First, appeal to activists from Iowa and New Hampshire. Check. Then, environmental activists. Check. He already supports gay marriage. And now Vice President Biden is going for the youth vote, participating in a Google+ “Fireside Hangout” Thursday.

In fairness, it’s in his official capacity as vice president and will be answering questions on gun control.

“National Democrats are taking steps to create a large-scale independent group aimed at turning traditionally conservative Texas into a prime electoral battleground, crafting a new initiative to identify and mobilize progressive voters in the rapidly-changing state, strategists familiar with the plans told Politico. The organization, dubbed ‘Battleground Texas,’ plans to engage the state’s rapidly growing Latino population, as well as African-American voters and other Democratic-leaning constituencies that have been underrepresented at the ballot box in recent cycles.” 

According to the U.S. Census, Texas is 44% white, 38% Hispanic, 12% black, 4% Asian, making it a majority-minority state.  

Two polls show Cory Booker handily defeating Sen. Frank Lautenberg in a hypothetical primary match up in 2014.

“Donald Berwick, who formerly ran Medicare for President Obama, formed a fundraising committee on Tuesday, a further indication that he may run for governor in Massachusetts in 2014,” the Boston Globe reports. “ ‘I’m getting more and more serious,’ he said Tuesday night.”

Obama’s second term begins… After private ceremony yesterday, the president delivers his second inaugural address at a swearing-in event on Capitol Hill beginning at 11:30 am ET… Expect Obama to talk about rebuilding the middle class… Another big moment, another big speech… Friday’s big fiscal-fight development… NBC/WSJ poll numbers on abortion are released at 6:30 pm ET… And Biden and 2016.

Jacquelyn Martin / AP

President Barack Obama smiles as he arrives at St. John's Church in Washington, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, for a church service during the 57th Presidential Inauguration.

*** Obama’s second term begins: Technically, President Obama’s second term already started yesterday, after he took his oath of office in a private ceremony at the White House (given that Jan. 20 fell on a Sunday). But ceremoniously, it begins today at the swearing-in event on Capitol Hill at 11:30 am ET. Obama’s second inaugural address is expected to echo the themes from his first, including trying to quell the divisive politics of Washington. (Even if not accomplishing that was one of his first term’s biggest shortcomings, it’s something that the American public still wants.) Yet the president’s advisers say he’s also prepared to take a more realistic approach. “We’re going to do a better job in the second term of, while we’re going to do all we can to work with Congress and negotiate, to also make sure the American people are more connected to what’s going on here,” David Plouffe said on CBS yesterday. But don’t expect today’s speech to be a laundry list of proposals and programs. Remember, he has his State of the Union -- on Feb. 12 -- to do that.

*** Expect Obama to talk about rebuilding the middle class: Looking back at some of the most recent second inaugural addresses, they’ve typically been a continuation of that president’s first-term message (and re-election theme). For Bill Clinton, it was preparing the country for the 21^st Century. For George W. Bush, it was security and freedom. And if that continuation theme is any guide, expect Obama to talk A LOT about rebuilding the middle class. After all, it was the central theme of his re-election campaign. On “Meet the Press” yesterday, Obama adviser David Axelrod stressed that point. “How do you create an economy, rebuild an economy, in which the American dream, the American compact, is fresh, where people who work hard feel like they can get ahead?” he asked. “And that's not just about dealing with the fiscal crisis, it's about education, it's about research and development, it's about controlling our energy future. All of these are part of the equation.”

*** Another big moment, another big speech: Four years ago, right before Obama’s first inaugural address, we made this point: He was going to use speeches to help him govern more than any other modern American president, creating many of the defining moments of his presidency. And that proved to be true over the past four years. When the going got tough on passing health care, he gave a speech. When he laid out his goals on the Middle East, he spoke in Cairo. When he talked about the necessity of war to defeat evil, he used his Nobel Prize speech. When he unveiled his re-election message on the economy -- with the idea that Mitt Romney would be his likely opponent -- he did so with remarks in Osawatomie, KS. And when he needed to console the nation after the Gabby Giffords and Newtown shootings, he did so with a moving address. And expect that to continue -- today and over the next four years.

