Obama imposes ethics rules, pay freeze on staff

President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed executive orders and announced new ethics limiting lobbyists' influence in his administration.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (MCT) - With the national celebration over and the hard work beginning, President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed executive orders and announced new ethics limiting lobbyists' influence in his administration.

He suggested he would release more public information than former President George W. Bush under the Freedom of Information Act. He also imposed a pay freeze on senior staff earning more than $100,000, saying that given the economic crisis, "It's what's required of you at this moment." Obama made those announcements at a swearing-in ceremony for White House staff at the Old Executive Office Building.

"Public service is a privilege," he said in explaining the thinking behind the new ethics rules, on which he said he was briefed last week before his swearing-in. "It's not about advantaging yourself. It's not about advancing your friends or your corporate clients. It's not about advancing an ideological agenda or the special interests of any organization. Public service is simply and absolutely about advancing the interests of Americans."

The 44th president began his first full day in office by attending a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, a tradition for newly inaugurated presidents.

He also found time to call four Middle Eastern leaders on Wednesday morning: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement that Obama emphasized protecting a cease-fire in Gaza in part by blocking arms smuggling to Hamas and in part through reconstruction efforts. Gibbs said that Obama thought it was important "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."

In mid-afternoon Obama was scheduled to meet with his economic advisers before heading to the Situation Room for a meeting on Iraq and national security with his defense secretary, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others.

Obama has said that on his first day he would ask top military officials to give him a plan for withdrawing combat troops from Iraq over a 16-month period and redeploying some to Afghanistan.

He also is asking his team to prepare a plan to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which has come under criticism for its handling of terrorism suspects. The new president on Tuesday ordered a 120-day halt to military tribunals there.

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