• Bush, seeking a “rational middle ground” on immigration to rescue his second term, announces the deployment of 6,000 National Guard troops to the southern border; Karl Rove indicates that Bush supports the Senate’s immigration plan. Bush: “We do not yet have full control of the border, and I am determined to change that.” [WP, NYT, USAT, WSJ]
• Immigration issue could go from “opportunity to expand the Republican Party” to a “historic liability”; Bush sought to “define the middle ground in a debate where consensus has been difficult.” 74% of Americans, in poll conducted before the presidential address, supported the use of Guard troops on the border. [WP]
• BellSouth denies “any link” with the NSA for the logging of phone calls; USA Today stands by its story. [USAT, NYT, WSJ]
• Pentagon releases the full list of those detained at Guantanamo Bay after the Associated Press files a FOIA request. [AP]
• Rove is optimistic for the GOP’s chances in November: “Look, we’re in a sour time. I readily admit it. I mean, being in the middle of a war where people turn on their television sets and see brave men and women dying is not something that makes people happy and optimistic and upbeat. But I’m absolutely confident [that] we’re going to be just fine in the fall elections.” [WP]
• Emergency spending bill has yet to be slimmed to Bush’s specifications. [WP]

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* Demand for oil tops agenda for meeting of Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao; “China has invested heavily in Iran, and as a permanent member of the Security Council, its position on the question of sanctions is crucial.” [NYT]
* Pentagon preps for war games about Iran. Bush: “All options are on the table.” [USAT]
* Construction of $592M embassy in Baghdad –the size of 80 football fields– is on target. [USAT]
* Bush: “I’m the decider, and I decide what’s best, and what’s best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense.” [NYT, USAT]
* Administration has not improved the sharing of intelligence data among agencies, GAO finds. [WP]
* Rob Portman, trade representative, is selected to replace Bolten as budget director; sends “gloomy signal [about] the prospects for achieving significant gains in trade talks with foreign countries anytime soon.” [WP, NYT, WP, USAT]
* Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller ordered to testify on abuse in Iraq. [WP]
* News organizations attempt to block subpoenas for documents related to leak investigation. [NYT]
* FBI seeks access to the files of the late columnist Jack Anderson. [NYT]
* Bush’s interest in human rights complicates visit with Jintao. [WP]
* Rumsfeld is playing dead, says Dana Milbank. [WP]

* Bush remains firm on port deal as lawmakers from both parties voice concern: “I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a [British] company… They ought to look at the facts and understand the consequences of what they’re going to do. But if they pass a law, I’ll deal with it, with a veto.” [WP, NYT, W$J, LAT, WT, USAT]
* Supreme Court will hear case on partial birth abortion; decision will test new court. [WP, NYT, W$J, WT, USAT]
* Bush devotes second day to talking up alternative energy options. [WP, NYT]
* Andy Card called off December briefing about NSA eavesdropping to the House Intelligence Committee. [NYT]
* Commander of Guantanamo admits force-feeding detainees; Rumsfeld says interrogation tactics changed after legal concerns were raised in early 2003. [NYT, NYT]
* Alito was “precocious,” jovial, and “enthusiastic” on his first day. [WP]
* Fundraisers aim to raise $5m for Lewis Libby’s defense fund. [WP]

• White House backs Sen. McCain’s ban on the torture of detainees; noted as a “particularly significant setback” for Cheney. [WP, WP, NYT, USAT, LAT]
• In 2002, Bush authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop domestically without needing a court warrant; under pressure from the White House, the New York Times held the story for a year to “conduct additional reporting.” Former senior official: “This is really a sea change. It’s almost a mainstay of this country that the N.S.A. only does foreign searches.” [NYT]
• Republicans try to outmaneuver Democrats on final legislation. Filibuster may be in order for the Patriot Act debate; Republican lawmakers “are increasingly showing independent streaks.” [WP, NYT, LAT, LAT]
• Bush on Iraq vote: “There’s a lot of joy, as far as I’m concerned, in seeing the Iraqi people accomplish this major milestone in the march to democracy.” [NYT]
• Bush doubles proposal for rebuilding New Orleans levees to $3b; new structure would not shield from Category 5 hurricanes. [WP, NYT, USAT]
• Congressional report finds that the administration withheld some prewar intelligence from lawmakers; White House disputes claim. [WP]

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• House votes 308 to 122 on symbolic measure to ban torture and limit interrogation measures. [WP, NYT, LAT]
• Bush’s recent speeches on Iraq show “a determined effort to reshape the angry debate at home over the war” by “presenting a more sober picture of the situation while highlighting the progress”; the wording is “carefully calibrated” to provide “maximum flexibility in determining ultimately just what will constitute victory.” Senior official: “It’s not as if we have a secret ersatz timetable and we just won’t say what it is.”
[WP, NYT, NYT, WSJ, USAT]
• House approves renewal of the Patriot Act by vote of 251 to 174; Democrats may filibuster in the Senate. [WP, NYT, LAT, WT, USAT]
• Republicans losing ground among key senior citizen voting bloc. NBC/WSJ poll: “By a 65%-19% margin, Americans age 65 and above disapprove of the performance of Congress” and “say by 47%-37% that they want Democrats rather than Republicans to win control of Capitol Hill.” [WSJ]
• Senate expected to require the administration to reveal specifics about secret overseas prisons. [NYT]
• Robert Novak: “I’m confident the president knows who the source is. I’d be amazed if he doesn’t.” [WP]

