* House Republicans elect Ohio Rep. John Boehner as majority leader, signaling break from status quo. Boehner: “The members wanted to make a big decision, and they did. . . We must act swiftly to restore the trust between Congress and the American people.” [WP, NYT, LAT, USAT, WT, W$J]
* Election of Boehner heralds his comeback and shows a “cry of concern by an entrenched Republican majority”; Boehner “tapped into members’ election-year anxieties about the GOP’s scandal-scuffed leadership.” [WP, WP, NYT]
* Administration seeks $120b for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. [WP, NYT, USAT]
* Democrats attack Republican rhetoric at hearing on security threats; insist on more oversight. Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.V.): “I am deeply troubled by what I see as the administration’s continued effort to selectively release intelligence information that supports its policy or political agenda while withholding equally pertinent information that does not do that.” [WP, WP, NYT, USAT, WT]

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• Bush defends eavesdropping program but offers no details: “This is a different era, a different war.” [WP, WP, NYT, USAT, USAT]
• House approves $39.7b in cuts and drilling of ANWR; showdown expected in the Senate. Sen. Kerry: “Let’s be very clear about what’s happening here. Republicans — Senator Stevens in particular — are putting oil companies ahead of our troops.” [WP, WP, WP, NYT, USAT, LAT]
• Approval of Bush rebounds to 47% in WP-ABC poll: “His approval rating on Iraq jumped 10 percentage points since early November, to 46 percent, while his rating on the economy rose 11 points, to 47 percent. A clear majority, 56 percent, said they approve of the way Bush is handling the fight against terrorism.” [WP]
• Bush ” apparently decided that a passionate offense was his best defense”; his mood “was casual and crisp.” [WP]
• ACLU claims the FBI has wrongly monitored antiwar, environmental, and civil rights groups; FBI used secret informants to track PETA for years. [NYT, WP]
• Sen. Rockefeller penned hand-written note to Cheney about civil liberties concerns over eavesdropping. [WP]
• Force reductions expected in Iraq, Afghanistan. [WP, NYT]

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