*** Today’s tick tock: Around publication time, the First Family attends a service at St. John’s Church… The swearing-in ceremony is at 11:30 am ET… The inaugural parade begins at 2:35 pm ET… And the two official inaugural balls take place tonight at the Washington Convention Center… Tomorrow, Obama attends a national prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral at 10:30 am ET.

*** Friday’s big fiscal-fight development: Turning to other news, we can’t emphasize enough how big Friday’s news was that House Republicans would raise the debt ceiling for three months and instead use the budget process to demand spending cuts. It was another fiscal victory for the Obama White House, which vowed that it wouldn’t negotiate over the debt ceiling. But it also might have been the smartest political move the House Republicans have made since the 2012 election. By demanding that the Senate pass their first budget since 2009, they put the burden on Senate Democrats. And Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on “Meet the Press” that Senate Democrats would produce a budget with tax reform in it. “We're going to do a budget this year, and it's going to have revenues in it. And our Republican colleagues better get used to that fact.” Bottom line: We’re going to have another fiscal showdown, but it will be over the budget and government operations – not over the debt ceiling, which has to please Wall Street and those worried about a potential default.

*** Another NBC/WSJ poll release: Tomorrow is the 40^th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. And pegged to that, we’ll release some very NEWSWORTHY abortion-related numbers from our most recent NBC/WSJ poll beginning at 6:30 pm ET.

*** Biden and 2016: Finally, don’t miss one of Washington’s most overlooked political stories: how Vice President Joe Biden is methodically laying the groundwork for 2016. The New York Times: “Gov. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, the first presidential primary state, was among the people to join Mr. Biden, his family and close political associates at the vice president’s residence [for his swearing-in ceremony yesterday]. The night before, Mr. Biden attended a pre-inaugural party of Democrats from Iowa, the first caucus state.” The governor of New Hampshire? Partying with Iowa Democrats? Hmmmmmm…. In all seriousness, he's been carefully laying the groundwork with Iowa and New Hampshire Democrats for months. Throughout the re-election, he was keeping tabs on those key early states, congratulating winners there, etc. Sitting VPs may be Jay Leno punching bags, but they are familiar to activists.

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Joe Biden was sworn in to a second term as the Vice President of the United States on Sunday morning, taking his oath from Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor -- the first Hispanic in American history to administer an oath of office.

Biden personally selected Sotomayor, who is also the fourth woman to administer an oath, to conduct the brief ceremony at the vice president's residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. 

By law, the president and vice president must be sworn in on Jan. 20. Because that date falls on a Sunday this year, both men take their formal oaths today, but will hold the traditional longer public ceremony tomorrow. 

Biden's swearing-in was originally scheduled to be held shortly before the president's, near noon Sunday. But Sotomayor's previous commitment to a book signing in New York City prompted officials to move the event earlier in the day. 

"It's an incredible honor to have Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor swear me in," Biden said in a statement. "I believed strongly that she would make a great Justice, and it was one of the greatest pleasures of my career to be involved in her selection to the Court.  From the first time I met her, I was impressed by Justice Sotomayor's commitment to justice and opportunity for all Americans, and she continues to exemplify those values today. Above all, I'm happy for the chance to be sworn in by a friend - and someone I know will continue to do great things."

After the short swearing-in, Biden again thanked Sotomayor personally, explaining to the small group of guests the reason for the early timing of the event. 

Biden took the oath on a family Bible bearing a Celtic cross. It has been in the Biden family since 1893.

Cabinet members attending the ceremony included Attorney General Eric Holder and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. He was joined on stage by his family, including wife Dr. Jill Biden and his three children. 

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.

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 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.

Capping off a week of meetings with stakeholders in the debate over gun control, Vice President Joe Biden called a session with the National Rifle Association 'productive' despite the group's public complaints yesterday. 

"I thought we had a very straightforward, productive meeting," Biden said of yesterday's closed-door session with pro-gun groups.

The NRA charged in a statement yesterday that the Obama administration has "an agenda to attack the Second Amendment."