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• Supreme Court agrees to review Texas redistricting; Justices may want to impose new guidelines. [WP, LAT, NYT, WSJ, USAT]
• Bush says 30,000 Iraqis have died in the war. Bush: “Knowing what I know today, I’d make the decision again. . . The long run in this war is going to require a change in governments in parts of the world.” [WP, NYT, USAT, WT]
• Bush is “confident” that a deal can be reached with Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) regarding the treatment of detainees. [NYT]
• Bush says race was not a determining factor in the government’s response to Katrina. [NYT]
• Federal budget deficit hit a record-high for November, up 43% from last year. [WSJ]

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• Congress is expected to vote next week on the renewal of the Patriot Act; Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) threatens to use the filibuster. [WP, NYT, USAT, WT]
• House votes mostly along party lines to pass more tax cuts. [WP, NYT, LAT]
• Administration linked Iraq and al Qaeda with information received from prisoner who “fabricated [the tie] to escape harsh treatment”; Democrats seek access to White House documents about prewar intelligence. [NYT, NYT]
• Time reporter Viveca Novak meets with Patrick Fitzgerald regarding her conversations with Karl Rove. [NYT]
• Second business partner of Jack Abramoff is near a plea agreement with prosecutors. [WP]
• American and Saudi officials wrote about Osama bin Laden’s interest in using civilian aircraft back in 1998. [NYT]

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• Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) is expected to win desired concessions on torture ban. [NYT]
• Some Democrats worry recent antiwar statements by Rep. Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Howard Dean will backfire in midterm elections; GOP leaders rush to attack “wrong message to our troops.” [WP, LAT]
• Christians are disappointed by non-religious White House “holiday” card; presidential pets are pictured on the front. [WP]
• Condoleezza Rice encounters a skeptical Europe. [NYT]
• Rice admits mistaken detention of innocent German. [WP, NYT]
• Rep. DeLay (R-Texas) is unlikely to regain a leadership role, though a leadership election is not scheduled. [WP, NYT]
• Congress opens inquiry to determine if the administration downplayed prewar information that predicted chaos in occupied Iraq. [WSJ]

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• Condoleezza Rice defends secret overseas detention of suspected terrorists and says the U.S. “has fully respected the sovereignty of other countries that cooperate in these matters.” [WP, NYT]
• 9/11 Panel says the government is failing to secure the homeland. Thomas Kean: “If they do, and these reforms that might have prevented such an attack have not been implemented, what will our excuses be?” [WP, WP, NYT]
• Texas judge dismisses one conspiracy charge against Rep. Tom DeLay (R) but two others stand. [WP, NYT, LAT, WT, USAT]
• Bush, visiting North Carolina, touts economic vitality in likely preview of ‘06 theme: “This economy is strong, and the best days are yet to come.” [NYT, WSJ, USAT]
• Bush urges extension of tax cuts on investment dividends and capital gains; moderate Republicans “have expressed deep misgivings about approving a measure so beneficial to affluent investors so soon after they approved a budget-cutting bill that would cut people off food stamps, squeeze student lenders, impose new fees on Medicaid recipients and slash federal aid for child-support enforcement.” [WP, WT]
• Agreement on torture ban said to be within reach. [USAT]

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• McCain intends to remain steadfast with his effort to ban torture of detainees. [WP]
• Condoleezza Rice, visiting Europe, “plans to come out swinging” on the issue of secret prisons, “shifting the focus back to the responsibilities of Europe

• Bush shifts his response to critics of the Iraq war: “People should feel comfortable about expressing their opinions about Iraq. . . This is not an issue of who’s [a] patriot and who’s not patriotic. It’s an issue of an honest, open debate about the way forward in Iraq.” Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.): “They have been overly optimistic, illusionary about their policy. This is not a war of words; this is a real war where people are getting killed.” [WP, NYT, WT, USAT]
• CIA Director Porter Goss: “We use lawful capabilities to collect vital information, and we do it in a variety of unique and innovative ways, all of which are legal and none of which are torture.” [USAT, USAT, USAT]
• Costs associated with rebuilding the Gulf Coast could top $100b; Bush loyalist assumes control of reconstruction effort. [WP, WP]
• Bush has a little fun in China by exercising; White House officials and some journalists enjoy Outback Steakhouse there. [WP]
• Bush returns home after making virtually no news on tour of Asia; the president of China is open to economic reforms but not interested in increasing political freedoms. [WP, NYT, USAT]
• White House associates speculate that Bush “has long been aware that the vice president oversold the case on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.” [NYT]

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