Daily Briefing: On the Payroll
• DeLayscandal grows as details of $60,000 expenses-paid trip to Moscow and big PAC payments to wife, daughter are revealed. [ NYT ]
•In Gallup Poll, Americans sharply disapprove of political handling ofSchiavo; approval ofBushat 48%. [ USAT , USAT ]
• Bushes, Clinton, Riceto attendPope's funeral with selection of senators. [ NYT ]
•White House maintains "extraordinary restrictions on information about the detention of high-level terror suspects." [ NYT ]
•Every Republican senator denies seeing so-called "talking points" onSchiavo; ABC News report in question. [ WT ]
•Republican lawmakers hesitate on Social Security promotion, but White House insists relations are tight. [ WP , WT ]
• Bushtries anew with Social Security: "You see, a lot of people in America think there's a trust, in this sense: that we take your money through payroll taxes and then we hold it for you, and then when you retire, we give it back to you. But that's not the way it works." [ NYT , USAT , USAT ]
•MoveOn rapidly raises funds forByrdand Republicans pounce. Said flack, "This organization is not a mainstream organization." [ LAT ]
• Gonzales, Muellerpush renewal of Patriot Act. [ WP , NYT ]
• Fristhas "respect" for judiciary while many fellow Republicans point fingers. [ NYT ]
•Congress expected to pass bankruptcy legislation next week. [ WSJ ]
• Coburn"outraged" that ethics panel finds conflict with his Senate duties and obstetrician practice: "My hope is to get a rules change that will allow me to continue to practice medicine." [ WP ]