The majority of the roughly 30,000 families who visited the White House today came for the time-honored Easter Egg Roll. 

But Jarrod Scarbrough and Les Sewell had a different reason for their visit -- to lobby President Obama on a gay-rights issue. 

The same-sex couple from New Mexico brought their eight-year-old daughter to the event to press President Obama to sign an executive order banning workplace discrimination by any federal contractor on the basis of sexual orientation. 

“My message -- and the message of my family -- echoes President’ Obama’s campaign slogan: We can’t wait. It’s time for President Obama to sign this executive order,” Scarborough said today. 

Scarborough pointed to the fact that the executive order has been approved by the Justice and Labor Departments. “I work for a federal contractor, and I know there’s a piece of paper sitting on President Obama’s desk that would give me a little more security for my family,” Scarbrough said.  

During the daily White House briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney deflected all questions about the matter. When NBC News asked Carney if the president planned to sign the executive order, he replied, “I don't have any updates for you on possible or proposed executive orders. I would note that we're delighted that that couple and many others were able to attend the Easter Egg Roll. And again, I don't have anything more on the executive orders.”
 
When pressed on the matter, Carney would only say: “Well, again, I don't have anything for you on a specific executive order. What I can tell you is I think the president's position on LGBT issues is -- record, rather, is well known and one that -- that he and we are very proud of.”

After today’s bipartisan signing ceremony for the JOBS Act at the White House, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor made brief remarks that may raise some eyebrows in both Chicago and Boston. 

Cantor told reporters, "We have a very difficult economic situation still. The president said today that he’s always believed that it’s the private sector that is the job generator in this country. I agree with him, and I think most Americans agree with him."

The remarks could be seen as inadvertently undercutting one of Mitt Romney’s attack lines against the president.

At a campaign appearance in Appleton, Wisconsin last Friday, Romney told the crowd: “In Barack Obama’s government-centered society, the government must do more because the economy is doomed to do less. When you attack business and vilify success, you will have less business and less success.”

In his victory speech in Wisconsin on Tuesday, Romney also added: "When the president attacks business and when his policies make it more difficult for businesses to grow and prosper, he is also attacking the very communities he wanted to help."

Of course, it's important to note that Cantor sponsored the legislation that Obama signed into law today, so that could partly explain his comments today.
 
Yet Cantor is among a number of top Republicans to endorse Romney in recent weeks as he has emerged as the most likely nominee.

*** UPDATE *** Cantor's staff disputes the characterization, telling NBC News: "Obviously, actions speak louder than words, and we haven't seen this sort of commitment to the business community to date, but if that's his belief we'd certainly welcome it and look forward to working together to help our nation's job creators."

A Democratic aide on Capitol Hill has confirmed to NBC News that Democrats were notified that President Obama will announce that his administration will hasten the permit process for the southern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline during his visit to Cushing, Okla., Thursday.

A White House official would not confirm the reports and would only say, "On Thursday the President will reiterate his administration’s commitment to expediting the construction of a pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico, relieving a bottleneck of oil and bringing domestic resources to market."

But Republicans were quick to lash out. Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said: "This is like a governor personally issuing a fishing license...There is only a minor, routine permit needed for this leg of the project. Only a desperate administration would inject the President of the United States into this trivial matter. The President’s attempt to take credit for a pipeline he blocked and personally lobbied Congress against is staggering in its dis-ingenuousness. This portion of the pipeline is being built in spite of the President, not because of him.’”

CNN first broke the news this evening.

In January, Republicans attached the Keystone XL Oil pipeline into legislation that would extend the payroll tax cut. The Obama administration denied the permit for the pipeline (which would extend from Canada to the Gulf Coast) saying there wasn't time to conduct an environmental review.

In February, TransCanada, the company behind Keystone, announced plans to build the southern portion of the pipeline which does not require the same type of presidential permit because it does not cross a border.

The issue has been a political lightning rod with Republicans accusing the president of stifling job growth by not approving the project, and environmentalists protesting the plan which they fear will harm the environment.

On Wednesday, the president will begin a two-day, four-state trip during which he will tout his "all of the above" energy policy. For weeks, Obama has defended his energy policy amid criticism from Republicans who have blamed him for high gas prices.

Obama administration officials say they are are accommodating charity hospitals, religious-affiliated universities, or other religious organizations when it comes to providing employees free contraception under the federal health-care law.

What does that accommodation mean? The policy going forward will be the insurance company -- NOT the hospital or charity -- will have the opportunity to reach out and offer contraception coverage, free of charge, if a religious-affiliated employer objects to providing this coverage.

Per a fact sheet being passed around:

Under the new policy announced today, women will have free preventive care that includes contraceptive services no matter where she works. The policy also ensures that if a woman works for religious employers with objections to providing contraceptive services as part of its health plan, the religious employer will not be required to provide contraception coverage but her insurance company will be required to offer contraceptive care free of charge.

President Obama who has been bashed for weeks by Republicans on the Campaign trail, will attempt to reshape the election-year debate on Tuesday. Obama released a preview of his State of the Union Address in a video to his supporters Saturday morning. 

