Obama sets new course

WASHINGTON - President Obama moved swiftly yesterday to begin rolling back eight years of his predecessor's policies, ordering tough new ethics rules and preparing to issue an order closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, which has been at the center of the debate over the treatment of U.S. prisoners in the campaign against terror.

Acting to address several campaign promises, Obama met with top generals about speeding the withdrawal from Iraq and gathered his senior economic advisers as he continued to push for a massive government spending bill to create jobs.

He also signed a series of executive orders and directives intended to slow the revolving door between government service and lobbying, and ordered his administration to more freely share information with the public.

Today, he will issue an order calling for the closure of the Guantanamo center within a year, an immediate case-by-case review of the 245 detainees remaining there, and the application of new rules governing the treatment and interrogation of prisoners, including compliance with international treaties that the Bush administration deemed inapplicable to suspects in terrorism cases.

Just hours after his inauguration Tuesday, Obama ordered the suspension of all judicial proceedings at Guantanamo under the auspices of the Bush administration's military commissions system. Sources familiar with the briefings also said Obama would sign two executive orders altering CIA detention and interrogation standards.

The actions are dramatic evidence that Obama is ready to use his authority and political capital to turn back some of the most controversial practices of President Bush's administration. They also suggest that the 47-year-old chief executive believes he needs to push quickly for sweeping changes.

"What a moment we're in. What an opportunity we have to change this country," Obama said as he announced the new lobbying and disclosure rules during a meeting with his senior staff yesterday.

In a frenetic first full day, Obama was everywhere: alone in the Oval Office; swearing in his staff at the Old Executive Office Building; meeting with his generals - even dropping by a staff party last night to thank them for two years of work.

The serenity of a morning prayer service quickly gave way to the grinding reality of his new responsibilities, as he placed calls to Middle East leaders. Sitting behind an almost bare desk in the Oval Office, Obama called President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel, King Abdullah of Jordan, and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. Obama pledged "active engagement" for a fragile cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza, aides said.

"In the aftermath of the Gaza conflict, he emphasized his determination to work to help consolidate the cease-fire by establishing an effective anti-smuggling regime to prevent Hamas from rearming, and facilitating in partnership with the Palestinian Authority a major reconstruction effort for Palestinians in Gaza," press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Today, Obama plans to announce the selection of former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D., Maine) as Middle East envoy, and former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke as envoy for Afghanistan, Pakistan "and related matters," sources close to the administration said.

Obama's hour-long discussion with senior national security, military and diplomatic advisers centered on the situation Iraq and the withdrawal of U.S. troops. The president issued no orders, sources said, but instead outlined his goal of withdrawing all combat troops within 16 months.

Obama "asked the military leadership to engage in additional planning necessary to execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq," according to a White House statement. It also said Obama would visit the Pentagon for a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and planned "a full review of the situation in Afghanistan."

The new president also moved to fulfill another campaign promise. "As of today, lobbyists will be subject to stricter limits than under any . . . other administration in history," Obama told reporters as he signed the ethics rules. The restrictions included a ban on gifts by lobbyists to anyone serving in the administration.

Under the new lobbying rules, presidential appointees will not be allowed to lobby any agency of the federal government as long as Obama remains in office.

He also imposed a pay freeze for about 100 White House aides who earn $100,000 or more. And, turning existing law on its head, he instructed federal agencies to be more responsive to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act by erring on the side of making materials public, rather than looking for reasons to legally withhold them.

On Tuesday, within hours of Obama's inauguration, his administration froze last-minute Bush administration regulations before they could take effect. Among them was an Interior Department proposal to remove gray wolves from endangered-species protections in much of the northern Rocky Mountains, and a Labor Department recommendation that would allow companies that manage employee-retirement plans to market investment products to plan participants.

Some of Obama's cabinet nominations moved toward completion. The Senate confirmed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state after a one-day delay forced by Republicans. The vote was 94-2, and spectators seated in the galleries erupted in applause when it was announced.

Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner emerged relatively unscathed from his confirmation hearing, apologizing for having failed to pay $34,000 in taxes earlier in the decade.

But, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary panel invoked long-standing rules to postpone a vote on Eric Holder's appointment as attorney general.

New president, new White House Web site. See more via http:// go.philly.com/obama.web EndText

Madam Secretary:

Hillary Clinton, right, is confirmed to lead State. Action on Eric Holder is delayed.

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First Family: The president settles into the Oval Office, while his daughters get a day

off from school. A16.

Do-Over: Obama retakes the oath of office from the chief justice, after the flub on Inauguration Day. A17.

Hearing: Treasury

pick Timothy Geithner, left, apologized

to senators for late tax

payments. A16.