Category: senate confirmation hearings

Daily Briefing: 'He Listened. He Smiled. He Nodded.'

• Roberts supports privacy rights, wavers on Roe; Schumer is "pleasantly surprised." Gary Bauer: "A careful reading of the transcript shows he committed to nothing once [Roberts] is on the court. We are left with what we always had. . . a new conservative majority." [WP, WP, NYT, NYT, WSJ, LAT, USAT]
• Bush: "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government, and to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong." [WP, NYT]
• Roberts remained posed and cautious: "He listened. He smiled. He nodded." Brownstein: He "exuded the quiet confidence of a man who knew that he was ahead in the game during a lengthy but mostly sedate confirmation hearing Tuesday. . . Roberts' performance marked a bright spot for a White House battered by criticism of its response to Hurricane Katrina, and demonstrated the inherent vitality of presidential power." [NYT, LAT, NYT]
• FAA knew Al Qaeda wanted "to hijack a commercial jet and slam it into a U.S. landmark" in 1998 and knew vulnerability of airports. Kean: "[Katrina] is not a terrorist incident, but it brings into play all of the same issues and shortcomings. . . Whoever is responsible for acting in these places hasn't acted. Are they going to do it now? What else has to happen for people to act?" [NYT, WP]
• Democrats, led by Hillary, seek investigation of government's response to Katrina. [NYT]
• Homeland Security officials will oversee distribution of Katrina relief funds to ensure responsible spending. [WSJ, NYT]
• Texas grand jury issues more indictments in DeLay case. [WP, LAT]

READ MORE: 9/11 , 9/11 commission , Democrats , Republicans , SCOTUS , abortion , al qaeda , faa , gary bauer , george w. bush , hillary clinton , homeland security , john g. roberts , katrina , ronald brownstein , senate confirmation hearings , thomas kean , tom delay , war on terrorism

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