White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler was told on April 24 about an upcoming report by the Treasury’s Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) on the IRS practice, for which an IRS official apologized on May 10, triggering the controversy.

Soon after she learned of the report, Ruemmler briefed White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and other senior staff, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at a briefing.

In his remarks about an affair that has become a major distraction early in Obama’s second term, Carney shed light on how Obama’s inner circle learned of the issue, but not on why low-level IRS employees began the targeting in the first place.

Answers about that core issue may emerge from congressional hearings scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday where key players are scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill.

The TIGTA report, formally released last week, prompted Democrats to blame bureaucratic at the IRS for the scandal, while some Republicans alleged that the administration abused its power in targeting conservative groups.

The Treasury department’s inspector general report found no evidence of that. Carney reiterated that the White House did not attempt to influence the report.

“No one in this building intervened in an ongoing independent investigation or did anything that could be seen as intervening in that investigation,” Carney said.

ACTIVITY HAD ENDED

Carney said any White House intervention prior to completion of the TIGTA probe would have been inappropriate. In any case, he said, there was no urgency because the activity in question had stopped about a year earlier.

Last week, Carney downplayed what Ruemmler knew about the report, which found IRS agents had targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny based on the use in their names of key words, such as “Tea Party” and “Patriot.”

But on Monday, Carney gave reporters a more detailed accounting. He said Ruemmler was told on April 24 the report would address “line IRS employees improperly scrutinizing … organizations by using words such as Tea Party and Patriot.”

Carney said: “While we had an indication of the likely findings, until the IG finalizes his report, the findings and conclusions are subject to change.”

He added, “That’s why we had to wait, appropriately, until the report was publicized or published for the president to be able to review it and respond, as he did very quickly.”

Obama fired acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller on Wednesday and called the inspector general’s findings outrageous. The report found no evidence of political motivation for the targeting or of any White House involvement.

There was no White House intervention at any time into the contents of the report, Carney said.

PRESSURE COOKER

Obama has come under pressure in recent weeks from controversies on three fronts – the IRS scandal, the administration’s explanation of last year’s attack in Benghazi, Libya in which the U.S. ambassador died and the Justice Department’s seizure of Associated Press phone records.

“The White House still can’t get its story straight,” Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said.

“Today’s admission that senior White House officials were told about the IRS targeting, despite repeated suggestions to the contrary over the past week, is more evidence that this scandal requires a full investigation,” he said.

As the Senate Finance Committee and House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committees prepared to hold hearings, some lawmakers were calling for the Obama administration to fire more people linked to the scandal.

Lois Lerner, chief of the IRS tax-exempt unit, was scheduled to testify on Wednesday to a Republican-controlled investigative committee of the House of Representatives, along with other officials. Lerner’s apology on May 10 for the IRS targeting at a legal conference in Washington set off the furor.

Representative Sander Levin called for Lerner’s resignation on Friday, saying she had recently testified to a House subcommittee and failed to disclose what she knew about the targeting. “This is wholly unacceptable,” he said.

Levin is the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, which writes tax law and oversees the IRS.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s office on Monday drew attention to a Washington Post article that questioned Lerner’s statements, including her contention that applications for tax-exempt status by groups had doubled during the time period in question.

Republican Vern Buchanan, another member of the Ways and Means panel, last week called for Lerner to be dismissed.

Joseph Grant, acting commissioner for the IRS tax-exempt and government entities division and Lerner’s boss, said last week that he will retire.

“I don’t see how Lois makes it. It’s saddening to me,” said Philip Hackney, assistant law professor at Louisiana State University who worked until 2011 at the IRS with Lerner. “She is nonpartisan; I say that with great confidence.”

TWO HEARINGS AHEAD

Lerner was set to testify on Wednesday to the Republican-controlled House panel alongside Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin, former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman and Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George. On Tuesday, George, Miller and Shulman were set to testify before the Democrat-controlled Senate committee.

As the IRS scandal as widened, Republicans have focused on what officials knew about the targeting and when they knew it.

