Obama to Open 1st Debt Commission Meeting on April 27
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Here is a run down of the key details.
The White House says the meeting will start at 9:30 a.m. on April 27. Obama will deliver remarks.
The 18-member commission will then move across the street to a conference room across from Lafayette Square and meet until 1 p.m.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Four witnesses will testify April 27:
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fmr CBO Directors Robert Reischauer and Rudy Penner
Bernanke and Penner were Republican appointees to their positions; Orszag and Resichaauer Democratic appointees to theirs.
Last week, the co-chairs of the debt commssion, former Wyoming Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, and former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, and commission executive director Bruce Reed meet with all 12 congressional members of the panel.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 18-member panel is made up of 10 Democrats and 8 Republicans. For the commission to forward a recommendation on deficit and debt reduction to Congress, 14 of 18 members have to approve it.
The commission has until Dec. 1 to file its recommendations.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have promised to put the commission recommendations to a congressional vote.