The AP: “The president’s sweeping, $500 million plan, coming one month after the school massacre in Connecticut, marks the most comprehensive effort to tighten gun laws in nearly two decades. But his proposals, most of which are opposed by the National Rifle Association, face a doubtful future in a divided Congress where Republicans control the House.”

USA Today: “President Obama unveiled the most sweeping set of gun-control proposals in two decades on Wednesday, a package that includes universal background checks on all gun buyers and a renewed ban on ‘military-style’ assault weapons.”

And USA Today makes this point: “The beauty of a second term presidency, at least for the man in the Oval Office, is that political calculations become less important as he considers policies he wants to pursue. President Obama's sweeping gun-safety agenda laid out Wednesday reflects just that reality as he called on Americans to get behind a dramatic plan that he believes can help stem gun violence.”

Politico makes a similar point: “For one of the few instances in his presidency, he now appears willing to burn political capital by pressuring Senate Democrats to vote for a measure that is likely to die in the House, a symbolic victory that sets the stage, he hopes, for more meaningful ones. Along with his tough stances on the debt ceiling, it’s part of a second-term strategy of calculated confrontation: Republicans won’t negotiate with him, so he plans to marshal popular opinion to force them into action.”

So does Ron Brownstein: “The wide-ranging proposals on gun control that Barack Obama is expected to announce tomorrow (Jan. 16) symbolize the change in attitude accompanying his second presidential term. Rapidly accelerating a process that began during his campaign, Obama since November has confidently picked fights with Republicans—and challenged the most conservative members of his own party—on a broad range of foreign-policy and domestic social issues. Besides gun control these include immigration, the pace of withdrawal from Afghanistan and the nomination of Republican senator Chuck Hagel as Defense secretary, a red flag for the GOP’s neo-conservative wing.”

More: Many see Obama’s newfound aggression as a sign that he feels liberated by knowing that he will never again face the voters. … But it also reflects the changing demographics that got Obama re-elected. Since the 1970s Democrats have often been paralyzed by the fear of losing culturally conservative white voters if they moved too far left, particularly on social and foreign-policy issues. And in fact, those voters did stampede away from Obama last November in even larger numbers than in 2008: Exit polls conducted on election day found that Republican Mitt Romney carried over three-fifths of both whites older than 45 and whites without a four-year college degree. Yet Obama not only won without them, but won convincingly.”

Not the facts, ma’am… USA Today: “President Obama's demand Wednesday for research into gun violence could usher in a flood of data on the nation's 32,000 annual gun deaths after decades of an information blackout. Scientists and policy makers say they have little scientific data about gun violence after Congress prohibited federal agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), from offering research grants to study anything that could be used to promote gun control.”

The Hill notes that Obama’s initiating a fight with the NRA and Congress.

As we wrote yesterday, despite how relatively weak Obama’s executive actions are on guns, Republicans are reacting caustically. Here was Rand Paul on Fox accusing Obama of having a “king complex”: “I’m afraid that President Obama may have this ‘king complex’ sort of developing, and we’re going to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

AP: “Despite a relentless workload ahead, President Barack Obama is lighter on his feet in one sense as he opens his second term. Gone are the hundreds of promises of the past. He’s toting carry-ons instead of heavy cargo this time. Obama’s first presidential campaign and the years that followed were distinguished by an overflowing ambition, converted into a checklist of things he swore to do. The list was striking not only for its length but its breadth, ranging from tidbits in forgotten corners of public policy to grand — even grandiose — pronouncements worthy of Moses.”

John Kerry’s confirmation hearing is set for Jan. 24.

“As many as 20 foreign hostages, including an unknown number of Americans, being held at a natural-gas facility in the Algerian desert have escaped their captors, an Algerian official told the Associated Press on Thursday,” USA Today writes. 

AP: “President Barack Obama is likely to name Denis McDonough, one of his closest national security advisers, as his next chief of staff, according to people familiar with the White House thinking.”

USA Today calls McDonough the “strong favorite.”

Politico: “By selecting McDonough, Obama is opting for the familiar: a trusted aide who’s been at his side since the 2008 campaign and is credited with keeping the administration’s internal wheels turning smoothly on foreign policy issues. But McDonough brings less experience than his predecessors with another typical part of the job: fielding sometimes angry salvos from members of Congress with home-district concerns about aspects of the administration’s policy or budget decisions.”

“House Republicans left Washington on Wednesday morning for a retreat that will be focused on unifying the conference after the fractious fight over the “fiscal cliff," and preparing for upcoming policy battles,” The Hill notes. “Several sources said the annual gathering, held this year at the tony Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va., would have a different tone than previous years.”

“Speaker John A. Boehner’s decision to allow a bill to pass with only 49 Republican votes Tuesday has some in his party questioning whether this is the new normal and has at the same time delighted Democrats, who believe they might be able to produce similar results in the battles ahead,” Roll Call reports.

Boehner’s not the only one in a tough spot. Harry Reid is now in one on guns, notes The Hill: “The push for gun control puts Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a tough political spot. Reid’s job is to help move President Obama’s agenda through the upper chamber, but he must also protect his five-seat Senate majority, and gun-rights groups are threatening to go after vulnerable Senate Democrats who back the president’s calls for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.”

The Hill: “There’s growing angst among Republicans that the party’s House majority could be at risk in 2014 if the deep GOP divisions that emerged during the recent “fiscal cliff” negotiations persist in looming negotiations over a slew of budgetary issues.”

But Politico asks: “Which Republicans can really be unseated? The problem: Republicans used the once-a-decade redistricting process to shore up many of their members, leaving Democrats with few ripe GOP targets. Only four Republican incumbents are in seats that tilt toward Democrats — a fraction of the 17 seats Democrats need to net in order to seize the majority. In fact, there’s reason to believe that the 2014 playing field favors Republicans: There are 15 Democrats representing GOP-leaning districts, so Democrats will need to invest heavily just to maintain their current membership in the House.”

Here’s the NRCC’s top-seven targets.

Politico notes how Democratic 2016 hopefuls are using guns as their principal issue.

CNN reports that Rick Santorum will address the CPAC confab in March.

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) may be considering challenging Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) for the Senate.

Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell on Cory Booker’s efforts to get into the Senate race for the seat currently held by Frank Lautenberg: “My friend Frank Lautenberg is a dog. I mean he ain’t gonna lay down for anybody. He will make the right decision when it comes time, so I’m confident in the process. I’m confident in our bench and we’ll see what happens.”