“I'm going to lay out a blueprint for an American economy that's built to last,” Obama said.

The president said the address will bookend the speech he gave in Osawatomie, Kan.

“I talked in Osawatomie about - this is a make-or-break moment for the middle class and folks trying to work their way into the middle class," he said. "Because we can go in two directions -- one is towards less opportunity and less fairness. Or we can fight for where I think we need to go: building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few.”

Obama said he will address four topics: boosting American manufacturing, expanding skills for the American worker through education and training and a return to “American Values – of fairness for all, and responsibility from all.”

Some of his proposals may include making college more affordable and providing help to homeowners, according to one official.

On Wednesday, the president will hit the road for a five state, three-day trip to key battleground States including Iowa, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan. It is customary for president’s to sell their State of the Union message in the days after the address. This trip and the address will undoubtedly be scrutinized against the backdrop of the 2012 election which is now less than 10 months away.

During a briefing with reporters today, top officials from President Obama’s re-election team predicted a long, drawn out Republican primary battle, which they said would ultimately bolster Mr. Obama’s chances of becoming a two-term president.

Senior advisers -- including David Axelrod, Jim Messina and Stephanie Cutter -- argued that they have the organizational upper hand over any potential rival. They also were encouraged by the fact that 8 million Americans, who were not old enough to vote in 2008, will be able to do so in 2012. And they touted their ground game. “I think we have more staffers on the ground in Iowa than any of the other campaigns,” Messina said.

Axelrod wasted no time lashing out at both Republican front-runners: Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Referencing Romney’s now-infamous $10,000 bet, Axelrod said, “What was startling to me was that generally his tactic was to bet other people’s money not his own.”  

As for Gingrich, Axelrod called him the original “Tea Partier” -- accusing the former House speaker of causing several government shutdowns during the 90s, cutting Medicare and cutting taxes for the wealthy. Quoting a politician he knew years ago, Axelrod said, “The higher a monkey climbs on a pole, the more you can see his butt. The speaker is on a high pole, we’ll see how people like the view.”

Axelrod would not venture a guess about which candidate he thinks has the better chance of winning. 

Messina mapped out five possible pathways to 270 electoral votes next November -- 1) through Florida; 2) southern states (including North Carolina and Virginia); 3) the Midwest (including Ohio and Iowa); 4) western states (including Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada); and 5) an expansion scenario (by winning Arizona).

Echoing Obama’s argument from "60 Minutes" this past Sunday, the advisers said that Obama has the capacity to beat any Republican candidate because his governing philosophy is fundamentally different.

“The debate is largely the same because the economic theory is largely the same,” Axelrod said.

In his first news conference since unveiling his $447 billion jobs bill, President Obama tried to turn up the heat on Republicans in Congress, but he also fielded tough questions about the problems that have plagued his presidency.

Mr. Obama insisted that passing the “American Jobs Act” would be “insurance” against another recession, and he challenged Republicans to take action.

“Any senator out there who’s thinking about voting against this jobs bill when it comes up for a vote needs to explain exactly why they would oppose something we know would improve our economic situation at an urgent time,” Obama said.

The president also said he was “comfortable” with a proposal by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid which would impose a 5.6% surtax on millionaires to pay for the bill. Reid altered the president’s initial “pay-for” plan, which would have increased taxes on families making $250,000 or more and on large corporations after a number of Senate Democrats expressed opposition.

The president’s revised jobs plan is expected to come up for a vote in the Senate next week, but the legislation will have a difficult time passing through either chamber. Republicans have insisted they will not support any plan that increases taxes, because they say the hikes will ultimately hurt job creation.

Obama quickly found himself answering difficult questions about the apparent political stalemate.

“Are you worried about your own powers of persuasion and maybe that the American public is not listening to you anymore?” Obama was asked by NBC’s Chuck Todd.

The president initially responded, “Well, no.” But when pressed he admitted, “There may be some skepticism that I personally can persuade Republicans to take actions in the interest of the American people, but that’s exactly why I need the American people to try to put some pressure on them.”

The 71-minute news conference comes against a difficult political backdrop. The unemployment rate has been stuck above 9 percent, Obama’s approval ratings have reached record lows, and 2012 looms large.

Republicans have accused the president of using the bill as a political tool.

“We’re legislating. He’s campaigning,” charged House Speaker John Boehner Thursday.

But the president shot down that notion.

“If Congress does something, then I can’t run against a do-nothing Congress,” Obama retorted. “If Congress does nothing, then it’s not a matter of me running against them. I think the American people will run them out of town.”

In recent weeks the president has traveled across the country pitching his jobs plan to the American people by taking on an increasingly combative and populist tone. Today, he tried to further tap into voter frustration when he spoke, for the first time, about the anti-Wall Street protests that started in New York and have now sprouted up in various other cities, including Washington.

“I think people are frustrated,” Obama said, “and, you know, the protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about our financial system.”

When asked why his administration hasn’t prosecuted anyone from Wall Street, the president said what happened may have been “immoral,” but not necessarily “illegal.”

President Obama today touted his jobs legislation in Texas, taking his case to the home state of Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry and former President George W. Bush. 

