WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama took his second-term “schmooze offensive” to the golf course on Monday, bonding in a bipartisan foursome as Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss hit a hole-in-one.

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.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama hit the golf course on Monday with two Republican senators and a Democrat, part of an effort to advance his second-term agenda by having better relationships with Congress.

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.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will travel on Thursday to Austin, Texas, the first stop in a new series of day trips designed to draw attention to policies and programs that help spur the economy, and build support for his economic policies, the White House said on Sunday.

In Austin, Obama will visit a high school and a technology company, and will talk with entrepreneurs and workers about proposals he made earlier this year to boost jobs and training.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Sunday urged college graduates to participate in politics and said that without broad public involvement special interest groups can defeat legislation supported by the majority.

Obama, who said he is “obsessed with this issue” of inspiring citizens to engage with the political system, in a commencement address to Ohio State University was indirectly referring to the recent defeat of a proposal to expand background checks for gun purchases.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For the past four years, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has rarely passed up the chance to chide American drivers for using mobile phones and other devices while driving, often speaking directly to drivers in radio ads during the morning commute.

The loquacious LaHood used the White House announcement ceremony on Monday for his replacement as transportation secretary to make one last plea for safer driving – and to say his goodbyes to politics.

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) – For the past four years,
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has rarely passed up the
chance to chide American drivers for using mobile phones and
other devices while driving, often speaking directly to drivers
in radio ads during the morning commute.

The loquacious LaHood used the White House announcement
ceremony on Monday for his replacement as transportation
secretary to make one last plea for safer driving – and to say
his goodbyes to politics.

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) – More than a year after the
United States and Mexico signed a much-lauded deal that would
remove obstacles to expanding deepwater drilling for oil in the
Gulf of Mexico, the agreement still has not been finalized by
the United States.

The delay, for which people close to the administration
blame Congress while Republicans in Congress blame the
administration, is certain to be discussed when President Barack
Obama visits Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico City
on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Thursday he would pick Howard Shelanski, an antitrust expert, as his new regulatory czar, a powerful White House position charged with reviewing regulations proposed by government departments.

Shelanski, who is both an economist and a lawyer, is currently in charge of a team of economists that reviews competition and consumer protection issues at the Federal Trade Commission.

NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) – The boom in domestic oil and
gas production has strengthened the hand of the United States in
global affairs and is having a profound impact on U.S. security
and foreign policy, President Barack Obama’s national security
adviser said on Wednesday.

In his first major speech on energy policy, Tom Donilon said
the unexpected growth in oil and gas production has created jobs
and made the U.S. economy stronger, giving the U.S. new leverage
in its dealings with other countries.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama hopped on a mountain bike that was mounted on blocks and pedaled away, taking part in a science experiment on how to filter unsafe drinking water during an emergency.

The invention was the brainchild of Kiona Elliott, 18, and Payton Kaar, 16, two participants in the White House Science Fair, which Obama considers one of his favorite events of the year.