Here’s a headline: “Kucinich Joins Fox News.” Ex-Congressman Dennis Kucinich is now a Fox news contributor.

Is the nation better off than it was four years ago?

The answer largely depends on the statistics you pick.

With President Barack Obama beginning his second term, there are plenty of numbers suggesting that the country is on more solid footing than it was when he first took office on Jan. 20, 2009.

The Dow Jones Industrial average is up 5,550 points since then. The economy is growing (instead of contracting). Consumer confidence has nearly doubled (though it remains below where it was before the Great Recession). And a larger percentage of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction (but a majority still think it’s on the wrong track).

On the other hand, there’s data indicating that the nation isn’t better off than it was four years ago – and that the Great Recession continues to take a toll on families. Median household income (adjusted for inflation) is lower than it was in 2009. And more Americans live below the poverty level than they did four years ago.

And some numbers are exactly the same. The current unemployment rate is at 7.8%, which is where it was in Jan. 2009 (though it’s down from a high of 10% in Oct. 2009). And right now, there are roughly 49 million Americans without health insurance, which is identical to where it was in 2009. (The health-insurance mandate under the health-care law doesn’t kick in until 2014.)

Here are other figures over the last four years:

-- The number of U.S. troops in Iraq has dwindled from nearly 140,000 to just 200, while the presence in Afghanistan has increased from 34,000 to 66,000.

-- The federal public debt has increased from $10.6 trillion in Jan. 2009 to $16.4 trillion now.

-- The number of Democrats serving in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and in governorships across the country has declined.

Below is a look at Obama’s presidency – so far – by the numbers. The “then” figure is the best-available figure for when Obama was taking office in 2009. And the “now” is the most recent figure. First Read, in 2009, ran a statistical then-vs.-now comparison of George W. Bush’s presidency.

Unemployment rate

Then: 7.8% (Jan. 2009)

Now: 7.8%  (Dec. 2012)

Dow Jones Industrial Average

Then: 7,949.09 (close as of Jan. 20, 2009)

Now: 13,534.89 (close as of Jan. 15, 2013)

Gross Domestic Product

Then: -5.3% (1^st quarter of 2009)

Now: +3.1% (3^rd quarter of 2012)

Consumer Confidence (1985=100)

Then: 37.4 (Jan. 2009)

Now: 65.1 (Dec. 2012)

Americans who believe the country is headed in the right direction

Then: 26% of adults (Jan. 2009 NBC/WSJ poll)

Now: 41% of adults (Dec. 2012 NBC/WSJ poll)

Median household income (adjusted for inflation)

Then: $52,195 (Census data for 2009)

Now: $50,054 (Census data for 2011)

Americans living below the poverty level

Then: 43.6 million (Census data for 2009)

Now: 46.2 million (Census data for 2011)

Americans without health insurance

Then: 49.0 million (Census data for 2009)

Now: 48.6 million (Census data for 2011)

Americans receiving food stamps

Then: 33.5 million (average for 2009)

Now: 46.6 million (average for 2012)

Federal budget deficit

Then: -1.4 trillion (FY 2009)

Now: -$1.1 trillion (FY 2012 projected)

Federal public debt

Then: $10.6 trillion (Jan. 20, 2009)

Now: $16.4 trillion (Jan. 14, 2013)

Federal spending as a percentage of GDP

Then: 25.2% (FY 2009)

Now: 24.3% (FY 2012 projected)

Median sales price of new homes

Then: $208,600 (Jan. 2009)

Now: $246,200 (Nov. 2012)

Number of Democrats in U.S. House of Representatives

Then: 257 (2009)

Now: 201 (2013)

Number of Democrats (plus independents caucusing with Dems) in U.S. Senate

Then: 58 (Jan. 2009)

Now: 55 (Jan. 2013)

Number of Democratic governors

Then: 28 (2009)

Now: 19 (2013)

Number of U.S. troops in Iraq

Then: 139,500 (Jan. 2009)

Now: 200 (Jan. 2013)

Number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan

Then: 34,400 (Jan. 2009)

Now: 66,000 (Jan. 2013)

NBC’s Courtney Kube contributed to this article.

On the 40^th anniversary of the passage of Roe v. Wade, a Pew poll finds just 29% think the landmark court case should be overturned, relatively unchanged in the past 20 years, but represents the lowest number in that time. 

Almost two-thirds -- 63% -- believe it should not be overturned. (The numbers are basically the same between men and women.)

But just 62% of Americans even know that Roe v. Wade was about abortion.

Strikingly, less than half -- 44% -- of Millennials (those under 30) know the case dealt with abortion.

If the White House gun violence policy announced today had been in effect, would it have changed the outcome of recent mass shootings?

It's impossible to say for certain, but here's a look at what it might have meant.

NEWTOWN -- A tough assault weapons ban might have blocked the sale of the Bushmaster XM-15 that Adam Lanza's mother bought legally and which police say he used to kill all his victims in the school.  A ban on high-capacity magazines might also have reduced the killing power of the weapons he brought to the school.

Jason Reed / Reuters

President Barack Obama signs executive orders on gun violence during an event at the White House in Washington, January 16, 2013.

AURORA -- As with Newtown, a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines might have reduced the killing power that James Holmes brought into the movie theater.

TUCSON -- Federal law bars gun sales to anyone who "is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance."  When Jared Loughner attempted to enlist in the Army, he admitted he was a drug user.  That information was never reported to the FBI for inclusion in the background check database, because a Justice Department policy dating from the Clinton administration directed federal agencies not to report information volunteered by drug users, for fear that it would deter drug users from seeking treatment. 

We are waiting to hear from the administration on whether President Obama's executive actions announced today will rescind that Clinton-era policy.

VIRGINIA TECH -- The dealers who sold Seung Hui Cho the guns he used in the Virginia Tech shooting followed the law to the letter, because there was no information in the system indicating that he was not qualified to buy a firearm.  Federal law bans gun sales to anyone found by a court to be a danger to himself or others because of mental illness, but under the law then in effect in Virginia, the state entered people like Cho into the gun check computers only if they'd actually been admitted as patients to a hospital. Virginia has since eliminated that loophole to bring its practices in line with federal law. 