But during his remarks, Obama invoked the name of a different Republican –- former President Ronald Reagan. He told a boisterous audience in Mesquite, TX: “Years ago ... a great American said that he thought it was crazy that certain tax loopholes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing while a bus driver was paying 10% of his salary... You know who this guy was?... It was Ronald Reagan."

"Last time I checked, Republicans all thought Reagan made some sense,” he added.   

The current president embraced the former president’s remarks from 1985 to make his case that that the middle class shouldn’t pay more in taxes than wealthier Americans -- as well as to draw battle lines with Republican lawmakers. “So the next time you hear one of those Republicans in Congress accusing you of class warfare, you just tell them, ‘I'm with Ronald Reagan,’”  

This was the first time that Obama has used this line in his stump speech, and it reflects the president’s shift to a sharper tone as he travels across the country to promote his plan. 

A combative Obama also took a swipe at House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for suggesting that his American Jobs Act would be dead on arrival in Congress. The president told the crowd of about 1,500: “I’d like Mr. Cantor to come down here to Dallas and explain what in this jobs bill he doesn’t believe in. Does he not believe in rebuilding America’s roads and bridges? Does he not believe in tax breaks for small businesses, or efforts to help veterans?” On Monday, Cantor said the president’s all-or-nothing approach was “unreasonable.” 

Yet while Obama was in Texas, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the President’s bluff, attempting to bring the president's legislation for a vote. McConnell’s actions came after Senate Democrats acknowledged there are not enough Senate votes (60) to pass the bill. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blocked a vote, calling McConnell’s move a “political stunt.”

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney held an impromptu gaggle on Air Force One and also called McConnell's move a political stunt.

“Sen. Reid called that bluff, and said, ‘Let’s schedule it right after the China bill.’ The Senate minority leader objected... It was a very disingenuous attempt to draw attention away from the fact that this president is calling on members of Congress -- both houses -- to act on jobs and the economy.”

The White House wanted President Obama's jobs bill to take center stage this week. Instead, many eyes are now squarely focused on the solar-panel manufacturing company, Solyndra, which recently declared bankruptcy.

At issue: Did the Obama administration influence and rush a federal review of a $500-million-dollar loan to the company so that Vice President Joe Biden could announce its 2009 groundbreaking? Some Republicans in the House say the answer is “yes,” but White House officials dispute the allegations.
 
Yesterday, a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee released documents and emails that are now at the center of the debate. “Our investigation raises several questions about where the administration did everything it could to protect taxpayer dollars,” said GOP Rep. Fred Upton, the chairman of the full committee. 

Emails first reported in the Washington Post show OMB officials acutely aware of time pressures. According to the Post, “One e-mail from an OMB official referred to ‘the time pressure we are under to sign-off on Solyndra.’ Another complained, “there isn’t time to negotiate.’"

During Wednesday’s hearing, officials with the Energy Department’s loan office and the OMB insisted their actions were not politically motivated. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney also pushed back, telling reporters that the emails are being misinterpreted. “What the emails, I believe, made clear is that there was urgency to make a decision about a scheduling matter. As you know ... it is a big proposition to move the president or to put on an event ... so people were simply looking for answers about whether or not we could move forward.” 

Carney also pointed out that the company was initially put under review for a loan during the Bush administration.

The Obama administration gave the Silicon Valley-based company stimulus money as a part of its push to invest in green energy programs. The president visited the company last year and hailed it a stimulus success. 

Solyndra, however, was forced to declare bankruptcy and lay-off 1,100 employees last month, when competition from foreign companies made it impossible for the company to stay in business. The subcommittee hearings continue into next week when two executives with Solyndra are expected to testify.

Given the two events currently dominating the news cycle –- the tragic loss of 30 service-members in Afghanistan and the historic downgrade of the nation’s credit rating –- you may have missed another important news story. 

On Monday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced a plan that will allow states to bypass the “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) law. Duncan appeared with Domestic Policy Director Melody Barnes at the daily White House Press briefing to explain the policy.

Duncan told reporters the plan will grant waivers to states allowing them to override the requirement that 100% of students be proficient in math and reading by 2014. “At a time when we have to get better, faster education than we ever have, we can’t afford to have the law of the land be one that has so many perverse incentives or disincentives to the kind of progress we want to see," Duncan said.

No Child Left Behind is the Bush-era education law that grades schools on a pass-fail scale, based on students’ performance on standardized tests. Those who support NCLB say it adds accountability to schools and teachers. But critics argue the law encourages instructors to teach to the standardized tests instead of teaching students to think critically. What's more, critics say, NCLB sets unrealistic achievement goals -- and even forces some poorly performing schools to close. 

Duncan also lashed out at Congress for not taking action to reform the education law. “Right now, Congress is pretty dysfunctional. They’re not getting stuff done. And this is something that’s long overdue.” Still, the move was not without its critics. 

According to a recent article in The New York Times, “Conservatives said it could inflame relations with Republicans in the House who want to reduce not expand, the federal footprint in education.” But Duncan insisted the waiver program has bipartisan support pointing to his conversations with nearly 30 governors of different parties who, he says, think the administration is on the right track.