Scott Horsley

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Of all the prosecutors' jobs in America, the one with the highest profile may well be the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York - that federal prosecutor overseas investigations of everything from the mafia to terrorism to financial crimes. During an especially busy time in the 1990s, that U.S. Attorney became Mary Jo White.

President Obama's choice to head the Securities and Exchange Commission has prosecuted terrorists and mobsters. If she's confirmed, Mary Jo White's next challenge will be tackling reckless behavior on Wall Street.

President Obama vowed in this week's inaugural speech to address climate change. The comments recevied a chilly reception in Congress. There are, however, steps the administration can take on its own.

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Many inaugural addresses play on themes that President Obama touched on yesterday.

GREENE: He cited the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, our tradition of self-government and earlier inaugural addresses.

INSKEEP: That's all pretty normal. What is different about each inauguration address is how the president molds those themes into the moment.

President Obama begins his second term much the way he ended his first — locked in a fiscal fight with congressional Republicans. But the president's argument that the November election would break the logjam hasn't panned out just yet.

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In a looming battle over the federal debt ceiling, Republicans in Congress insist they hold the cards. They do have the power to stop federal borrowing, withhold payment of federal debts and cause unknown damage to the world economy. Some want to use that power to force President Obama to reduce federal spending in the way they want.

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President Obama will nominate his chief of staff as the next treasury secretary later today. Jack Lew is a budget expert who could hit the ground running, as the Treasury tries to cope with a looming debt ceiling, automatic spending cuts and the ongoing push for long-term deficit reduction. Lew would be the latest nominee for a high-profile Cabinet post, as the president prepares for a second term.

Chuck Hagel would be the first Defense secretary to have worn the uniform of an enlisted man, and also the first to have fought in Vietnam. Hagel won two purple hearts, and still carries some of the scars and shrapnel from that war. Obama says that makes him the kind of Pentagon leader that U.S. troops deserve.

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President Obama may be going into the next big budget fight without his long-time treasury secretary. Timothy Geithner had been planning to leave before the start of the president's second term, but that would mean he is departing with the debt ceiling still looming and the Treasury scrambling to keep up with the government's bills.

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NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now. And, Scott, Secretary Geithner has made no secret of his plans to leave the government, but it sounds like his departure could be complicated.

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The party went until the morning hours here in Washington. We're talking about the gathering on Capitol Hill. Senators were voting around 2:00 a.m. Eastern Time.