The inspector general’s report showed that the targeting got under way in mid-2010. In 2011, Lerner was told about how the practice was being handled at a Cincinnati field office. She halted the use of the controversial key words, but lower-level employees by January 2012 had resumed using them.

At a first congressional hearing on the matter last Friday, Republicans made clear they are looking beyond the IRS.

Democratic Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and top committee Republican Orrin Hatch on Monday requested documents on possible White House involvement and sought nearly 300 tax-exempt status applications delayed by the targeting.

Baucus and Hatch also asked for documentation of any disciplinary action taken, and whether some lawmakers’ calls for the IRS to crack down on tax-exempt groups played any role.

(Additional reporting by Nanette Byrnes and Susan Heavey; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and David Storey)

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.

In making the announcement while posing in front of heavy dredging equipment at Ellicott Dredges, Obama will have a chance to remind the public that he wants to spend $50 billion on repairing the nation’s aging roads, bridges and ports.

Even as Obama insists he wants to cut red tape, the visit may draw attention to a pipeline project that has stalled in a protracted federal approval process since 2008 – the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline from the Canadian oil sands.

The pipeline has been championed by Republicans, who blame Obama for the delay, and pilloried by environmental groups who argue Obama’s credibility on his vow to address climate change hinges on rejecting the project.

Peter Bowe, the president of Ellicott Dredges testified on Thursday at a House of Representatives small business committee hearing about how the delay has hurt his company, which provides equipment and labor in the oil sands.

“For us, it’s all about jobs,” Bowe said, urging speedy approval of the pipeline, which Obama delayed last year, saying it needed further review.

The State Department is continuing to study the project, and the administration is unlikely to make a decision until late this year or even early 2014.

‘OUT OF THE BUNKER’

The president hopes his focus on jobs and education will change the subject from a trio of storms that have beleaguered his administration in recent days, and that some believe could overrun his second term agenda.

Obama’s trip to Baltimore to talk about his agenda is a good idea and a productive change of scene for him, said Chris Lehane, a Democratic strategist who specialized in damage control for the Clinton White House.

“It gets you out of the bunker,” Lehane said.

In Baltimore, Obama also will visit an elementary school where he will stump for his goal of providing pre-school for all American children, which he views as a vital stepping stone to a better-educated and trained U.S. work force.

Shining a light on issues of jobs and growth also lets Obama note positive economic developments such as the improving housing and labor markets and a fast-declining budget deficit – pocketbook issues that may have more resonance with the public than inside-Washington political battles.

In the past week, he has been forced to go on the defensive about his administration’s handling of the attack on the U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups for special scrutiny, and the Justice Department’s seizure of phone logs of reporters and editors of the Associated Press in connection with an investigation of leaks of classified information.

Congressional Republicans will seek to keep the focus on what they say are unanswered questions about all three controversies.

The House tax-writing committee was to turn up the pressure on Friday in a hearing with acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, who Obama asked to resign this week.

Obama went into damage-control mode on Wednesday, firing the acting IRS commissioner and announcing support for legislation making it easier for reporters to protect their sources. He has called the IRS’ actions inexcusable and pledged to find out who was responsible and hold them accountable.

On Thursday, the president and his staff stepped up efforts to get ahead of critics. Obama called for more spending on embassy security, while saying he had no apologies about efforts to investigate leaks of classified material.

He and his surrogates belittled the furor over Benghazi as nothing more than a politically motivated campaign orchestrated by congressional Republicans to discredit him.

(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Jackie Frank)

The White House is trying to regain the upper hand after being knocked on the defensive over its response to deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, the seizure of journalists’ phone records in a Justice Department leak investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups for special scrutiny.

Now, President Barack Obama’s closest advisers want to find a way to return attention to his top priorities, such as creating more jobs and reforming immigration laws, while continuing to show they are trying to get to the bottom of the controversies.

“I think what they’ve done in the last two days is a great demonstration that they’re prepared to own this stuff and deal with it,” said Tad Devine, a longtime Democratic strategist invited to the Thursday meeting.

