Daily Briefing: See Ya, Arlen
At his confirmation hearing, Gen.Michael Haydendeflects specifics, defends NSA wiretapping, distances himself from Pentagon brass, and urges a focus on the future of the CIA: "It's time to move past what seems to me to be an endless picking apart of the archaeology of every past intelligence success or failure." [ WP , NYT , NYT , WSJ ]
Senate votes 63 to 34 to make English the "national language"; vote continues "the conservative turn that a major overhaul of the nation's immigration laws has taken since the Senate began debate this week." [ WP , NYT ]
Judiciary Committee approves constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage; Sen.Arlen Specter(R-Pa.) says "good riddance" to Sen.Russ Feingold(D-Wis.), who replies, "See ya." [ WP ]
Bushin Arizona: "It makes sense to use fencing along the border in key locations in order to do our job. We're in the process of making our border the most technologically advanced border in the world." [ NYT , WSJ ]
BellSouth seeks a retraction from USA Today for "the false and unsubstantiated statements" about NSA phone logs. [ WSJ ]
Senators who were not briefed "threw the Congressional equivalent of a temper tantrum" at theHaydenhearing. [ NYT ]
Peers thinkHaydenpossess the ability to deliver bad news toBush. [ WP ]
$2.7T budget passes in the House, 218 to 210, but will likely falter in the Senate. [ NYT , WSJ ]
Liberal activists gang up on Sen.Joe Lieberman(D-Conn.) for his war stance and support ofBush. [ NYT ]
House moves to rein in oil profits. [ NYT ]
Supreme Court is "deeply split" on drug search issue. [ NYT ]
Four U.S. troops and one American sailor died in Iraq yesterday, inching May closer to being one of the deadliest months this year for U.S. forces there. [ WP ]