•Rumsfeld: "I am truly saddened by the thought that anyone could have the impression that I, or others here, are doing anything other than working urgently to see that the lives of fighting men and women are protected and are cared for in every way humanly possible." [WP, NYT, WT, USAT]

• Administration's new forest regulations put economic and ecologic concerns on equal ground; "more dynamic plans" will replace targeted, numerical counts of "viable populations." Udall: "These regulations, being offered two days before Christmas, cut the public out of the forest planning process... and provide less protection for wildlife. It's a radical overhaul of forest policy." [WP, NYT]

• DNC considers softening position on abortion, including promotion of adoption, support of parental notification, and bans on late-term procedures; Roemer, Reid are antiabortion advocates. [LAT]

• Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will have two fewer members; new subcommittee to handle funds. McCain: "We will have a status quo intelligence committee without combined authorization and appropriations power." [WP]

• Governors complain about possibility of Medicaid costs shifting to states: "We agree that maintaining the status quo in Medicaid is not acceptable. However, it is equally unacceptable in any deficit reduction strategy to simply shift federal costs to states." [WP]

• Reductions in Pell Grants to save government $300m. [NYT]

• Ouster of Fannie Mae chief creates opportunity to restructure, possibly privatize, company. [NYT]