• Administration to propose major shift in nuclear energy strategy; program would import spent fuel for “recycling.” [WP]
• Expansion of Health Savings Accounts will be tenet of State of the Union address, Bush says. [WSJ, NYT]
• Democrats seek even more documents related to Katrina. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.): “What do they have to hide? Why don’t they just come forward and say, ‘This is what we knew, when we knew, and this is how we reacted?’” [NYT]
• Partisan divide over eavesdropping widens as Bush visits the NSA and Sen. Hillary Clinton calls his justification “strange” and “far-fetched.” Ken Mehlman: “Not only are the Democrats not learning from costly policy mistakes, they are not learning what happened from the political mistakes of 2002 and 2004.” [WP, NYT, WT]
• Administration rejected 2002 proposal by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) to lower the standards for getting wiretaps of non-citizens approved. [WP]
• Bush “seems unlikely to reshape the political landscape with his speech”; no major initiatives expected. [NYT]
• Samuel Alito makes “victory lap” on Capitol Hill; Bush renominates Brett Kavanaugh to U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. [WP]

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WaPo has all but fingered Mr. Green, in the library, with the candlestick. Stay with me now: Rove is saying he first learned of Plame’s identity from Libby, not from any classified dossier stuck conspicuously between the seat cushions on Air Force One. He also got the same dish from an anonymous second party in the White House. But before all this, Rove knew only that Wilson’s wife (at the time her name was unrevealed) worked at the CIA, which information came to him — or so he claims — by way of the press. This means that the first few drops of this leak were dripped either by Libby himself, or by that anonymous second party in the White House. Or by someone else entirely. At this point, my money’s on Margaret Spellings. That affably hip homeroom demeanor has always struck me as a little too perfect. And we now know she can’t have been terribly busy leaving no child behind. Follow the schoolteacher. MORE »

• Judith Miller recalls June 23, 2003 conversation with “Scooter” Libby about Joseph Wilson during her last day of testimony in the leak investigation; contempt-of-court threat is lifted. Attorneys believe Patrick Fitzgerald “is looking into a broad conspiracy charge against a group of administration officials or into charging one or more officials with easier-to-prove crimes such as disclosing classified material, making false statements or perjury.” [WP, WSJ, NYT]
• NBC/WSJ poll: 27% support Miers while 51% don’t know enough to venture an opinion; approval of Bush rests at 39% and only 28% of Americans believe the country is heading in the right direction — a ten year low. [WSJ]
• SEC subpoenas Frist for personal documents related to sale of health care stock; he is expected to testify under oath. [WP, NYT, WSJ]
• Bush defends use of religion to sell Miers: “[P]art of Harriet Miers’s life is her religion.” Alberto Gonzales: “I believe that she is pro-life.” [WP, NYT, WT, USAT]
• Democrats are hopeful about their political opportunities in 2006. Charlie Cook: “Right now, if I had to bet would the Democrats take the House and Senate back, I’d say no. But are the odds a heck of a lot better than they were three months ago or six months ago? Heck, yes.” [NYT]

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• Inside the Beltway: Margaret Spellings said of Miers in 2003: “She doesn’t want to be in the paper. She’s all about the president. Will people think she is important and in the know for her next gig? I can tell you she is and she is.”. . . White House pool report noted that Cheney dashed his turkey with salt or pepper. [WT]
• Under the Dome: After urging conservation, Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman uses Cadillac limo and large SUV to travel 15 blocks. . . Rumsfeld distracted by the “wrong rabbit”. . . Aspen Institute names Reps. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Dan Boren (D-Okla.), Artur Davis (D-Ala.), Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.), Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) among top 24 “emerging leaders.” [The Hill]
• Rush & Molloy: Dean on Miers: “You can’t play hide the salami, or whatever it’s called. [Bush has] got to go out there and say something about this woman

• Washington Whispers: Rolex watch given to John F. Kennedy from Marilyn Monroe is up for auction; its box includes poem, “And let me love or let me die!”. . . 81% in one poll can identify Roberts. . . Some Democrats irked by Clinton’s participation in Katrina aid. . . Chertoff has an evacuation plan for his family. . . DeLay has personal vow not to frown or whine. . . Margaret Spellings exercises to the Police, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, and the Carpenters. . . Romney’s religious credibility questioned by “Christian leaders.” [USN&WR]
• Inside the Beltway: Bush “took a rare break from mopping up Hurricane Katrina and bid farewell to Prince Bandar“. . . Bork’s son hawks shirts that say, “Renominate Bork! He’s tanned, rested and ready.” [WT]
• Rush & Molloy: Chuck D raps about Katrina: “Son of a Bush, how you gonna trust that cat?/ To fix [bleep] when help is stuck in Iraq?” [NYDN]
• The Scoop: Al Sharpton acted as “eyes and ears” of PETA for New Orleans. [MSNBC]

• Washington Whispers: George W. envisions a “Bush Institute” policy group and a library-museum that features an IMAX theater. . . John Thune could lead the GOP Senatorial Committee or be tapped as vice presidential candidate. . . Judith Miller’s hand is tired from responding to letters. . . The Washington Times may sponsor the Pentagon’s Freedom Walk. . . Margaret Spellings is addicted to Sudoku. [USN&WR]
• Page Six: Barbara Bush –the white-haired one– was spotted “guzzling numerous vodka sodas at East Side Company Bar with a gal pal.” [NYP]
• Inside Politics: John McCain distinguishes Vietnam from Iraq. . . British politician George Galloway will join Jane Fonda’s anti-war bus tour. [WT]
• Rush & Molloy: John Roberts talked golf over grilled halibut with three other men in a private section of McCormick & Schmick in Bethesda. . . Bill O’Reilly compares the director of “Outfoxed” to Islamic suicide bombers and Third Reich fanatics; filmmaker wants real debate, Fox News wants his “extinction.” [NYDN]