But Biden said that the variety of gun owners' organizations that met at the White House yesterday did not all share the NRA's opinions on the causes of and potential solutions for mass gun violence. 

“There was actually a difference among them as well,” he said. “There was not a uniform view.”

Biden invoked a common metaphor about firearms to describe the challenges facing foes of gun violence. 

"We know there's no silver bullet" for stopping mass shootings, he said during a meeting with video game industry representatives.

Related: Assault weapons ban remains politically tricky for White House

The vice president has said he wants his task force to present recommendations to the president by next week. 

"I'm shooting for Tuesday," he said. "I hope we get it done by then." 

As the White House considers proposals to curb gun violence, a potential re-upping of the 1990s ban on assault weapons has emerged as the most politically difficult measure for activists hoping to keep the most dangerous weapons out of criminal hands.

But, after pro-gun groups met with Vice President Joe Biden's task force on violence prevention yesterday, at least one participant came away believing that it's a fight that President Barack Obama is willing to try.

Richard Feldman, the president of the Independent Firearm Owners Association said that Biden left the group with the “clear implication” that the president would pursue an assault weapons ban in addition to other regulatory measures. 

In naming possible new regulations this week, Biden mentioned universal background checks and restrictions on high-capacity magazines but did not refer specifically to an assault weapon moratorium. The president and his spokespeople have said repeatedly that the administration is in favor of an assault weapons ban.

Feldman told NBC News said the conversation in the closed-door meeting with gun rights groups was “wide ranging."

“We certainly talked rather extensively about civil commitment laws," he said. "The Attorney General was in the meeting. We talked about enforcement procedures against violations.”

Feldman’s take on the session seemed to be different than the National Rifle Association’s, which came out with a fairly combative statement late in the day indicating that the White House was not open to hearing the concerns of Second Amendment proponents.

“I think that it was a conversation and it wasn't a lecture,” Feldman countered. 

When asked about the NRA’s characterization of the meeting, Feldman praised NRA advocate Jim Baker for forcefully voicing the concerns of the nation's most powerful gun group.

"I think the vice president, who knows Jim, listened to them," he added. "But you know, we come at this from different positions.”

The NRA has stated that they’re going to take their argument up to Capitol Hill, something that some experts say could be part of a two-path approach for the gun rights group.

“My guess is what we're going to see is a kind of two-layer game," said Don Kettl, dean of the Public Policy School at the University of Maryland. "For the NRA itself, they've made very clear so far that they're just not interested in anything that remotely involves any effort to try to reduce the availability of guns, or ammunition or any of the other pieces or anything that would restrict the ownership of guns. But behind the scenes I suspect they and some of their lobbyists are going to be working very carefully to try to find ways of at least minimizing, from their point of view, the damage.”

Kettl thinks this could be a defining moment for the group, “Deep down this is one of those line-in-the-sand kind of issues that will be the make or break for the NRA's power. And I suspect we are in the middle of a defining debate in the pubic right now about the role of guns in American society.”

Updated 4:10 p.m. -- The National Rifle Association on Thursday said it was 'disappointed' with the results of a meeting with the gun violence prevention task force led by Vice President Joe Biden.  

"We were disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment," the NRA wrote in a statement after a closed-door meeting with administration officials and other gun groups. "While claiming that no policy proposals would be 'prejudged,' this Task Force spent most of its time on proposed restrictions on lawful firearms owners - honest, taxpaying, hardworking Americans."

Biden is expected to offer the task force's recommendations to the president by Tuesday.

The vice president, charged to lead a series of gun reform meetings in the wake of the Newtown school shooting, said earlier on Thursday that other stakeholder groups have expressed "surprising" support for universal background checks, as well as some restrictions on high-capacity magazines.

"There is a surprising -- so far -- recurrence of suggestions that we have universal background checks, not just [to] close the gun show loophole, but total, universal background checks, including private sales," Biden said.

But those comments came before Biden's meeting with the country's most powerful gun lobby and vocal foe of restrictions on gun ownership.

"We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen," the NRA wrote afterwards. "Instead, we will now take our commitment and meaningful contributions to members of Congress of both parties who are interested in having an honest conversation about what works - and what does not." 

