Daily Briefing: 'Cry of Concern'
* House Republicans elect Ohio Rep.John Boehneras majority leader, signaling break from status quo.Boehner: "The members wanted to make a big decision, and they did. . . We must act swiftly to restore the trust between Congress and the American people." [ WP , NYT , LAT , USAT , WT , W$J ]
* Election ofBoehnerheralds his comeback and shows a "cry of concern by an entrenched Republican majority";Boehner"tapped into members' election-year anxieties about the GOP's scandal-scuffed leadership." [ WP , WP , NYT ]
* Administration seeks $120b for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. [ WP , NYT , USAT ]
* Democrats attack Republican rhetoric at hearing on security threats; insist on more oversight. Sen.John Rockefeller(D-W.V.): "I am deeply troubled by what I see as the administration's continued effort to selectively release intelligence information that supports its policy or political agenda while withholding equally pertinent information that does not do that." [ WP , WP , NYT , USAT , WT ]
* White House requests additional $18b for Gulf Coast reconstruction, but officials and lawmakers are skeptical. [ NYT ]
* Senate, by vote of 66 to 31, approves $70b in tax cuts over five years. [ WP ]
*Bushpresses for permanent corporate tax breaks to encourage innovation. [ NYT , WP ]
*Lewis Libbyhas defense fund of over $2m. [ NYT ]
* Energy researchers are squeezed out between differing goals of the White House and Congress. [ NYT ]