As for requiring universal background checks, two examples come to mind:

COLUMBINE -- Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were both under age 18, the minimum age under federal law to buy a rifle or shotgun from a licensed gun dealer. They recruited an 18-year-old Columbine High School senior to help them buy several guns used in the killings. The three went to a gun show in Adams County, Colorado and bought a semiautomatic assault rifle and two shotguns with cash.  Klebold and Harris also bought an assault pistol from a private seller who had bought it at the gun show. These were the four weapons used in the Columbine attack.  

L.A. JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER -- In 1999, Buford Furrow, a white supremacist, shot and killed a letter carrier then entered the LA Jewish Community center and shot five other people, including three children. He bought the gun, without a background check, at a gun show in Washington state.  As a convicted felon, he could not have passed a federal background check. 

"In his later years. I think we have to take that into account." – Erich Pratt, head of Gun Owners of America, referring to Ronald Reagan’s support for the 1994 assault-weapons ban on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports.

Ex-Presidents Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter sent a letter in 1994 to all House members urging them to support the assault-weapons ban. 

Conservative opponents of President Obama have called him a “dictator,” a “tyrant,” “imperial,” for proposing executive actions he believes would help prevent gun violence.

“President Obama is again abusing his power by imposing his policies via executive fiat instead of allowing them to be debated in Congress,” charged Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who is widely believed to be eyeing a 2016 White House run, in response to the president’s announcement Wednesday.

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, accused the president of an "executive power grab." "Representative government is meant to give voice to the people; President Obama’s unilateral executive action ignores this principle," Priebus said in a statement. 

But the 23 executive actions the president signed today do not seem to go very far, as his critics suggest. In fact, most are administrative – publishing letters, writing memos, and appointing administrators.

There is even one the National Rifle Association would seemingly embrace -- No. 18 “Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.”

Related: Obama's gun plans spark little enthusiasm with key lawmakers

The NRA called for the government to pay for an armed guard in every school in America.

The vagueness of some of the directives may cause controversy, but only one specific one jumps out that may get some talking -- No. 16: “Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.”

There are some who believe the health-care law outlaws doctors from asking patients about guns in their homes. But that’s not true.

What it does prohibit, however, is “employers and the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services from asking about gun ownership in many instances, and it prohibits HHS from collecting such data,” according to the Kaiser Health Foundation.

Seven states – Alabama, Florida, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia -- have considered laws to prevent doctors from talking to patients about guns in their homes. Only Florida’s became law, but a federal judge issued a permanent injunction against enforcing it.

“Doctors and other mental health professionals play an important role in protecting the safety of their patients and the broader community by reporting direct and credible threats of violence to the authorities,” according to a White House fact sheet released ahead of the president’s address Wednesday. “But there is public confusion about whether federal law prohibits such reports about threats of violence.”

Recommended: White House calls NRA 'repugnant,' 'cowardly' for invoking president's children in ad

It continues, “Doctors and other health care providers also need to be able to ask about firearms in their patients’ homes and safe storage of those firearms, especially if their patients show signs of certain mental illnesses or if they have a young child or mentally ill family member at home.” 

Here are the full 23 executive actions:

Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions

Today, the President is announcing that he and the Administration will:

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.

11. Nominate an ATF director.

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

Updated at 4:48 p.m. — There was no great rush on Tuesday by lawmakers to embrace the new measures proposed by President Barack Obama to rein in gun violence.

As Obama unveiled a series of proposals — which include stricter regulations on guns — key lawmakers were noncommittal or openly skeptical of the president's new plan.

"House committees of jurisdiction will review these recommendations," said a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "And if the Senate passes a bill, we will also take a look at that."

Related: Obama unveils sweeping new gun control proposals

Obama proposed a variety of new measures, including universal background checks on firearms purchases, limits on the capacity of ammunition magazines as well as a ban on assault weapons, as part of a broader, more comprehensive effort to curb gun violence. The proposals were generated by a task force led by Vice President Joe Biden, and prompted by the massacre last month at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

In his remarks detailing the proposals, Obama acknowledged the heavy political lift involved in achieving legislation to address these issues.

"I will put all I can into this, and so will Joe," he said, the vice president by his side. "But the only way we can change is if the American people demand it."

However, essential to advancing legislation will be Republicans who run the House of Representatives, as well as a series of moderate Democrats from gun-friendly states who might fear recrimination from the National Rife Association, the influential gun rights lobby.

Already, the NRA has signaled its willingness to engage in hardball tactics, releasing an ad Tuesday labeling Obama a "hypocrite" for allowing Secret Service protection for his daughters while denying the NRA's proposal to put an armed guard in every school in America.

Related: White House calls NRA 'repugnant,' 'cowardly' for invoking president's children in ad

And while most Democrats released generally supportive statements of Obama's new gun proposals, many centrist Democratic lawmakers were mum following the announcement.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, D, a key centrist whose support could be indicative of the Obama plan's fortunes, said he would "weigh each recommendation carefully."

"However, I am disappointed that the president did not recommend the creation of the national commission on mass violence that I have proposed," Manchin said in a statement.

Republicans were either noncommittal, or openly hostile to Obama's proposals.

"House Republicans welcome the recommendations of this task force and will consider them as the House continues to examine ways to prevent tragedies like the one in Newtown," said Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee — the panel that would consider new gun laws.

"However, good intentions do not necessarily make good laws, so as we investigate the causes and search for solutions, we must ensure that any proposed solutions will actually be meaningful in preventing the taking of innocent life and that they do not trample on the rights of law-abiding citizens to exercise their Constitutionally-guaranteed rights," Goodlatte added.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a high-profile Republican, dismissed Obama's plan.

"President Obama is targeting the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens instead of seriously addressing the real underlying causes of such violence," he said in a statement.

Said Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a Kansas conservative: "The right to bear arms is a right, despite President Obama's disdain for the Second Amendment and the Constitution's limits on his power."

The White House is hitting back at the National Rifle Association for its web video, which refers to President Obama's children.

"Most Americans agree that a president's children should not be used as pawns in a political fight," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement. "But to go so far as to make the safety of the president's children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly."

Here's the transcript of the NRA's ad:

"Are the president’s kids more important than yours? Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school? Mr. Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. But he’s just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security. Protection for their kids. And gun-free zones for ours.”

