• Andrew Card resigns as White House chief of staff; budget director Joshua Bolten is be tapped as replacement. [WP, AP, W$J]
• Senate Judiciary Committee approves two guest worker programs and the legalization of millions of immigrants. [WP, WP, W$J, USAT, LAT]
• Both parties face political tightrope over immigration. Bush: “Newcomers have a special way of appreciating the opportunities of America, and when they seize those opportunities, our whole nation benefits.” [WP, LAT]
• Bush has recently held off-the-record meetings with top reporters; New York Times declines to participate. [NYT]
• FEC restricts political contributions and spending on the internet but puts bloggers in the same category of newspapers. [WP]

MORE »

* People. Please go vote in the second bracket for the DC Anthem. Otherwise, The Magnetic Fields’ “Washington, DC” will win. And that’s like the TERRORISTS winning. Because Stephin Merritt is the most ginormous asshole in indie rock history. You can prevent this atrocity. [DCist]
* Hooray. The Nationals get to keep their dull as dishwater name. Can I get a “Feh?” [Washington Examiner]
* Apparently, there’s a movement afoot from Crystal City property owners to

* The name of the energy drink that fuels this blog has somehow become tied to the suckiest sucking soccer team that ever sucked. [DCist] MORE »

Hiya, folks. It’s me, special guest opinion-page writer and superstar pitcher Livan Hernandez of your world-famous Washington Nationals. I’m writing here with a renewed vigor here, people. Big news to report. MORE »

• The Nationals’ stadium isn’t Anthony Williams’ baby, it’s Rosemary’s. Major League Baseball reaches new depths of depravity, soul-sucking evil. [DCist] MORE »

• Tony Williams postpones vote on baseball stadium, the rumor being that he’s losing support on the DC Council. Peter Angelos and David Catania make for some odd — and scorchingly unattractive — bedfellows [Washington Post] MORE »

• Reliable Source: Eight groups wrap-up fight for Washington Nationals. [WP]
• Inside the Beltway: George H.W. Bush received a plaque for accidently using a women’s restroom. [WT]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Roberts “could be a poster child for men everywhere in the first stages of hair loss,” says hair-weave provider. [NYDN]
• Page Six: Colin Powell eyes $2,700 loafers. . . William Weld shifts allegiance from Red Sox to Yankees. . . Dean calls Hillary the “barely junior senator” from New York. [NYP, NYP, NYP]

As of last night, the Washington Nationals lost their uncontested grip on first place in the NL East. The hard-core Nationals faithful blame the team’s sliding fortunes on the bogue energy that bandwagon-hopping fans have brought to RFK. WaPo reporter David Farenthold reports that EPA administrator Hugh B. Kaufman has taken matters into his own hands:

To break the hex, Kaufman came up with a solution that might sound weird to outsiders . . . . MORE »