“There’s always going to be bumps in the road. That’s just the nature of it. I think they’re going to be fine, as long as they stick to the big issues,” Devine told Reuters.

About a dozen outside strategists huddled with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, senior advisers Valerie Jarrett and Dan Pfeiffer, communications director Jen Palmieri and press secretary Jay Carney.

Pfeiffer confirmed the meeting but declined to provide details.

The session was one of a handful of regularly scheduled meetings between Obama aides and outside advisers. It was scheduled after the trio of crises were in full swing – but participants said it would be incorrect to call it a crisis summit.

Obama is ending the week by traveling to Baltimore on Friday to talk about his proposals to boost early-childhood education, create manufacturing jobs and fix crumbling infrastructure.

“I can’t think of any better time” for such a trip, said Devine, who said polls and focus groups consistently show that voters want elected leaders to focus on the economy rather than “peripheral issues.”

DAMAGE-CONTROL MODE

At the beginning of the week the White House struggled to counter criticism about the scandals. By midweek, that had changed, with damage control in full swing.

On Wednesday Obama announced that the acting head of the IRS had been asked to resign and on Thursday announced a successor, delivering the swift action that critics had called for after news of the extra scrutiny first came out.

While defending his Attorney General Eric Holder and Justice Department investigations into leaks about national security issues, Obama also pushed for Congress to revive proposals that would help reporters protect their sources.

The White House released 100 pages of emails to demonstrate transparency on its deliberations over how to explain the September 11, 2012, attacks that killed four Americans in Benghazi, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Mike McCurry, a longtime press secretary to former President Bill Clinton who attended Thursday’s meeting, said criticism that the White House had been slow to respond to the controversies was unfair.

“They had to be patient, and they had to get it right,” he said.

McCurry said White House officials made clear at the meeting that they were determined to respond effectively to the issues dominating the news this week without losing sight of the president’s other priorities, including strengthening the economy.

“Most of the discussion was, how can you effectively do that,” he said.

Outside strategists said it might be worthwhile for the White House to reorganize its staff to have a point person or two for the scandals, particularly as Congress delves deeper into its IRS investigations. But they said they had no indication that might happen.

Reorganizing White House staff could leave spokesman Jay Carney freer to talk about Obama’s agenda in daily briefings rather than being bogged down in daily interrogations about the details of congressional probes, they said.

(Additional reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Philip Barbara)

A bipartisan group of nine senators and seven representatives talked about their ideas to address the long-standing problem which hit the headlines this week, prompting President Barack Obama to angrily vow to “root this out completely.”

On Tuesday, the Pentagon released its 2012 annual report on sexual assault in the military, which showed a 37 percent jump in estimated sex crimes to 26,000.

The Air Force was embarrassed after the head of its sexual assault prevention office was charged for drunkenly groping a woman in a parking lot near the Pentagon.

Democratic Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina, who was at the meeting, said the rising statistics were alarming.

“Military sexual assault is a crisis in our armed forces, and one that I have heard about first-hand from service members” in North Carolina, Hagan said on the social networking site Twitter.

The meeting was convened by Valerie Jarrett, a top adviser to Obama, and Tina Tchen, chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama. Among other White House officials who attended the meeting was Kathryn Ruemmler, counsel to the president.

“The group discussed various legislative proposals as well as actions that the administration could take to hold offenders accountable, improve the reporting process, support victims, and work towards the prevention of sexual assault,” a White House official said after the meeting.

The official did not spell out those actions.

There are several bills in the works.

Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington and Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who were at the White House meeting, introduced a bill this week which includes measures that would provide victims with a military lawyer, and would refer sexual assault cases to the court-martial level.

Companion legislation are to be introduced in the House of Representatives by Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat.

Ryan, who was at the meeting, called the problem “an epidemic that threatens the very foundations of our military.”

Republican Representative Jackie Walorski of Indiana, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the meeting helped develop strategy for passing new legislation.

Walorski has introduced a bill providing whistleblower protections for survivors of military sexual violence.

Ohio Representative Mike Turner, a leading Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said the annual defense policy bills for 2014 could provide vehicles for legislation to combat the problem.

