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FIRST 100 DAYS

Festivities May Include Budget Passage

For a White House that claimed disdain for measuring its progress by an artificial 100-day deadline, the administration appears to be suddenly embracing the moment with enthusiasm.

"A Hallmark holiday," says David Axelrod, Obama's senior adviser -- a moment with no real meaning.

And yet, on Day 100, Obama's top aides are stage-managing quite a show. They have prodded Congress to pass his budget on that day. The president will fly to St. Louis to mark the occasion. And that night, Obama will hold his third prime-time news conference.

"I'm sure they will say it's merely a serendipitous confluence of events," said Democratic strategist Chris LeHane, tongue planted firmly in cheek. "To their credit, this is a White House where everything is well planned."

After he announced the news conference Thursday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked whether there was significance to its scheduling.

"I'll have to get back to you," he deadpanned.

The trip to suburban St. Louis will place Obama in one of his favorite forums: a town hall where he can talk about his accomplishments without a media filter and answer questions directly from citizens.

And the budget's passage that day would underscore another achievement: a fiscal 2010 spending plan that makes room for Obama's top domestic priorities.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said budget negotiators could complete work on a final plan by Monday. A senior member of the House leadership said the White House is urging congressional leaders to wrap up action by Wednesday, the official 100-day mark.

Several issues remain unresolved, however. The White House is seeking special "reconciliation" rules to protect its health-care initiative and an expansion of the federal student loan program from a Senate filibuster and to allow the bills to pass with 51 votes.

Some Democrats are unhappy about the proposed student loan changes because they would eliminate the role of private lenders in the Pell Grant program. And Republicans who want to play a role in health-care reform warn that reconciliation would effectively shut them out, stoking partisan rancor in a landmark debate that cries out for consensus. The House budget blueprint includes reconciliation instructions, but the Senate version does not. Negotiators agree that reconciliation is likely to be included.