In a potential sign that at least some of our elected officials understand what a clusterfuck it has been to suddenly require passports to come/go from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by plane, and what further levels of clusterfuckery will be established by requiring every person to get one to cross the border by land, Congress is attempting to force the Administration to put off implementing the land-entry requirement until 2009. The Administration is opposing it, of course, because colossal clusterfucks are their legacy. [Yahoo News]

* Administration is underfunding democracy-building in Iraq; security costs receive an “enormous share” of funds as democracy and infrastructure goals are scaled down. [WP]
* Rep. Tom DeLay “set the terms of his departure” to ensure some dignity was not lost; he was “dispirited” and viewed his Republican primary challengers as “gadflies and traitors.” House ethics panel, meanwhile, will not investigate DeLay and other lawmakers. [WP, NYT, USAT, WSJ]
* Senate Appropriations Committee adds billions to hurricane relief package. [NYT]
* GAO criticizes bulk of Bush’s global AIDS initiative. [WP]
* John Snow said to be seriously mulling retirement; White House seeks successor. [NYT, WSJ]
* DeLay decision throws Texas political landscape into “electoral free-for-all.” [NYT, USAT]
* Democratic takeover of the Senate is deemed “distant” but “possible.” [USAT, LAT]

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• Administration, citing “reasons of practicality and politics,” decided not to intervene early on with federal response to Katrina. Senior administration official: “Can you imagine how it would have been perceived if a president of the United States of one party had pre-emptively taken from the female governor of another party the command and control of her forces, unless the security situation made it completely clear that she was unable to effectively execute her command authority and that lawlessness was the inevitable result?” [NYT]
• Congress readily approves spending for Katrina relief efforts including $51.8b package; deficit likely to hit new record. [WP, WSJ, NYT, USAT]
• Democratic senators and strategists “are weighing whether to save their ammunition for the next nominee, who would succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, often the swing vote on social issues.” [NYT]
• Top FEMA officials lack experience; many were patronage appointments. [WP, LAT]
• Leadership and compassion from Bush is less visible now than after 9/11; approval rating is down to 40% in Pew poll and 42% in Gallup poll think Bush’s response to Katrina was bad or terrible. [NYT, USAT]
• Democrats do not approve of Katrina inquiry proposed by Republicans. [WP, NYT]
• Cheney tours Gulf Coast: “There’s no question there were problems with respect to the evacuation in New Orleans. We’ve gotten around that problem now, and I think everyone’s focused on the future.” [NYT]

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