“I feel that there is positive momentum on this issue,” said Turner.

(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and Thomas Ferraro; Editing by Vicki Allen and Mohammad Zargham)

This was the latest tactic in a series of procedural moves by Republicans that have made it difficult for Obama to get his second-term cabinet in place – and achieved what some say is a new record in the number of written questions asked to a nominee.

All eight Republicans on the Senate Environment Committee refused to participate in a scheduled vote on McCarthy, effectively stalling her nomination before it could advance to the next stage – a full Senate vote.

The White House responded with outrage. “The obstruction is reaching new levels of absurdity,” Dan Pfeiffer, a top advisor to Obama, said on the social networking site Twitter. Republicans have argued that various EPA rules have hurt jobs and the coal industry because they cost too much to implement, and have accused the agency of not being transparent in its policies.

McCarthy was in charge of developing many of those regulations in her previous job at the EPA. She is well-known by lawmakers and her nomination was applauded by many industries regulated by the EPA.

David Vitter of Louisiana, the ranking Republican on the Senate Environment committee, told reporters the boycott was not related to McCarthy’s qualifications but to her refusal to answer questions about transparency within the agency.

Republicans asked her more than 1,000 questions after her official nomination hearing.

In contrast, Republicans asked Lisa Jackson, Obama’s first EPA administrator, 118 questions after her nomination hearing, said a Democratic official familiar with the nomination process.

Lawmakers asked Jack Lew, now Treasury Secretary, a total of 462 written questions after his confirmation hearing earlier this year.

“Part of the goal is to wear down and make untenable the nomination,” said George Washington University’s Sarah Binder, an expert on Congress, who said in an interview that Obama has had a difficult time getting Senate approval for his cabinet choices compared to previous presidents.

Although the Democratic majority controls the Senate and its committees, congressional rules give some procedural advantages to the minority Republicans enabling them to stall or block legislation and nominees.

The boycott of McCarthy’s vote comes a day after Republican senators used an obscure procedural rule to delay a scheduled committee vote on Obama’s nominee for labor secretary, Thomas Perez.

The nomination of Ernest Moniz, Obama’s pick to head the Energy Department, has also stalled over a dispute with a South Carolina senator about the government’s management of a nuclear waste disposal project in the state.

Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan also had tough work getting Senate confirmation.

CARPER: ‘ABOVE AND BEYOND’

McCarthy was a state environmental official in Connecticut and Massachusetts before joining the EPA in 2009. She was the top environmental enforcer for Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, when he was governor of Massachusetts.

Environmental groups called the Republican tactics “new lows” given her qualifications and popularity.

“By any measure, Gina McCarthy deserves to be confirmed, but Republicans on this committee are apparently more concerned with scoring political points than protecting public health,” said Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters.

Democratic Senator Tom Carper of Delaware said McCarthy had gone “above and beyond the requirements of a nominee” in answering more than 1,000 questions and meeting with almost half the 100-member Senate.

Wyoming Republican John Barrasso said the delay in McCarthy’s nomination did not pose an operational problem for the agency, calling acting administrator Bob Perciasepe was “more than qualified” to run the EPA in the meantime.

In their letter to Boxer, Republican Senators noted that environment and public works committee Democrats, when in the minority, staged a similar boycott in 2003 of EPA nominee Michael Leavitt, forcing a vote to be rescheduled. Leavitt was ultimately confirmed.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Roberta Rampton; additional reporting by Rachele Younglai; writing by Ros Krasny; editing by Vicki Allen and Jackie Frank)

This was the latest tactic in a series of procedural moves
by Republicans that have made it difficult for Obama to get his
second-term cabinet in place – and achieved what some say is a
new record in the number of written questions asked to a
nominee.

All eight Republicans on the Senate Environment Committee
refused to participate in a scheduled vote on McCarthy,
effectively stalling her nomination before it could advance to
the next stage – a full Senate vote.