The 49 Republicans who voted for the second batch of Sandy funding last night were a mix of East Coast and Gulf State lawmakers.

In fact, 31 of the 49 were from either Gulf or East coast states.

- 18 were from the Northeast, including six each from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
- 11 of the votes came from Gulf States -- three each from Florida (also East Coast) and Alabama, two each from Louisiana and Mississippi, and one from Texas.
- 2 more were from Virginia

READ ALSO: House OK's $50.7 billion in Sandy emergency funding

Here’s how regions broke down:

South: 20 (including three from Florida, two from Virginia, and two from West Virginia)
Northeast: 18
West: 7
Midwest: 4

South (20)

1. Alexander LA
2. Bachus AL
3. Bonner AL
4. Boustany LA
5. Cantor VA
6. Capito WV
7. Cole OK
8. Cramer AL
9. Crawford AR
10. Culberson TX
11. Diaz Balart FL
12. Harper MS
13. Lucas OK
14. McKinley WV
15. Palazzo MS
16. Rogers KY
17. Ros-Lehtinen FL
18. Whitfield KY
19. Wolf VA
20. Young FL

Northeast (18)

1. Barletta PA
2. Collins NY
3. Dent PA
4. Fitzpatrick PA
5. Frelinghuysen NJ
6. Garrett NJ
7. Gerlach PA
8. Gibson NY
9. Grimm NY
10. Hanna NY
11. King NY
12. Lance NJ
13. LoBiondo NJ
14. Marino PA
15. Meehan PA
16. Reed NY
17. Runyan NJ
18. Smith NJ

West (7)

1. Denham CA
2. Herrera Beutler WA
3. McCarthy CA
4. McKeon CA
5. Reichert WA
6. Valadao CA
7. Young AK

Midwest (4)

1. Davis, Rodney IL
2. Shimkus IL
3. Turner OH
4. Young IN

Updated 2:56 p.m. -- President Barack Obama unveiled sweeping new policies Wednesday aimed at limiting gun violence, teeing up a political showdown that will pit the broad public popularity for many gun control measures against Congress’s tepid appetite for approving the most stringent restrictions on gun ownership.  

"While there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil," Obama said at a mid-day announcement at the White House, "if there's even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there's even one life that can be saved, then we've got an obligation to try it."

Acknowledging the difficulty of the Congressional fight ahead, Obama appealed for public support, slamming - as he did in a press conference earlier this week - conservative commentators and the most vocal pro-gun activists for "ginning up" opposition to gun reforms for political reasons. 

"I will put everything I've got into this and so will Joe [Biden], but I tell you, the only way we can change is if the American people demand it," he said. 

Some of the main legislative proposals backed by Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are:

• requiring criminal background checks on all gun sales, including private sales    
• banning "military-style" assault weapons    
• limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds      
• strengthening penalties for gun trafficking 

"The most important changes we can make depend on Congressional action," Obama said. "They need to bring these proposals up for a vote and the American people need to make sure that they do."

Related Information: Gun Violence Fact Sheet | Gun Violence Executive Summary | Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions 

The president also signed a series of 23 executive actions - free from a Congressional blockade -- intended to strengthen existing laws, augment mental health measures and promote federal research on gun crime through the Centers for Disease Control. 

The executive actions announced included stricter prosecution of would-be gun buyers who fail background checks as well as new requirements for federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations. 
 

The president's recommendations also direct administration officials to "clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes" and to "release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities." 

Obama and Biden were joined at the White House event by families of the Newtown school shooting victims as well as by four children who wrote the president after the tragedy that left 20 young students dead. 

"This is our first task as a society: keeping our children safe," Obama said at the beginning of his remarks. "This is how we will be judged, and their voices should compel us to change."

Biden, who led the presidential task-force on gun safety in the wake of the Newtown shootings, praised the activists who met with his staff over the last week to help build the list of recommendations. 

"The world has changed and it's demanding action," Biden said. 

While some of Obama's long-expected proposals - like universal background checks - garner overwhelming public support, the outlawing of certain types of weapons may be less of a slam dunk for lawmakers eager to appease constituents. 

A recent poll from the Pew Research Center showed that a majority of Americans -- 55 percent -- back a ban on "assault-style weapons," with 40 percent saying they don't approve of a ban. But a partisan breakdown shows that only about four in ten Republicans support such restrictions, compared to a broad majority of Democrats. 

Democrats in Congress have already voiced doubts about the feasibility of the president's most ambitious proposals. 

"We're not going to get an outright ban" on assault weapons, Democrat Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York bluntly said yesterday.

 "[Senate Majority Leader] Reid has said he doesn't know whether he has the votes (for an assault weapons ban)," she added. "There's heavy lifting, so are we going to waste time on heavy lifting? Or are we going to try to work on doing something that could actually get passed?"

Related: Obama's gun plans spark little enthusiasm with key lawmakers

Supporters are more optimistic about background checks and magazine restrictions. 

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy announced Wednesday that his panel will hold its first hearing on issues relating to gun violence on Jan. 30.

In his remarks Wednesday, Obama anticipated opponents' reactions to his proposals. 

"This will be difficult," he said. "There will be pundits and politicians and special interest lobbyists publicly warning of a tyrannical all-out assault on liberty. Not because that's true, but because they want to gin up fear or higher ratings or revenue for themselves, and behind the scenes they will do everything they can to block any commonsense reform and make sure nothing changes whatsoever."

The National Rifle Association, the country's most powerful gun lobby, released a statement Wednesday afternoon in response to the president's remarks.

"We look forward to working with Congress on a bi-partisan basis to find real solutions to protecting America's most valuable asset - our children. Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation," the NRA wrote. "Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy."

That statement was relatively muted in comparison to the group's controversial ad released Tuesday night, which criticized Obama's dismissal of the gun lobby's proposal to increase armed security in schools. 

"Are the president's kids more important than yours?" a narrator asks in the short ad. "Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their schools? Mr. Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he's just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security."

Related: White House calls NRA 'repugnant,' 'cowardly' for invoking president's children in ad

The ad prompted outcry from observers who said the First Family should be off limits for such advertisements, while NRA backers say their focus is on school safety rather than on the president's daughters themselves. 

