Obama鈥檚 post-vacation blues: Egypt and NSA spying on Americans
As he heads home from his Martha鈥檚 Vineyard vacation Sunday night, President Obama faces two major challenges: what to do about Egypt鈥檚 violent political turmoil, and how to handle the latest revelations about National Security Agency聽(NSA) spying on Americans.
On Egypt, everyone in Washington agrees that the United States聽must respond. The question is, how?
Mr. Obama has condemned the violence, which has seen hundreds of people killed as forces of the military-backed interim government battle supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood party.
鈥淲hile we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back,鈥� he said in a brief statement last week.
Specifically, Obama acted on that 鈥渢raditional cooperation鈥� by canceling joint military exercises scheduled for September and delaying the delivery of four F-16 fighter jets.
But on the TV talk shows Sunday, lawmakers of both parties urged him to do more, including suspending聽the $1.3 billion in aid the US provides to Egypt each year.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see how we can give them aid in light of what has happened,鈥� Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) of New Hampshire said on NBC鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press.鈥� 鈥淚 do support suspending aid to Egypt at this time.鈥�
Sen. Jack Reed (D) of Rhode Island agreed: 鈥淚 do think we can send a strong signal by suspending aid.鈥�
Speaking on 鈥淔ox News Sunday,鈥� Sen. Richard Blumenthal聽(D) of Connecticut聽said he would make aid to Egypt conditional 鈥渙n specific steps toward the rule of law and return to democracy.鈥�
Sen. Bob Corker (R) of Tennessee had resisted calls to cut off aid. But on Sunday, he switched positions. "I think we need to look at the tiers of our aid," he said on ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week.鈥�
Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona took the hardest line.
"We have no credibility,鈥� he said on CNN鈥檚 鈥淪tate of the Union.鈥� "For us to sit by and watch this happen is a violation of everything that we stand for.鈥�
Meanwhile, Obama is having to deal with the latest revelation about the NSA: that the electronic spy agency regularly collected e-mails and telephone metadata on Americans without first obtaining legal authorization.
The聽agency聽has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, The Washington Post reported last week.
The infractions聽range from significant violations of law to typographical errors that resulted in unintended interception of US e-mails and telephone calls, the Post said, citing an internal audit and other top-secret documents provided it earlier this summer from NSA leaker Edward Snowden, a former systems analyst with the agency.
While Obama as president and commander in chief has prime responsibility here, lawmakers are feeling the heat of public criticism as well.
鈥淒oubts and criticisms about government snooping have started to surface in numerous districts and states,鈥� reports Politico.com. 鈥淎mid the mounting revelations, some voters seem eager to have a debate that President Barack Obama and most of Washington never wanted in the first place.鈥�
鈥淩ep. Chris Van Hollen, (D) of Michigan, for example, already has tangled with protestors who are seething over the pol鈥檚 position on surveillance, and activists have rallied against House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco,鈥� Politico reports. 鈥淩ep. Zoe Lofgren, (D) of California, has addressed her constituents鈥� deep-seated distrust of government directly. And perhaps looking to capitalize on the news, Rep. Rush Holt, (D) of New Jersey, had invited the reporter who first unveiled the scope of the NSA鈥檚 surveillance programs 鈥� Glenn Greenwald 鈥� to speak at one of his campaign events.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 a very real interest and concern expressed more frequently than ever before,鈥� Senator Blumenthal told the news site. 鈥淚 think Americans have become strongly questioning about big institutions in their lives 鈥� not just big government, but big banks, big corporations.鈥�
In a statement responding to the Washington Post story on NSA spying, Obama said the administration is 鈥渒eeping the Congress appropriately informed of compliance issues as they arise.鈥�
Some Democrats are not so sure.
鈥淚 remain concerned that we are still not getting straightforward answers from the NSA,鈥澛燬enate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D) of Vermont said in a statement.
Adding together the new Egypt and NSA challenges, Washington Post political blogger Chris Cillizza wrote that Obama 鈥渉ad the worst week in Washington鈥� during his vacation on the beaches and golf courses of Massachusetts.
Noting that there seemed to be a pattern in the president鈥檚 work breaks being interrupted (the 鈥渇iscal cliff,鈥� the toppling of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy), Mr. Cillizza wrote that 鈥淧resident Obama should probably just stop taking vacations.鈥澛�
This report includes material from The Associated Press.
