As Defense Department staff are called back to work despite the shutdown, we wondered, exactly who is essential and who decides? In theory, officials rely on guidance from the OMB about what jobs protect life and property, but in reality "every bit of it is political."
President Obama meets with House Republicans at the White House today, but the spin has already started, dampening hopes of meaningful progress toward reopening the government and resolving the looming debt crisis.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warns Senators this morning about debt default. Lew is scheduled to testify starting at 8:30. He may face questions about whether the potential default will be as immediate and disastrous as predicted.
Libya's Prime Minister was kidnapped and released this morning. Ali Zeidan said the rebels, who abducted him from a hotel in Tripoli, wanted him to resign. The U.S. is questioning an al Qaida suspect after snatching him from a Tripoli street on Saturday.
And the Nobel Prize in literature goes to Alice Munro.
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