The White House responded with outrage. “The obstruction is
reaching new levels of absurdity,” Dan Pfeiffer, a top advisor
to Obama, said on the social networking site Twitter.
Republicans have argued that various EPA rules have hurt jobs
and the coal industry because they cost too much to implement,
and have accused the agency of not being transparent in its
policies.

McCarthy was in charge of developing many of those
regulations in her previous job at the EPA. She is well-known by
lawmakers and her nomination was applauded by many industries
regulated by the EPA.

David Vitter of Louisiana, the ranking Republican on the
Senate Environment committee, told reporters the boycott was not
related to McCarthy’s qualifications but to her refusal to
answer questions about transparency within the agency.

Republicans asked her more than 1,000 questions after her
official nomination hearing.

In contrast, Republicans asked Lisa Jackson, Obama’s first
EPA administrator, 118 questions after her nomination hearing,
said a Democratic official familiar with the nomination process.

Lawmakers asked Jack Lew, now Treasury Secretary, a total of
462 written questions after his confirmation hearing earlier
this year.

“Part of the goal is to wear down and make untenable the
nomination,” said George Washington University’s Sarah Binder,
an expert on Congress, who said in an interview that Obama has
had a difficult time getting Senate approval for his cabinet
choices compared to previous presidents.

Although the Democratic majority controls the Senate and its
committees, congressional rules give some procedural advantages
to the minority Republicans enabling them to stall or block
legislation and nominees.

The boycott of McCarthy’s vote comes a day after Republican
senators used an obscure procedural rule to delay a scheduled
committee vote on Obama’s nominee for labor secretary, Thomas
Perez.

The nomination of Ernest Moniz, Obama’s pick to head the
Energy Department, has also stalled over a dispute with a South
Carolina senator about the government’s management of a nuclear
waste disposal project in the state.

Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Central
Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan also had tough work
getting Senate confirmation.

CARPER: ‘ABOVE AND BEYOND’

McCarthy was a state environmental official in Connecticut
and Massachusetts before joining the EPA in 2009. She was the
top environmental enforcer for Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican
presidential nominee, when he was governor of Massachusetts.

Environmental groups called the Republican tactics “new
lows” given her qualifications and popularity.

“By any measure, Gina McCarthy deserves to be confirmed, but
Republicans on this committee are apparently more concerned with
scoring political points than protecting public health,” said
Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters.

Democratic Senator Tom Carper of Delaware said McCarthy had
gone “above and beyond the requirements of a nominee” in
answering more than 1,000 questions and meeting with almost half
the 100-member Senate.

Wyoming Republican John Barrasso said the delay in
McCarthy’s nomination did not pose an operational problem for
the agency, calling acting administrator Bob Perciasepe was
“more than qualified” to run the EPA in the meantime.

In their letter to Boxer, Republican Senators noted that
environment and public works committee Democrats, when in the
minority, staged a similar boycott in 2003 of EPA nominee
Michael Leavitt, forcing a vote to be rescheduled. Leavitt was
ultimately confirmed.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Roberta Rampton; additional
reporting by Rachele Younglai; writing by Ros Krasny; editing by
Vicki Allen and Jackie Frank)

Earlier this week, the Pentagon released its 2012 annual report on sexual assault in the military, which showed a 37 percent jump in estimated sex crimes to 26,000.

Thursday’s meeting will be led by Valerie Jarrett, a top advisor to Obama, and Tina Tchen, chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama, who lead the White House Council on Women and Girls, which coordinates and elevates federal policies on women’s issues across the government.

The Pentagon report came just after the Air Force removed the head of its sexual assault prevention office after he was charged with groping a woman while drunk in a parking lot near the Pentagon.

President Barack Obama reacted with anger to the report and the incident, and vowed to “root this out completely.”

“We find out somebody’s engaging in this stuff, they’ve got to be held accountable. Prosecuted. Stripped out of their positions. Court-martialed. Fired. Dishonorably discharged. Period. It’s not acceptable,” Obama said on Tuesday.

Lawmakers have been outraged by the reports, excoriating military leaders at hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday for failing to deal with a long history of sex assault scandals.

