White House
President Obama will submit his federal budget to Congress on Monday February 2, 2015.  Expect a hearing on the budget in the House on February 4th.
President Obama and his wife attended the funeral of King Abdullah who died last week in an effort ot maintain the strong relations between Saudi Arabia and the USA.
President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Republic Day parade in New Delhi, Jan. 26, 2015.  On Wednesday President Obama hosted a farewell event for Defense Secretary Hagel.
US Congress
The House passed 13 anti-human sex trafficking bills on Tuesday.  The Speaker attended the school choice rally on Tuesday also.  The LNG Export bill is coming to the floor soon. Expect a hearing on the HHS budget soon in the House.
In the Senate on Wednesday there were 18 votes on the Keystone Bill alone.   The Senate has been on this bill for three weeks now.  There have been more amendment votes already this year in the Senate than all of last year.  Senators voted last week that Climate Change is real and is contributed to by humans.
House and Senate Republicans just held a retreat at Hersey Resort in Pennsylvania to discuss ways the two chambers can work together.  A retreat that includes both chambers has not happened in a decades.  They had specific policy discussions.
Democratic House Members are currently at the Sheraton Society Hill Hotel in Philadelphia to map out their legislative agenda for the 114th Congress. The annual retreat gives party leaders the chance to hear from members during a series of closed-door meetings.  Vice President Biden will close the meeting on Friday.  Democratic Senators held their meeting in Baltimore earlier in January.
United Nations
The United Nations human rights office recently confirmed that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has established unlawful, so-called ÔÇÿshariÔÇÖa courtsÔÇÖ in the territory under its control that have been carrying out cruel and inhuman punishments against men, women and children.
Those who are punished are accused of ÔÇÿviolating the groupÔÇÖs extremist interpretations of Islamic shariÔÇÖa law or for suspected disloyalty,ÔÇÖ said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), at a Geneva┬ábriefing┬áon January 20, 2015.
US State Department
Ambassador-at-large Rabbi David Saperstein for International Religious Freedom recently met with the US Comission on International Religious Freedom to discuss priorities for 2015.  Ambassador Saperstein is the first non-Christian in this post and was confirmed by the Senate just last month.  SPI staff are seeking a meeting with the Ambassador to brief him on the demographics of the secular Americans and will give him the soon to be released Secular Demographic Guide.