* House Appropriations Committee votes overwhelmingly to block Dubai ports deal; measure was attached to war spending bill. [WP]

* For Republican lawmakers, "political considerations" trump loyalty to Bush over port deal and, to a lesser extent, eavesdropping. Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO): "If there was ever a good time for Congress to figure out oversight, it would be in the sixth year of a presidency." [NYT]

* Senate compromise would permit eavesdropping on Americans without court warrant; administration would have 45 days to prove individual cases. [NYT]

* Bush accuses Congress of underfunding Gulf Coast reconstruction: "Congress heard our message about improving the levees, but they shortchanged the process by about $1.5 billion." [WP, NYT]

* Senators agree to reject meals and gifts from lobbyists. [WP, NYT]

* Jack Abramoff to Vanity Fair: "Any important Republican who comes out and says they didn't know me is almost certainly lying." [NYT]

* Senate Republicans try to trim Bush's spending requests for defense and foreign aid. [W$J]

* South Dakota expected to start trend of states rethinking abortion rights; nine others are moving to limit the procedure. [W$J]

* Michael Chertoff looks for the high road as others point fingers of blame -- and some directly at him. [NYT]