National Rifle Association head Wayne LaPierre caused controversy after the Newton killings for saying that the only way to prevent such events is the presence of armed security officers at every school.

"The only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection," he said. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." 

 The outdoor enthusiasts who met earlier Thursday with the vice president included members of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Ducks Unlimited, and the Outdoor Industry Association; the entertainment industry participants, slated for a 6 p.m. ET meeting, include representatives from the Motion Picture Association of America, Comcast, and the Directors Guild.

Megastore Wal-Mart will also participated in a Thursday meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder this afternoon, along with other retailers like Bass Pro Shops and Dick's Sporting Goods. Wal-Mart agreed to send a representative to the session after public criticism of the store's initial 'no' RSVP to the White House invitation.

Biden raised some conservatives' eyebrows yesterday when he said that the administration is considering possible executive action in addition to legislative solutions.

"The president is going to act," he said during a session with gun control groups Wednesday. "There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken."

White House spokesman Jay Carney said later Wednesday that no decisions have been made about avenues for implementation of possible reforms.

The Obama White House’s disorganized cabinet shuffle… And some legitimate excuses for it… Obama to nominate Jack Lew for top Treasury job at 1:30 pm ET… Biden meets with the NRA and other gun-rights groups at the White House… More on 2016 and the State of the State addresses… Liberals backing Barney Frank for interim Senate appointment… And “there’s no crying in redistricting.”

*** The disorganized cabinet shuffle: There is no question that Team Obama’s campaign operation outgunned the Romney effort last year. And there’s little doubt that the Obama White House outmaneuvered (at least in the short term) congressional Republicans in the fiscal-cliff talks. But since November, where the White House has fallen short -- and seemed completely disorganized -- has been in its planning for staffing the second term. For starters, Susan Rice’s and Chuck Hagel’s potential nominations to top cabinet jobs were allowed to twist in the wind for weeks, with Rice eventually pulling out of consideration for secretary of state and Hagel now in real fight to win confirmation as defense secretary. In addition, the White House yesterday announced that Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was leaving the administration -- on the very day the New York Times ran a piece observing the lack of women in the administration. And also yesterday, the White House said Attorney General Eric Holder, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shineski are staying in a second term, but it didn’t announce what’s happening with the other cabinet secretaries, which then set off mini-feeding frenzies “are you staying, are you going?” for the cabinet secretaries not included on this seemingly arbitrary list.

Charles Dharapak / AP

President Barack Obama announces in the East Room of the White House, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, that he is nominating former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, as the new Defense Secretary.

*** But some legitimate excuses for it: Bottom line: The second-term cabinet shuffle has been an unforced error so far. (The reason why the White House is receiving criticism for a lack of diversity is that it has nominated three consecutive white men for cabinet posts -- John Kerry, Chuck Hagel, and today Jack Lew -- but without a high-profile woman or minority thrown into the mix. And that doesn’t include John Brennan at CIA and a likely white male to be the next White House chief of staff.) Indeed, you could argue that the Romney folks thought a lot more about staffing a Romney administration over the next four years than Team Obama did about a second-term administration. In fairness to the White House, its top officials were so focused on the fiscal-cliff talks in the past two months. What’s more, this kind of disorganization isn’t unusual for a second term, especially after winning a hard-fought race for re-election. And finally, it’s a process story. At the end of the day, it’s likely that Obama’s second-term cabinet will have plenty of diversity and top-notch names. But the process hasn’t been pretty. Question for the White House: Why didn’t it have a second-term transition director? Someone whose full-time job was to keep an eye on the optics of how and when to announce, on the leaks etc.?