"Whoever thinks the ad is about President Obama's daughters are missing the point completely or they're trying to change the subject," said spokesman Andrew Arulanandam. "This ad is about keeping our children safe. And the president said he was skeptical about the NRA proposal to put policemen in all schools in this country. Yet he and his family are beneficiaries of multiple law enforcement officers surrounding them 24 hours a day." 

White House spokesman Jay Carney shot back that the ad is "cowardly." 

"Most Americans agree that a president's children should not be used as pawns in a political fight," he said. "But to go so far as to make the safety of the President's children the subject of an attack ad  is repugnant and cowardly."

NBC's Mark Murray, Frank Thorp, Ali Weinberg and Kelly O'Donnell contributed to this report.

Obama set to go big on guns… But the opposition will go equally big… NRA -- with its new web video -- brings a sledgehammer to the fight… Sandy relief passes the House (but with just a minority of the majority)… And that’s instructive for the upcoming debt-ceiling fight, because the GOP isn’t united here… Salazar to leave administration in March… And Obama and meeting the press. 

*** Obama set to go big on guns: According to sources familiar with the gun-control recommendations President Obama will unveil today at 11:55 am ET, those recommendations will include a universal background check, prohibition of high-capacity magazines, an anti-trafficking law, and a renewal of the assault weapons ban. In addition, he will announce executive actions such as enforcing the laws already on the books (like prosecuting those who fail background checks), as well as restarting federal research of firearm deaths/crimes. And, the sources say, the recommendations also will touch on mental health, school security (though NOT arming guards), and entertainment/video games.

Recommended: 'We have to compete': GOP assesses path back to power

Bottom line: Obama is going about as big as he can go, realizing there’s little political downside (at least in the short term). One gun-control advocate tells First Read that the recommendations would be “the most significant reform of our guns laws since MLK and RFK were assassinated” in 1968. 

Alex Wong / Getty Images

President Barack Obama speaks during his final news conference of his first term at the East Room of the White House Jan. 14, 2013.

*** But the opposition will be equally as big: Yet as NBC’s Savannah Guthrie pointed out on “TODAY” this morning, there’s a reason why you have to go back to four decades for the last time Washington tried to go this big: The politics of gun control are incredibly hard. Given that reality, which component becomes the priority for the White House? The background checks, magazine clips, and anti-trafficking might be the ones with the best chance of passage, while the assault ban could be the hardest. So what is the order? And what does the president and congressional Democrats really lean on? Also, what is the president going to say about culture? And finally, does he say anything about the new NRA video that injects his daughters into the debate? “Are the president’s kids more important than yours?” the video asks. “Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school?” This video seems oddly timed and screams “insular.”

*** The NRA brings a sledgehammer to the fight: Indeed, over the past 30 days since the Newtown shootings, the NRA has brought a sledgehammer to the debate, not even attempting nuance or persuasion. First the combative Wayne LaPierre press conference at the National Press Club. Then LaPierre’s uncompromising appearance on “Meet the Press.” And now this web video. The NRA is acting as if this were 2001 -- after beating Al Gore and facing a cowed Democratic Party. Instead, this is 2013 -- after the NRA was unable to beat Obama and after Democrats expanded their majority in the U.S. Senate. The danger the NRA is facing, especially after releasing this new video, is that it’s potentially alienating the handful of Democratic allies it has. The Harry Reids, the Joe Manchins, the Jon Testers. While the NRA has always had a deeper reach within the Republican Party, what has made it particularly powerful is its influence inside both parties (a la AIPAC). But how the NRA has reacted to Newtown may very well have reduced its influence to just one political party. And if they decide to keep their attacks focused on the president, they will end up alienating the rest of the Democratic Party -- and that will cost them down the road. Right now, they are acting like an ideologically driven cog of the conservative movement rather than attempting to persuade or keep its Democratic supporters. 

*** Sandy relief passes the House -- with just a minority of the majority: Last night, the House passed legislation providing an additional $50 billion for Hurricane Sandy relief by a 241-180 vote, according to NBC’s Frank Thorp. But the real story is the vote breakdown: Only 49 Republicans voted for the measure -- so just 20% of the caucus -- while a whopping 179 Republicans voted against the measure. By comparison, 192 Democrats voted for the legislation, and just one (Tennessee Congressman Jim Cooper) voted against. So for the second time in the last two weeks, we’ve seen the House pass legislation that isn’t supported by a “majority of the majority.” And what we’ve learned is that House Speaker John Boehner is willing to bring such legislation to the floor if 1) Senate Republicans are nearly unanimous in favor of it, and 2) if a Republican like Chris Christie has access to the New York-area megaphone. 

*** GOP isn’t united on the debt ceiling: So the fiscal-cliff and Sandy-relief votes point to how the debt ceiling might ultimately get raised. During the fiscal-cliff debate, you had Senate Republicans and key conservative opinion leaders arguing that the GOP should cut a deal with the White House. During the legislative fight over Sandy relief, you had Christie and other New York-area Republicans howling. And now with the debt ceiling coming into focus, you’re already seeing some prominent conservative voices -- Peter Wehner, Ross Douthat, Matt Lewis, National Review (to a point), and Americans for Prosperity -- recommending that Republicans shouldn’t wage a battle on this terrain. In addition, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), per the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, believes the debt ceiling must be raised. “Sen. Collins recognizes that the debt ceiling is going to have to be raised because the U.S. cannot default on its obligations to pay for spending that has already occurred,” her spokesman said. “But she is frustrated that the administration, time and time again, keeps putting off the hard decisions on spending that our country must confront.” These are all significant developments, because they suggest the GOP isn’t united in waging a battle over the debt ceiling. And when the GOP isn’t united, Boehner has now shown that he’s willing to break glass and allow legislation to pass without a majority of the majority. Perhaps we’ve seen the near future and how the Republicans end up agreeing to a debt ceiling raise without a battle.

