressed disappointment at Gregg's nomination because the United States Department of Commerce oversees the Census.
[74] On March 31, Kathleen Sebelius, Obama's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, revealed in a letter to the Senate Finance Committee that her Certified Public Accountant found errors in her tax returns for years 2005–2007.
This was comparable to prior moves by the Bush Administration upon assuming control from Bill Clinton, who in his final 20 days in office issued 12 executive orders.
[98] Due to the economic crisis, the President enacted a pay freeze for senior White House staff making more than $100,000 per year.
[102] However, one day later he nominated William J. Lynn III, a lobbyist for defence contractor Raytheon, for the position of Deputy Secretary of Defense.
[106][107][108] He also signed an order requiring the Army Field Manual to be used as guide for terror interrogations, banning torture and other illegal coercive techniques, such as waterboarding.
[123] The announcement followed the recommendation of several experts including Defense Secretary Robert Gates that additional troops be deployed to the strife-torn South Asian country.
[124] Nine days after his speech on Afghanistan, Obama addressed Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and outlined an exit strategy for the Iraq War.
Obama promised to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq by August 31, 2010, and a "transitional force" of up to 50,000 counterterrorism, advisory, training, and support personnel by the end of 2011.
The limit was a significant alteration of the administration's plan and caught Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Chairman Lawrence Summers by surprise.