*** Obama to nomination Lew for Treasury: And today, as mentioned above, the White House rolls out its third nomination (and third-straight white male) for a top cabinet post. At the White House at 1:30 pm ET, President Obama will announce his intention to nominate White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew to succeed Tim Geithner as Treasury secretary; Geithner will be in attendance at the event. While some Republicans are already raising objections to Lew -- see Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions -- it’s a good bet he’ll win confirmation. After all, Lew has been confirmed by the Senate twice in the last four years (once as OMB director, once as deputy secretary of state). And the White House did NOT want a confirmation battle for this post. They wanted someone who was fairly squeaky clean (though look for some to bring up Lew’s days at Citigroup where he was the recipient of one of those gigantic bonuses). But he’ll get through easily even though many Republicans who have negotiated with Lew are not fans of him (see Boehner, McConnell in particular). And make no mistake: Lew’s confirmation will be all about the debt-ceiling debate, the platinum coin, the 14^th Amendment, and the administration’s record over the past four years. So the hearings will serve as a preview of the March budget showdowns. 

*** Who succeeds Lew? As for Lew’s current chief-of-staff job in the West Wing, the leading contenders are former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain (who was in the mix for this post before) and Deputy NSA Denis McDonough. There are a lot of folks who know the president well who are absolutely convinced it’s Klain … and some are absolutely convinced he’ll pick McDonough. So the president hasn’t made a decision. We’re told a lot of folks are simply reading the tea leaves and making assumptions about what they THINK the president will do.

*** Biden meets with NRA: Also today, Vice President Biden continues his meetings on guns. Yesterday, it was with gun-safety and gun opponents; today, it’s with the National Rifle Association and Wal-Mart. The New York Times on yesterday’s meeting: “President Obama is planning a comprehensive effort to pass legislation and use executive orders to prevent gun violence, representatives of about a dozen gun control organizations were told Wednesday at a White House meeting. ‘The president and I are determined to take action. This is not an exercise in photo opportunities,’ Vice President Joseph R. Biden said as photographers were given a chance to take pictures before the closed-door meeting.”

*** More 2016 and the State of the States: In First Thoughts yesterday, we noted the potential 2016er governors -- like New Jersey’s Chris Christie, New York’s Andrew Cuomo, and Virginia’s Bob McDonnell -- giving State of the State addresses. And NBC’s Carrie Dann expands on it. “In his State of the State address Tuesday, Christie suggested little in the way of new proposals, but touted his own record as a reformer and offered a rhetorical pep rally for a state battered by last year's Superstorm Sandy… Cuomo, a popular New York governor and formidable fundraiser, grabbed headlines for his Wednesday afternoon address, during which he proposed a specific new gun policy that would ‘enact the toughest assault weapon ban in the nation, period.’… Virginia's McDonnell, whose fast-growing state suffers from a dearth of transportation funds, used part of his remarks to outline plans to overhaul the way roads and bridges are paid for by taxpayers. Per NBC’s Sarah Blackwill, another potential 2016er, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, will give his State of the State on Jan. 15. And Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal goes April 8. By the way, Cuomo truly made a pitch to the left with his speech yesterday.

*** Liberals backing Frank: Liberal organizations are beginning to coalesce around retired Rep. Barney Frank to serve as the interim appointment to fill John Kerry’s soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat. For starters, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee yesterday endorsed Frank for the post. And a MoveOn petition urging Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) to appoint Frank to the interim job has garnered 6,500-plus online signatures so far. By the way, it’s worth noting how Frank toned down his criticism of Chuck Hagel, and remember that Patrick is VERY CLOSE to the Obama White House.

*** “There’s no crying in redistricting”: Lastly, one of us wrote about this yesterday, but it bears repeating: Democrats won the House popular vote -- those who voted in House elections -- but only made modest gains and Republican retained control of the body. Why? Redistricting was a big reason. Republicans controlled key governorships and state legislatures, winning several of those important, but out-of-the-spotlight races over the past few cycles. And a Republican pollster says, “There’s no crying in redistricting.” That’s because this isn’t the first time this disparity has been seen. In fact, the tables were turned in the 1970s and 1980s. Bill McInturff, the Republican pollster who conducts the NBC/WSJ poll with Democrat Peter Hart, notes in an email and three-page memo: “Republicans captured 49.4% of the two-party vote for Congress in 2012, yet won 54% of the seats in the House. This gap between the Republican vote and the seats they won is on the high side, but certainly not without precedent over the past 40 years. If you began your career as a Republican trying to win the House in the 1970s and 1980s, you would adopt, as I do, the borrowed adage ‘there’s no crying in redistricting.’”

