Daily Briefing: Just Say ‘No’

• Supreme Court agrees to hear case regarding the legality of military tribunals; Roberts is recusing himself. [WP, NYT, NYT, USAT, WSJ]
• Bush: “We’ll aggressively pursue [potential terrorists], but we’ll do so under the law. . . We do not torture.” [WP, USAT]
• Democrats want to question administration policy-makers and speechwriters for inquiry of pre-war intelligence; subpoenas may be issued. [WP]
• Republican budget cuts unlikely to pass without restructuring. Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.): “They are a long way away from getting the votes. Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, whatever — for every person, there’s an issue.” [WP]
• Bush “put his credibility on the line” with last-minute campaigning for Jerry Kilgore, making the outcome of the Virginia gubernatorial race “a referendum on his troubled presidency.” [WP, NYT, WT, USAT]
• Troop-rotation plan could lead to a drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq in 2006. [WSJ]

• Bush gets along with Panama’s president and endorses a widening of their canal. [NYT, WT]
• Army to issue new guidelines for interrogations; “acts of physical or mental torture are prohibited” and techniques will be approved from the “highest levels in the Pentagon.” [NYT]
• Annual spy budget said to be $44b. [NYT]
• Friendship between Arlen Specter and Samuel Alito began 15 years ago. [NYT]
• $250m has been spent on the California special election; just a taste of ’06 spending. [LAT]