The list of invited lawmakers was not available before the meeting, but Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire and Kay Hagan from North Carolina announced they would attend, as did Republican Representative Mike Turner of Ohio, co-chair of the Military Sexual Assault Prevention Caucus.

“The list that was invited was bicameral, bipartisan, both women and men, brought in to participate in a discussion on combating sexual assault in the military,” a White House official said.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Vicki Allen)

The speech from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suggests that Republicans will throw up procedural hurdles to prevent Perez from serving as the Obama administration’s next labor secretary.

“Unbound by the rules that apply to everyone else, Mr. Perez seems to view himself as free to employ whatever means at his disposal, legal or otherwise, to achieve his ideological goals,” the Kentucky senator said on the Senate floor.

McConnell’s speech was designed to rally his members to oppose the nomination, and provides cover for other Republicans who may be thinking about opposing Obama’s pick, said George Washington University’s Sarah Binder, an expert on Congress.

“I think it matters that it is Mitch McConnell here, laying the marker down on why he’s opposing the nominee,” Binder said.

LATINO SUCCESS STORY

Perez, 51, is currently head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and has worked on civil rights issues in a series of government positions during his career.

Obama has described Perez’s career as exemplifying the American success story. Perez, the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, helped pay for college by working as a garbage collector and in a warehouse.

The nomination was championed by Hispanic groups, which have pushed for more representation in the Cabinet.

As Labor Secretary, he would have a key role in Obama’s efforts to raise the minimum wage and overhaul immigration laws.

Republicans allege that Perez entered into a quid pro quo deal with St. Paul, Minnesota, in which he got the city to withdraw a Supreme Court appeal in exchange for the department not filing charges alleging St. Paul had filed false claims in a government funding application.

Perez denies the allegation.

On Wednesday, Senator Marco Rubio – a Hispanic from Florida often touted as a potential presidential candidate in 2016 – also said he thought Perez would be a “disastrous” choice.

“Many Americans, especially those of us of Hispanic descent, celebrate his success and his personal story,” Rubio said in a statement. “Unfortunately, intellect and work ethic are not sufficient qualifications for a cabinet secretary.”

SECOND DELAY FOR VOTE

The Senate Health and Labor Committee had been scheduled to vote on Perez’s nomination on Wednesday. But Republicans invoked an obscure rule that prevents committees from meeting when the Senate is in session.

The committee is expected to hold the vote next week, marking the second time the panel has had to reschedule the vote due to Republican maneuvers. Although Obama’s Democrats control the Senate 55-45, they would need 60 votes to clear a procedural roadblock.

Health and Labor Committee chairman, Democratic Senator Tom Harkin, said he has given Republicans ample time to vet Perez and said his colleagues were now delaying the vote for “delay’s sake.”

The White House accused Republicans of “politicizing” the nomination, but brushed off concerns Perez would be blocked.

“He’s enormously qualified and there has not been a case made that is not political and partisan against his nomination, and we hope and expect the Senate will move forward,” spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

Two of Obama’s other cabinet picks, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan, had tough confirmations but eventually succeeded.

Obama has had a difficult time getting Senate approval for his cabinet choices compared to his predecessors, Binder said. Previous presidents have rarely had to meet a 60-vote threshold to secure a confirmation, whereas Republicans have made that “the new norm” for Obama.

“There’s no doubt that many nominations are killed by being drawn out and wearing down the nominee,” Binder said, explaining that the longer the delay until a vote, the more time opposition can “fester and grow.”

(Additional reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Eric Walsh)

Obama, an avid golfer with a respectable 17 handicap, rarely takes politics to the greens, preferring instead to golf with friends and staffers far out of the sight of the reporters who travel with him.

But he invited Chambliss and two other senators to play the south course at the Andrews military base in suburban Washington, part of his effort to advance his second-term agenda by having better relationships with Congress. .

Chambliss hit a five iron 156 yards for a surprise hole in one on the 11th hole. The feat was the talk of Washington, but the Georgia Republican was modest about the shot.

“It was pretty special. The ball actually flew the route I wanted it to go,” Chambliss told reporters back at the Senate, after the game was cut short after 15 holes due to a vote.