*** Salazar to leave administration in March: NBC’s Kristen Welker is reporting that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will leave the administration in March, according to a senior administration official. So to recap, here are the cabinet secretaries who are remaining: 

Napolitano (DHS)
Duncan (Education)
Vilsack (Agriculture)
Holder (Justice)
Sebelius (HHS)
Shinseki (Veterans Affairs)

And here are the cabinet members leaving, plus their nominated replacements, if applicable:

Hillary Clinton at State (John Kerry nominated)
Leon Panetta at Defense (Chuck Hagel nominated)
Tim Geithner at Treasury (Jack Lew nominated)
Hilda Solis at Labor
Lisa Jackson at EPA
Ken Salazar at Interior  

*** Obama and meeting the press: Earlier this week, Politico noted that the 79 Obama news conferences during his first term (including joint appearances with foreign leaders) are less than every modern president’s since Ronald Reagan. George W. Bush had 89 press conferences during his first term, Bill Clinton had 133, George H.W. Bush had 143, and Reagan 27. In addition, Obama’s had 107 short Q&A sessions with reporters -- versus George W. Bush’s 354, Clinton’s 612, George H.W. Bush’ 313, and Reagan’s 158. What jumps out at us is the comparison between Obama and Reagan; both had fewer press conferences and interactions with reporters. And Josh King, who worked for Clinton, writes that the short interactions with reporters weren’t always helpful. President Clinton loved to talk. Answering questions was to him a balm for whatever press might have gone in a wayward direction during the previous news cycle... In communications parlance, he was ‘stepping on his message.’” But King later observes that, over time, those interactions may have ended up serving Clinton better. As for the Obama and Reagan comparison: The two most disciplined presidents of the last 30 years both believed that the best way to communicate is to TRY and go over the media. 

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*** Wednesday’s Daily Rundown’s line-up: Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) on the Hagel nomination and gun restriction push... Freshman Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) as part of our meet the new members series...  A Deep Dive into Russia and other foreign policy challenges facing the president in the second term... NBC's Pete Williams with more on the gun proposals... Plus Democratic pollster Margie Omero, Republican ad maker Kim Alfano and the Washington Post's David Nakamura in the Gaggle. 

*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), Gun Owners of America Executive Director Larry Pratt, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, The Washington Post’s Nia-Malika Henderson and Jonathan Capehart and Time’s Richard Stengel.

*** Wednesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews Rep. John Larson (D-CT), Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI), Mother Jones’ Tim Murphy, Politico’s Lois Romano, The Hill’s AB Stoddard, Stop Handgun Violence chairman John Rosenthal, and Democratic strategist David Goodfriend.

“President Barack Obama’s broad effort to reduce gun violence will include proposed bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines as well as more than a dozen executive orders aimed at circumventing congressional opposition to stricter gun control,” AP writes. “Obama was to announce the measures Wednesday at a White House event that will bring together law enforcement officials, lawmakers and children who wrote the president about gun violence following last month’s shooting of 20 young students and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.”

The Washington Post calls what he will announce “the most aggressive and expansive national gun-control agenda in generations.”

The Post says Obama’s executive orders, even if more narrow than what Congress could pass, could doom a congressional bill because of the perception that “Obama is trying to run our democracy like a dictatorship.”

Politico: Before President Barack Obama can even launch his campaign-style blitz for new gun control measures, there are strong indications that any comprehensive legislation restricting weapons and ammunition won’t even see a vote on the House floor. Interviews with multiple House Republicans from the Midwest and Northeast reveal almost zero appetite to vote on any sort of sweeping gun bill.

Politico: “President Barack Obama’s wide-ranging gun control proposals to be unveiled Wednesday will include a new federal gun trafficking law — long sought by big-city mayors as a way to keep out-of-state guns off their streets.”

National Journal also notes the difficult path for gun-control measures.

The NRA is bringing Obama’s kids into it. The gun rights advocacy group, a day after launching a “Practice Range” app, is up with a new website and video hitting Obama called, “NRA Stand and Fight.”

Here’s the script: Are the president’s kids more important than yours? Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school? Mr. Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. But he’s just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security. Protection for their kids. And gun-free zones for ours.”

“Senator John F. Kerry and his wife hold an array of international investments that could pose conflicts of interest for him as secretary of state, and an ethics review is already underway to determine whether he needs to divest holdings, put them in a blind trust, or recuse himself from some discussions, according to Obama administration officials,” the Boston Globe reports. “Kerry’s 2012 financial disclosure statement details some of the investments that could be seen as problematic if, as expected, he is confirmed as secretary of state. Among them: shares in a Canadian oil company that is lobbying for the Keystone XL pipeline; a stake in Brazil’s energy giant, which was recently accused by Congress of flouting UN sanctions against Iran; and a large investment in a private equity firm seeking deals across Asia.”

Flashback: “Stake in Keystone Pipeline Is Potential Conflict for Susan Rice." 

Bloomberg: “President Barack Obama is close to naming Denis McDonough as his fifth chief of staff, with an announcement coming as soon as this week, according to a person familiar with the matter.”

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is leaving his post in March.

Politico looks at his legacy. 

“President Barack Obama had fewer press conferences during his first term than George W. Bush, Bill Clinton or George H.W. Bush,” Politico writes. “Presidential scholar Martha Joynt Kumar did the math and found that with Monday's conference, Obama has done a total of 79 over four years. That's 10 fewer than George W. Bush, 54 fewer than Clinton and 63 fewer than George H.W. Bush. He did manage to beat out former President Ronald Reagan, who had only 27 press conferences during his first term, although many of those were evening conferences carried live during prime time across the nation.”

The second batch of Sandy funding passed 241-180. But Republicans voted 179-49 against it. Just 49 Republicans joined 192 Democrats.

Here’s the roll call.

“Republican lawmakers are preparing to introduce legislation to direct the U.S. Treasury to make interest payments on U.S. bonds first and then prioritize other government outlays in case Congress does not raise the debt ceiling,” Reuters writes. “Supporters of the idea see it as a politically palatable alternative to default, which could rattle markets as occurred in the summer of 2011. …  But critics, including some Republicans, say prioritizing payments is largely unworkable and would not fool the markets.”

National Journal profile’s Ted Yoho's 24-yr-old chief of staff, who was Yoho’s only campaign worker and almost didn’t get the job because Yoho's wife thought she was a stripper, and she almost got Yoho to vote for himself for speaker. He voted for Eric Cantor (R-VA).

Allen West’s getting himself a web show.

Mark Sanford (R-SC) says he polled himself and found he had a better favorable rating than the 30 percent found in an earlier statewide poll. 

Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA) won’t run to replace John Kerry in the Senate.

Both Terry McAuliffe (D) and Ken Cuccinelli (R) say they’ve raised more than $1 million already for the Virginia governor’s race.

A Quinnipiac poll on the New York City mayor’s race finds City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D) leads transit head Joseph Lhota (R) 62%-17%. 