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Ramping up meetings with key groups in the gun control debate, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the administration is "determined to take action" in the wake of the Newtown shooting spree that left 20 children dead.

"If our actions result in saving only one life, they're worth taking," Biden said at a meeting of victims and gun control proponents at the White House. "But I'm convinced we can affect the well-being of millions of Americans and take thousands of people out of harm's way if we act responsibly."

Biden indicated that President Barack Obama is considering executive action to address the gun issue, although he noted that it's not yet clear what options may be plausible outside of legislative movement.

"The president is going to act," Biden said. "There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken."

White House spokesman Jay Carney today declined to specify what types of executive action the administration may consider. 

"I'm not going to get into specifics because I won't get ahead of the president or the vice president, but also because the process is ongoing," Carney said, adding that legislative action is also "certainly part of this."

"Decisions have not been made," Carney said.

The meeting was the first in a series scheduled for this week with the task force led by the vice president. On Thursday, Biden will meet with sportsman's organizations, gun sellers -- including Wal-Mart -- and the National Rifle Association. Biden is also expected to meet with representatives of the entertainment and video game industries this week.

The series of stakeholder meetings is intended to help administration officials shape new policies to prevent gun violence. But while some of those proposals -- like instituting universal background checks -- could garner some support from big sellers, other proposed ideas -- like reinstituting a ban on certain types of weapons -- are likely to encounter tough opposition from gun rights supporters.

Larry Downing / Reuters

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (R) speaks to representatives of gun safety and gun violence victims' groups in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, January 9, 2013.

On Wednesday, Biden said that even a piecemeal approach is preferable to inaction.

"I want to make it clear that we are not going to get caught up in the notion of 'unless we can do everything, we're going to do nothing,'" Biden said. "It's critically important that we act."

Megastore Wal-Mart announced Wednesday morning that it will send a representative to a Thursday session after facing criticism for reportedly declining the invitation yesterday.

"Knowing our senior leaders could not be in Washington this week, we spoke in advance with the Vice President's office to share our perspective," a Wal-Mart spokesman said. "We underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on Thursday in person, so we are sending an appropriate representative to participate."

After initially saying it had declined an invitation to Thursday’s White House meetings on gun violence, Wal-Mart now says it will attend. But senior officials from the nation’s largest gun retailer will not be there.

“Knowing our senior leaders could not be in Washington this week, we spoke in advance with the Vice President's office to share our perspective,” Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar said in a statement. “We underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on Thursday in person, so we are sending an appropriate representative to participate.”

Wal-Mart’s initial announcement this morning that it would not attend the Vice President Biden-led sessions sparked a round of headlines noting that Wal-Mart would “skip” the talks.

Recommended: First Thoughts: Biden's gun violence listening sessions begin

Earlier, Tovar said Wal-Mart has had “a number of phone calls and meetings” with Biden’s office at the staff level in recent weeks, and “they know we’ve been very engaged on this topic and we’re committed to participating in the dialogue.”

He added that the representatives who have been corresponding with White House officials have other meetings this week and are simply unable to attend this particular meeting. 

But the tune changed just an hour and a half later with the following more lengthy written statement:

"Walmart, like the rest of the country, has been engaged in a national dialogue about the responsible sale and regulation of firearms. We have had ongoing conversations with the Administration, Congress, Mayor Bloomberg's office, sportsmen groups, suppliers and others to listen and share our thoughts and experiences.

"Over the years we have been very purposeful about striking the right balance between serving hunters and sportsmen and ensuring that we sell firearms responsibly. In fact, we became a charter member of Mayor Bloomberg's coalition against illegal guns and adopted the 10-point code established by the Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership that goes beyond what the law requires.

"Knowing our senior leaders could not be in Washington this week, we spoke in advance with the Vice President's office to share our perspective. We underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on Thursday in person, so we are sending an appropriate representative to participate. We take this issue very seriously and are committed staying engaged in this discussion as the Administration and Congress work toward a consensus on the right path forward."