Obama pushes ethics, troop withdrawal

President Obama met with his top economic and military advisers, waded into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and issued executive orders establishing ethical standards for his administration on a busy first full day on the job Wednesday.

The first official acts of his presidency were to freeze the pay of White House officials making more than $100,000, impose a gift ban on political appointees and place new restrictions on lobbyists’ access to government jobs.

“Let me say it as clearly as I can: Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency,” he said, declaring “a new era of openness.”

The president was to issue an executive order Thursday that would close the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba in about one year, according to White House aides and documents obtained by The Washington Times.

Mr. Obama took immediate action Wednesday to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, calling four of the foreign leaders at the heart of the decadeslong struggle that has been inflamed by the recent brutal fighting in Gaza.

Prior to a morning worship service at the Washington National Cathedral, Mr. Obama called Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

“He used this opportunity on his first day in office to communicate his commitment to active engagement in pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace from the beginning of his term, and to express his hope for their continued cooperation and leadership,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in an e-mailed statement.

Mr. Obama’s first day at the White House was a typical moving day - nobody seemed to know where anything or anyone was, and even the boss was unsure of the procedures and protocols at his one public event.

Despite the logistical confusion, the president leapt headlong into two of the biggest challenges he faces - the faltering economy and the task of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. In back-to-back afternoon meetings behind closed doors, Mr. Obama received briefings from his economic and military advisers.

His ethics measures were meant to convey that the Obama administration will serve the public and no other interests and that the White House will lead by example in making tough economic choices.

The restrictions on lobbyists fulfilled a campaign promise, and ethics groups said they set the right tone for the new administration.

Mr. Obama thanked the more than 100 aides - including Mr. Gibbs and senior adviser David Axelrod - who accepted the pay freeze.

“You inspire great confidence in me, and the more the American people get to know you, the more you will inspire great confidence in the American people,” he said.

His first executive order demanded that every appointee in every executive agency pledge in writing to refuse gifts from lobbyists and consider only competence when hiring personnel. The order requires an annual report on compliance.

Another order seeks to close the so-called “revolving door” between K Street and government offices that led to major ethics scandals on Capitol Hill.

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