Bush to hold news conference
Iraq war funding, immigration reform likely to be topics at Rose Garden
NBC News and news services
Updated: 10:00 a.m. ET May 24, 2007
WASHINGTON - President Bush will hold a news conference at 11:01 ET on Thursday from the Rose Garden, The White House said.

The president is expected to make his case for Iraq war funding legislation and for an overhaul of U.S. immigration policy, the White House said. The event will be streamed live on MSNBC.com.

Advisers told NBC News the president's five-minute opening statement will focus on those two topics, after which he is expected to take a full range of questions from reporters.

The last full White House news conference was on Feb. 14.

The president will likely also face questions about tensions with Iran and the future of embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Congress, trying to leave town by week’s end for a Memorial Day holiday, was to vote on a $120 billion bill to keep military operations afloat through September.

The measure does not set deadlines for U.S. troop withdrawals, as many Democrats wanted. The Democrats backed down because they were unable to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to override Bush’s veto.


© 2007 MSNBC InteractiveNBC News' Kelly O'Donnell and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18842494/