Tagged: President Barack Obama

President Obama will make two cabinet announcements this afternoon. Sources say he will nominate former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense and counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan to direct the Central Intelligence Agency.

Listen live to NPR's coverage of the announcements starting at 1 p.m., hosted by Ari Shapiro. He will be joined by Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving; Correspondent Tom Gjelten and National Political Correspondent Mara Liasson at the White House.

President Barack Obama has re-nominated Shelly Deckert Dick to fill a vacancy on the federal bench in Baton Rouge.

Dick, a Baton Rouge attorney, originally was nominated in April 2012. She is one of 33 candidates for federal judgeships who were re-nominated Thursday by Obama.

Obama said in a statement that many of the nominations "could have and should have been confirmed" before the Senate adjourned.

Dick was nominated fill the seat in the Middle District of Louisiana left vacant by the death of Chief U.S. District Judge Ralph Tyson.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is widely viewed as one of the nation's most conservative federal appellate courts, but President Barack Obama could get a chance to change that perception.

Republican presidents nominated 10 of the 15 active judges serving on the New Orleans-based court. But six of those GOP-nominated judges are eligible for senior status or will be in the next four years, a change that would allow Obama's Democratic administration to nominate their replacements.

The Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band will represent Louisiana in January at the parade honoring the inauguration of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

The parade is set for Jan. 21 in Washington.

The News-Star reports the Grambling band marched in parades for the inaugural parades of presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush in addition to the 2009 inaugural of Obama.