Daily Briefing: FISA, FEMA

• FISA judge resigns to protest warrant-less eavesdropping. [WP]
• Eavesdropping program accidentally captured purely domestic calls, officials admit. [NYT]
• Secretly briefing 14 lawmakers about the eavesdropping program may not have been enough legally, officials contend. [NYT, LAT]
• Congressional inquiries “blamed interagency communication breakdowns — not shortcomings of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or any other intelligence-gathering guidelines.” [LAT]
• Cheney returns from Middle East trip early in anticipation of casting tie-breaking votes on spending cuts and ANWR drilling. [WP, NYT]
• Jack Abramoff is in discussions for a plea deal; could testify against lawmakers. [WP, NYT]

• Bush and Cheney “came to office convinced that the authority of the presidency had eroded and have spent the past five years trying to reclaim it.” [WP]
• Cheney defends eavesdropping: “The fact of the matter is this is a good, solid program. It has saved thousands of lives. We are doing exactly the right thing, we are doing it in accordance with the Constitution of the United States and it ought to be supported. This is not about violating civil liberties, because we’re not.” [NYT, LAT]
• Republican Sens. Craig (Idaho), Hagel (Neb.), Sununu (N.H.), and Murkowski (Alaska) break with their party to oppose renewal of the Patriot Act. [WP]
• Sen. Stevens takes “bold” risk with last-minute vote for ANWR drilling. [NYT]
• Michael Chertoff: “We will retool FEMA, maybe even radically, to increase our ability to deal with catastrophic events.” [NYT, WT]
• 54% of Americans support the confirmation of Samuel Alito, according to WP-ABC poll; 6 in 10 want Roe upheld. [WP]
• Spending cuts will barely impact the deficit. [LAT]

READ MORE: SCOTUS, anwr, budget, congress, deficit, dick cheney, eavesdropping, fema, fisa, george w. bush, jack abramoff, michael chertoff, patriot act, samuel alito, senate, ted stevens