WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama
on Tuesday offered condolences for the victims of a deadly
tornado in Oklahoma and pledged to focus the nation’s resources
on recovery and rebuilding.

“As a nation, our full focus right now is on the urgent work
of rescue and the hard work of recovery and rebuilding that lies
ahead,” he said at the White House. “Yesterday I spoke with
Governor (Mary) Fallin to make it clear to Oklahomans that they
would have all the resources that they need at their disposal.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday trimmed his funding request for the war in Afghanistan and other overseas operations by 10 percent, reflecting his plans to wind down the U.S. presence in that country.

The president asked for $79.4 billion to fund so-called overseas contingency operations in fiscal 2014, which begins October 1, down from his original $88.5 billion request, a White House aide said. Obama made the request in a letter to Congress.

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on
Friday will seek to turn the spotlight from controversies
threatening to swamp his agenda to the economy by announcing he
will cut in half the time it takes to get federal approval for
large job-creating projects.

Obama travels to Baltimore, where he is due to say that he
has signed a presidential memorandum streamlining the review and
permitting of federal infrastructure projects.

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on
Friday will seek to turn the spotlight from controversies
threatening to swamp his agenda to the economic issues by
announcing he will make it easier to get federal building
projects off the ground.

The president travels to Baltimore, where he is due to say
that he has signed a presidential memorandum streamlining the
review and permitting of federal infrastructure projects.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday called the findings in a government report about the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny intolerable and said he has directed his administration to hold those responsible for the agency’s actions accountable.

“The report’s findings are intolerable and inexcusable,” Obama said in a statement on the Treasury Department’s investigation. “The IRS must apply the law in a fair and impartial way, and its employees must act with utmost integrity. This report shows that some of its employees failed that test.”

WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama
launched a campaign to promote his signature 2010 healthcare
overhaul on Friday in the face of harsh criticism from
congressional Republicans who say the program will raise costs
and hurt hiring.

“If you’re one of the tens of millions who don’t have health
insurance, beginning this fall you’ll finally be able to compare
and buy quality, affordable private plans that work for you,” he
said at an event at the White House.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama launched a campaign to promote his signature healthcare program on Friday in the face of harsh criticism from congressional Republicans who say the plan will raise costs and hurt hiring.

Ahead of the Mothers’ Day holiday on Sunday, the president focused his remarks on how the plan could benefit women, who the administration believes will be less stuck on partisan objections to the plan and provide support that will make what has become known as “Obamacare” as success.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama travels to Texas on Thursday to put his focus back on job creation and economic growth after giving intensive attention to gun control legislation and immigration reform.

The president is due to hold events around the country to draw attention to his efforts to boost economic growth through jobs that benefit the middle class, a White House official said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House said on Tuesday the president would veto legislation that would prioritize U.S. debt payments if the nation hits its borrowing limit, sending an early salvo in the next round of federal budget skirmishes.

The nation’s debt ceiling has been a centerpiece of budget fights between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans for several years and brought the nation to the brink of defaulting on its debt in the summer of 2011.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) – President Barack Obama signaled on Friday that a proposal to add a same-sex partnership measure to an immigration overhaul should not be allowed to derail the entire legislative effort.

Obama has used the prospect of new immigration laws as a major selling point for stronger U.S. relations with Latin America on a three-day tour of Mexico and Costa Rica that ends on Saturday.