National Journal looks at how a sex scandal in Arkansas has given the NRA’s leading emissary on violence in schools the front runner position for governor.

As they prepare to settle in for another four years of President Barack Obama, Republicans are already busily working on their roadmap to retake the levers of power in Washington. Whether they will need a modest re-calibration or a wholesale reinvention remains an open question.

Obama's November victory arguably marked a new low point for the GOP. The Republican Party now wrestles with a president unburdened with the stresses of an impending re-election campaign and enjoying relatively high popularity.

What’s more, Obama has already worked to set in motion an aggressive – and mostly progressive – agenda that makes most conservatives cringe.

For Republicans, the work to re-position themselves to win back the White House in 2016, and, before that, shore up majorities in the House and Senate, has already begun. And a key step toward reaching those goals, said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, involves making the party more inviting to voters who do not traditionally compose the party’s base.

Jason Reed / Reuters

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus gavels the 2012 Republican National Convention into session during the opening session of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida August 27, 2012.

“We didn’t lose Wisconsin because we weren’t Facebooking pheasant hunters,” he said. “We need more voters.”

Democrats’ victories prompted a round of hand-wringing and recrimination in the immediate aftermath of the election. Having been drubbed among women and Latino voters, some Republicans argued for finally embracing some sort of immigration reform, and directed their ire toward those high-profile Republican candidates who made controversial comments about abortion and rape that fall. Still others pointed to the Obama campaign’s decisive advantage over Romney in digital outreach and voter targeting, while others laid the blame for the party’s defeat squarely with Romney himself.

“This certainly isn't the first time a party loses a presidential election and has to figure out how it does better,” said Henry Barbour, a Republican National Committee member from Mississippi who’s helping to lead the “Growth and Opportunity Project,” the RNC-commissioned review of the party’s failings in the 2012 elections. “Things are never as good as you think, or as bad as you think.”

Some of the project’s recommendations, which are on course for release as soon as March, are glaringly obvious. Republicans are virtually unanimous in agreeing on improved digital tools to court voters, as well as improved outreach to key voting communities – like Hispanics or women voters.

Priebus said he’s taking a cue from former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s “50 State Strategy” he enacted as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

“We have to compete everywhere again. You go back and look at the electoral map in 1988, and you look at the states that were red. It’s stunning,” he said. “I think the charge for us is to run up the hill and make the case everywhere that the Republican Party is the home for more Americans.”

'Battle over strategy'
But as party leaders fan out to hear from elected officials and grassroots activists alike about the trajectory of the party, the GOP on Capitol Hill has been anything but a tribute to party unity.

If House Speaker John Boehner’s remarks about accepting new revenue in the aftermath of Obama’s victory were emblematic of Republicans’ soul-searching after the election, then the weeks since then have painted a vivid portrait of just how divided the GOP is about its path forward.

“If we’re split on anything, it’s on strategy, not the final goals,” said Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., a darling of conservatives. “I think what you’re seeing now is a battle over strategy, not over principle.”

The battle over the so-called fiscal cliff laid bare many of the fissures that plagued Republicans in Congress for the past two years, bringing the government to the brink of shutdown several times and almost tipping the government into a default on its debt. The party’s ability to speak with one voice has been hampered by familiar internal, ideological divisions.

When Boehner offered to raise taxes on millionaires – a concession, but one that Obama dismissed outright – conservatives undercut their leader’s bargaining position by refusing to pass it out of the House.

Even when Democrats won an income tax hike, it was over the objections of most House Republicans; Boehner won another term as speaker over the defections of some high-profile conservatives, including Mulvaney, who did not vote.

“I do believe that, as a party, we need to focus on the things that unite us,” Barbour said. “Folks in the party aren't going to agree on everything, and that's OK. The Republican Party is a diverse, broad party.”

And as party leaders attempt to put a fresh face on the Grand Old Party, the first few months of Obama’s second term seem destined to test the divisions among Republicans.

The president has signaled his intention to seek comprehensive immigration reform and new, stricter controls on firearms – two initiatives that could split conservatives who want to hold the ideological line from Republicans who wish to shed the party’s image of intractability, and cut some sort of a deal with Obama.

Those battles will play out alongside what’s expected to be a bruising fight in just a few weeks over raising the debt ceiling, continuing government spending and dealing with the automatic spending cuts in the fiscal cliff, which were delayed for two months past the beginning of this year. The deadlines for all three of those issues fall within a few weeks of each other in late February and early March.

'We have a mish-mash'
And already, some Republicans are openly discussing the possibility of a shutdown or default, things which Boehner and other GOP leaders had openly disavowed during similar fights in 2011. Mulvaney said “the world is not going to end” if the U.S. defaults on its debt.

“No one wants to default; not even the most right-wing nutjob wants to default,” he said. “But do we want to throw money at paying the light bill at the Department of Education?”

But as Republicans wrestle with these divisions, there’s always the hope of the one development that seems to solve most problems in politics: winning.

After Romney’s loss and Boehner’s struggles with his rank-and-file, Republicans lack for any natural leader behind whom the party could rally. The country is still years away from the next presidential primary, a contest which might test many of these same fault lines within the GOP.

“It's absolutely a challenge that we face. The Democrats have Barack Obama, and we have a mish-mash,” Mulvaney said. “We have the speaker of the House, the minority leader of the Senate, various outside groups and very vocal folks over in the Senate, along with a cast of presidential cast-offs in the last four years. We haven't really coalesced yet.”

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The White House announced Tuesday that, beginning this weekend, presidential limousines will bear the District of Columbia license plate that includes the phrase "Taxation Without Representation."

The license plate, created in 2000, adorns most of D.C.'s vehicles with a pithy reminder that residents of the capital city do not have voting representatives in the House or Senate. New registrants in the city now receive the tags automatically unless they opt for another type of license plate. 

 The saying has become a rally cry for proponents of D.C. statehood.

"President Obama has lived in the District now for four years, and has seen first-hand how patently unfair it is for working families in D.C. to work hard, raise children and pay taxes, without having a vote in Congress," said White House spokesman Keith Maley. "Attaching these plates to the presidential vehicles demonstrates the President's commitment to the principle of full representation for the people of the District of Columbia and his willingness to fight for voting rights, Home Rule and budget autonomy for the District."