“I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have a hole in one. Anyone who says having a hole-in-one is skill, they’re living in another world,” he said.

Obama paired up with Democrat Mark Udall of Colorado, the top-ranked golfer in Congress as measured by Golf Digest in 2011. The magazine estimated Udall’s handicap at 2.

But the hole-in-one helped deliver the match to Chambliss and Bob Corker, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who has a 2.1 handicap.

“The president got it out of the hole and handed it to me, and then they brought the flag out later. He signed the flag, and everybody signed the flag, and it was pretty neat,” said Chambliss, who has golfed for 40 years, and has a 7.4 handicap.

Obama has waged bitter fights with Congress over how best to tame the deficit and on proposed new gun control laws after December’s school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

But the president has also been criticized for failing to work more closely with the Senate and House of Representatives. He has responded in recent months by hosting dinners and lunches with small groups of lawmakers from both parties to try to find common ground on issues.

Chambliss said the foursome did not discuss immigration reform, a top priority for Obama, which begins to wind its way through Congress this week.

Chambliss said the foursome talked “a little bit” about the crisis in Syria, cybersecurity and fiscal issues.

“Actually, I told him since I’d made a hole-in-one, he ought to give us everything we want on entitlement reform,” Chambliss quipped.

But it was not a day for detailed policy debates.

“This was a day to get away from the office and the president seemed like he enjoyed himself and I know the three of us did, and it was just like playing with my usual Saturday morning foursome,” Chambliss said.

“There was a lot of jawing back-and-forth on short putts,” said Chambliss, who plans to frame the ball and flag. “It was just a fun day.”

Obama golfed 113 times in his first term, according to Mark Knoller of CBS News, who keeps statistics on the president.

He played with House Republican Speaker John Boehner (handicap: 7.9) in June 2011 and has played twice with Democratic Representative Jim Clyburn (11.3) from South Carolina, in August 2009 and again a year later, Knoller said.

So far in his second term, he has golfed about a dozen times, including his first-ever round with Tiger Woods, the world’s top-ranked golfer.

Golf handicaps are a measure of ability and a lower handicap signifies a better player.

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Obama, an avid golfer with a respectable 17 handicap, rarely takes politics to the greens, preferring instead to golf with friends and staffers far out of the sight of the reporters who travel with him.

But he has been trying harder in his second term with a schmooze offensive, reaching out to members of Congress whom he has blamed for thwarting proposals he believes would improve the economy.

Democrat Mark Udall of Colorado, the top-ranked golfer in Congress as measured by Golf Digest in 2011, led the bipartisan foursome at the Andrews military base in suburban Washington. The magazine estimated his handicap at 2.

Bob Corker, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with a 2.1 handicap, and Saxby Chambliss, a Republican from Georgia, whose handicap is 7.4, rounded out the group.

“With the major fiscal issues our country is facing, not to mention foreign relations issues around the world, anytime you can get the president’s ear for a few hours, I think that’s a good thing,” said Corker, in a statement provided by his staff.

Obama has waged bitter fights with Congress over how best to tame the deficit and on proposed new gun control laws after December’s school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

But the president has also been criticized for failing to work more closely with the Senate and House of Representatives. He has responded in recent months by hosting dinners and lunches with small groups of lawmakers from both parties to try to find common ground on issues.

Asked whether golf is conducive to conversation about deficit reduction, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: “Well, he’s willing to try anything.”

Obama golfed 113 times in his first term, according to Mark Knoller of CBS News, known for keeping statistics on the president.

He played with House Republican Speaker John Boehner (handicap: 7.9) in June 2011 and has played twice with Democratic Representative Jim Clyburn (11.3) from South Carolina, in August 2009 and again a year later, Knoller said.

So far in his second term, he has golfed about a dozen times, including his first-ever round with Tiger Woods, the world’s top-ranked golfer.

Reporters protested about a lack of access to Obama after they were barred from that game.

Golf handicaps are a measure of ability and a lower handicap signifies a better player.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; additional reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)