http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/?hp=ar By KEVIN CIRILLI |
1/26/14 9:16 AM EST
President Barack Obama's senior adviser, Dan Pfeiffer. said on Sunday the president will reiterate during Tuesday's State of the Union address that he'll use his "pen and phone" in 2014 to move his agenda forward.
"We need to assure to the American people that we can get something done either through Congress or on our own because what they want are answers," Pheiffer said on CNN's "State of the Union."
"He is going to look in every way he can with his pen and his phone to try to move the ball forward," Pfeiffer said. "We're putting an extra emphasis on it in 2014."
The president is looking to "build on" the bipartisan budget agreement put forth by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Pfeiffer said, pointing to issues like extending unemployment benefits and passing immigration reform that rank high on the president's agenda.
"The public ended 2013 very frustrated -- we had a shutdown, a near default and then the problems with the Healthcare.gov website. All of us in Washington -- the president included -- need to do what we can to restore trust with the American people," Pfeiffer said. "And that's what the president is going to begin on Tuesday night."