The license plates will be affixed to presidential vehicles in time for the weekend’s inaugural festivities and remain in place for the duration of Obama's presidency. 

Vice President Joe Biden told a group of House Democrats Monday that the White House could use the Obama for America campaign infrastructure built during the presidential campaigns to push for the gun control policies that the White House intends to introduce on Wednesday.

According to Rep Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., who attended the meeting, Biden told the group "that they were going to use their campaign mold" to pursue gun control policies.

"What he needs to do is like he ran the campaign, same as President Clinton did, to get out to the American people," McCarthy said, "And that's what we need."

McCarthy, who is on the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, says their group of House Democrats will meet with Chris Cox of the NRA next week to discuss their strategy for gun control legislation.

Their recommendations, which will be separate from the president's, will likely be released the first week of February, McCarthy said.

But the political realities of passing an outright assault weapons ban, which McCarthy supports, are becoming clear to members in the House.

Even McCarthy herself admitted "We're not going to get an outright ban."

"Senator Reid has said he doesn't know whether he has the votes (for an assault weapons ban)," she said. "There's heavy lifting, so are we going to waste time on heavy lifting? Or are we going to try to work on doing something that could actually get passed?"

McCarthy added that there is a growing sense that a ban on high-capacity clips is something that could garner enough votes in both the House and Senate.  She also said she's hoping the Senate passes a package of gun control measures first, in an effort to put pressure on the Republican-controlled House.

"I think (Senator Reid) could pass a package without the (assault weapons) ban, and I think he probably thinks that too," McCarthy said, "But let's play it out.  We'll see what the President offers tomorrow and we'll go from there."

Updated 3:10 pm ET: Ex-South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will announce tomorrow that he is running for Congress, First Read confirms with an aide close to Sanford.

Sanford will announce via press release tomorrow; there will be no press conference or public events associated with it, according to an aide.

NBC previously reported that Sanford would attempt a political comeback running for his old first congressional district seat. Sanford would be running to replace Tim Scott, who was appointed to Jim DeMint's Senate seat. 

DeMint resigned from Congress to head up The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank and activist group.

National Review has a lengthy Q&A with Sanford on why he's running, including his first shot at explaining his 2009 disappearance and affair with an Argentine TV reporter.

"There’s a larger philosophical question. In life we’re all going to make mistakes, we’re all going to come up short," Sanford said. "The key is, how do you get back up and how do you learn from those mistakes? . . . But I think that the bigger issue is, don’t judge any one person by their best day, don’t judge them by their worst day. Look at the totality, the whole of their life, and make judgments accordingly."

He added, "You’ve got to look under the hood. There’s that sensational headline, to look and say, 'Wow, big ethics charge.' Beyond the headline, what does that mean? You say, 'Hm. There were 37 counts the ethics committee brought, and did you know half of those are for taking a business-class ticket?' You look under the hood and you say, 'Wow.'"

Sanford also touted his record, including that he turned down stimulus funds.

"I was rated No. 1 in Congress by National Taxpayers Union, and No. 1 by Citizens against Government Waste in efforts to limit federal spending, rated by Cato as the most fiscally responsible governor in the United States," he said. "I was the first governor to turn down stimulus funds. I won’t go through all the merit badges, but I could give you dozens of different occasions where I stood very solidly on the side of the taxpayer."

It took several dominoes to fall for Sanford to be lined up to run in this race, something Sanford also acknowledged.

"I’m not saying it was God-ordained or anything like that," Sanford said, "but a series of rather miraculous events have coincided here, that did not escape the attention of the friends who were urging me to look at this."

Updated 1:05 pm -- President Barack Obama will publicly announce his gun-safety proposals on Wednesday, with new recommendations, including some executive actions in addition to legislative proposals like a ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines. 

"Tomorrow, the president and the vice president will hold an event here at the White House to unveil a package of concrete proposals to reduce gun violence and prevent future tragedies like the one in Newtown, Connecticut," White House spokesman Jay Carney said during a briefing Tuesday afternoon. 

Carney said that the president will be joined at the 11:45 a.m. event by children from around the country who wrote the White House with concerns about gun violence in the wake of the Newtown school shootings that left 20 children dead. 

He added that the president has previously backed a "comprehensive approach" including an assault weapons ban and a measure to ban high-capacity clips, but he stressed that both items will require congressional action. 

"The president will take a comprehensive approach, but it is a simple fact that there are limits on what can be done within existing law and Congress has to act on the kinds of measures that we've already mentioned, because the power to do that is reserved by Congress," Carney said of the need for "significant" action on gun control measures.

The president met with Vice President Joe Biden Monday - a day ahead of schedule - to discuss the Biden-led task force's recommendations after the group's series of meetings with stakeholders in the gun violence debate. 

Congressional officials familiar with the task force meetings said late Monday that Biden and his staff have developed 19 areas where Obama could use executive orders to institute new gun control policy.

Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images

President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference in the East Room of the White House on January 14, 2013 in Washington.

The possible executive actions were not listed to the members of Congress who attended a Monday White House meeting, but officials said Biden mentioned new avenues for gun violence research as well as the strengthening of existing gun laws. Options pertaining to mental health were also mentioned.

Recommended: With House set to OK Sandy spending, efforts continue to add unrelated funds

The measures potentially implemented by executive action would be different than legislation regarding a possible assault weapons ban or a large magazine ban that may be introduced in Congress, officials said.

Conservatives have raised strong objections to the idea of any executive actions on the part of the White House, saying that the president's efforts constitute a violation of the Second Amendment. 

Freshman Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, has even threatened to introduce articles of impeachment. 

"Any proposal to abuse executive power and infringe upon gun rights must be repelled with the stiffest legislative force possible,” he said in a statement. “Under no circumstances whatsoever may the government take any action that disarms any peaceable person — much less without due process through an executive declaration without a vote of Congress or a ruling of a court.”

But Democrats have pushed back at the notion that any executive action would affect gun ownership or rights, saying that unilateral action from the White House will merely reinforce current laws rather than creating new ones.  

"There are many (options), but they all are directing federal agencies to increase or to activate more aggressively on items that already exist in the law," Rep Chaka Fattah, D-Penn., told NBC News. "The notion that he's circumventing Congress is not accurate at all."

Fattah was not at the meeting with Biden, but he said his staff was in attendance.

NBC's Carrie Dann contributed to this report.