President Obama is said to be close to issuing a directive aimed at loosening the government's system for classifying national security information -- a sticky issue that puts his vows of openness and transparency on a collision course with homeland security efforts and intelligence gathering.

Earlier this month, the congressionally appointed Public Interest Declassification Board strongly urged Obama to address a backlog of 400 million pages of information housed at the National Archives and Records Administration that's inaccessible to the public.

The volume of classified records "produces extended delays, decisions that often fail to reflect a comprehensive understanding of an issue, and indiscriminate processing of records without regard for their historical significance," acting board chair Martin Faga wrote in a March 6 letter to Obama.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner was oozing confidence Monday morning as he outlined more details about the Obama administration's plan to sweep toxic assets of bank balance sheets.

Not that the public actually saw his performance. The off-camera briefing for reporters filled in details of the government response Geithner first unveiled to a media horde in the Treasury Building's ornate Cash Room on Feb. 10 -- an appearance widely criticized for its lack of specificity that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting 382 points.

Facing an intensifying outcry over the bonuses paid to employees of American International Group Inc. and the way his administration is overseeing efforts to stabilize the finanicial system, President Obama will hold a prime-time news conference next Tuesday, March 24, at 8 p.m., administration officials said on Wednesday.

It will mark the president's second nationally televised go-round with members of White House press corps, following Obama's maiden bow on Feb. 9. During that session, the president's lengthy, multi-part answers only permitted him to take 13 questions from pre-selected reporters. Based on his remarks the past few days, expect him to sharply chastise Republicans calling for the scalp of Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and to portray the administration of George W. Bush and its Republican allies as the ones responsible for creating the financial mess.

Some daily tracking polls show Obama's favorable ratings slipping, but that his support holding in the high 50-low 60 percent range. A few well-time slaps at corporate greed and indifference should bump those numbers.But it's doubtful the news conference will draw the kind of ratings Obama is likely to get on Thursday, when he's scheduled to appear on the Tonight Show

The Obama administration may have angered evangelical Christians by overturning President Bush's curbs on embryonic stem cell research and prohibitions on sending aid to groups that support abortion overseas.

But that doesn't mean the White House is shutting out its adversaries.

Joshua DuBois, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, on Tuesday will host representatives of evangelical groups, including the Family Research Council and Concerned Women of America in an effort to find some common ground, White House officials confirmed on Monday.

On March 9, President Obama ordered federal agencies to consult with the Justice Department before they rely on President George W. Bush's "signing statements" and outlined the circumstances under which he would issue such declarations, which assert limits on Congress' power over the executive branch.

It didn't take him long to find an occasion.

On Wednesday, Obama signed the fiscal 2009 omnibus (HR 1105) and promptly issued a list of grievances with the catchall spending law, citing provisions he said encroach on his power to conduct foreign affairs, direct military missions and make spending decisions.

Making another break with his immediate predecessor, President Obama on Monday issued a memorandum ordering federal departments to consult with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. before using Bush administration signing statements as a legal justification to bypass certain federal laws.

The statements are a prerogative presidents have used for more than two centuries to reserve the right to ignore provisions or implement them only in ways they believe are constitutional. Former President George W. Bush used them to object to more than 1,000 provisions of laws he enacted, according to a Congressional Research Service report, reasoning it was expedient to selectively interpret new laws.

President Obama not only moved to fill a key Cabinet vacancy on Monday by selecting Kathleen Sebelius as his nominee for secretary of health and human services.

He also found someone to fill the somewhat vaguely defined post of "health czar," naming Clinton administration veteran Nancy-Ann DeParle to head the White House Office of Health Reform.

You'll recall both of these positions were supposed to be taken by ex-Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle before he withdrew his name from consideration amid questions about tax problems and potential conficts-of-interest.