• Heard on the Hill: Dick Cheney attends ceremony for, but doesn’t personally give award to Plamegate reporter Tom DeFrank… Website declares John Thune “hottest” sentator. [Roll Call]
• Under the Dome: Rep. Bill Young’s wife auctions off shirt she was escorted from SOTU for wearing… Gresham Barrett (R-SC) holds “Shag n’ Eat” fundraiser today. [The Hill]
• Reliable Source: Documentary producer tells Al Gore, “I’m one of the producers of **** .” … Andy Card was literally hung from the flagpole at U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. [Reliable Source]
• Rush & Molloy: Barbara Bush attends Radiohead’s New York show. Thom Yorke says had he known, he would’ve had her bounced. [NYDN]

• Top Republicans and Democrats express reservations about the expected nomination of Gen. Michael Hayden to replace Porter Goss at the CIA; “Bush is politically at his weakest and members of his party are distancing themselves from the White House in the hopes of retaining their grip on Congress in the midterm elections.” Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.): “We should not have a military person leading a civilian agency at this time.” [WP, NYT, WSJ, NYT, USAT, USAT]
• Patrick Fitzgerald “is weighing Rove’s foggy-memory defense against evidence he has acquired or accumulated over nearly 2 1/2 years that shows Rove was very involved in White House efforts to beat back allegations that Bush twisted U.S. intelligence to justify the Iraq war”; decision on an indictment could come this month. [WP]
• Fear of losing seats in November is Rove’s “best weapon” for “motivating his party’s conservative base to turn out”; officials are “trying to turn vulnerability to advantage” and are “telling fellow Republicans that criticizing the president risks bringing the party down with him.” [NYT]
• Bush may close Gitmo prison: “I would like to close the camp and put the prisoners on trial. [The Supreme Court] must still rule on whether they should go before a civil or military court. They will get their day in court. One can’t say that of the people that they killed.” [NYT]
• Sen. Frist seeks to start partisan confrontation over judicial nominations. Sen. Thune: “A good fight on judges does nothing but energize our base. Right now our folks are feeling a little flat. They need a reason to get engaged, and fights over judges will do that.” [NYT]

• Bush has appointed fewer women and minorities compared to the Clinton administration, Democratic study finds; Bush has a “record of diversity” at the Cabinet level. [WP]
• USDA officials urged to dispense positive “talking points” about Iraq. [WP]
• Cheney defends recent comments about Russia: “None of us wants to see Russia as an enemy.” [WP, WSJ]
• Gore is “thinking about” running again, says a former advisor. “He’s talked to people about the pros and cons”; insiders suspect Gore is “more likely to run if Mrs. Clinton does than if she doesn’t.” [WSJ]
• Bush envisions a public policy center with his presidential library; Bush “is actively thinking ahead to his post-White House life.” [NYT]

• Senate passes $109B in emergency spending by vote of 77 to 21; bill is rifled with earmarks that Bush threatened to veto. [WP, NYT, WSJ]
• House approves $7.4B for port security by vote of 421 to 2. [WP]
• Rumsfeld confronted by harsh criticism from audience members. Asked a former CIA analyst, “Why did you lie to get us into a war that caused these kind of casualties and was not necessary?” [AP]
• Administration increases rhetorical push for “democratic reform in Russia”; Cheney’s comments could “reflect a growing impatience with Russia’s unwillingness to back stronger measures, including sanctions, against the Iranians.” [WP, NYT, WSJ]
• Republicans “are struggling to marry a newfound zeal for energy conservation with their traditional loyalty to big cars and Big Oil.” [NYT]
• The proposed $100 gas rebate “offers a window on how Washington sometimes works in a slapdash way” and shows how Sen. Frist “has stumbled at the pinnacle of Senate power.” Sen. Thune: “I never was in favor of that. We all got out there and tried to put our best face on it.” [NYT]

• Over 1,300 Iraqis have died in the past week due to the sharp uptick in violence. Asks one Iraqi, “And they say there is no sectarian war? What do you call this?” [WP]
• 70% of Americans are against the Dubai port deal, including 58% of Republicans; Bush’s approval rating slips to 34% in NYT-CBS poll. [NYT]
• Coast Guard assessment cited “many intelligence gaps” in Dubai port deal. [WP, NYT, USAT, WT]
• Senate drafts bill to curb earmarks. [WP]
• India meets Bush with a new sense of empowerment. [NYT]
• Intelligence agencies remain in bureaucratic disarray. [NYT]
• Administration will oppose new United Nations panel on human rights. Kofi Annan: “I think we should not let the better be the enemy of the good.” [WP]

• Federal judge denies new work rules for Department of Defense; setback for the administration. [WP]
• AFL-CIO intends to spend $40m on the midterm elections. [NYT]
• 55% of Americans are open to the idea of a higher gas tax if it’s productive for the environment and energy security. [NYT]
• Administration wants to chop $22m from AmeriCorps. [WP]
• Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) urges Red Cross to focus on disaster relief. [NYT, USAT]
• Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) draws criticism for possible conflicts of interests concerning his past as a lobbyist. [NYT]

• Bush, visiting New Orleans, fields complaints about government's response. [WP, NYT]
• White House dismisses doubts about Miers. Thune: "It has been my expectation that President Bush would nominate someone in the mold of Justices Scalia and Thomas and it is my hope that Harriet Miers will prove to be such a person." [WT]
• Michael Leavitt outlines flu pandemic fears: "What if it weren't just New Orleans. What if it were Seattle, San Diego, Corpus Christi, Denver, Chicago, New York? Make your own list." [USAT]
• Documents related to Miers from 1995-2000 released by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission "provide a glimpse into her views on the proper separation of powers and the debate over making the civil justice system more fair and predictable." Miers considered Bush to be "cool" and "the best governor ever." [WP, NYT]
• Fitzgerald considered relentless, aggressive, and apolitical. [USAT]
• Military considers special force for natural disaster relief. [NYT]

• Cuts in programs proposed by Republicans will likely to be scaled back due to Katrina and rising energy prices. [WP]
• Liberals worried the window of opportunity to tackle issues of health care, housing, jobs, and poverty has closed with conservatives winning out. [NYT]
• Angela Merkel to become first female chancellor of Germany. [USAT, FT]
• Rice calls for "elections that are free and fair" in Central Asia. [NYT]
• FBI may loosen hiring standards to accept applicants who used marijuana in their youth. [WP]
• Lawmakers take up blogging. [WP]
• McCain stumps for Schwarzenegger. [LAT]
• Medicare Q&A. [NYT]

• 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]