• From Elizabeth Wilner
PATRICK KENNEDY WILL SEEK TREATMENT
Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., 38, who has already spoken publicly about his bipolar disorder, announced today that he's checking himself into the Mayo Clinic to undergo treatment for what he called an addiction to prescription painkillers. Kennedy made the announcement after getting into a car accident yesterday morning on Capitol Hill, where he narrowly missed colliding with a US Capitol Police cruiser, then hit a security barricade. The officers thought Kennedy appeared to be intoxicated; Kennedy said he was disoriented from having taken a combination of Ambien and an anti-nausea medication prescribed for gastroenteritis.
His father, Sen. Ted Kennedy, issued a statement on the heels of his son's announcement: "I love Patrick very much and am very proud of him. All of us in the family admire his courage in speaking publicly about very personal issues and fully support his decision to seek treatment." The senator added, "The people of the 1st District of Rhode Island have a tireless champion for the issues they care about, and, today, I hope they join me in feeling pride and respect for a courageous man who has admitted to a problem and taken bold action to correct it." The younger Kennedy seems determined to continue serving in Congress and represents a safe Democratic district in Rhode Island.
• From Mark Murray and Huma Zaidi
ONE JOB LOSS STEALS THE HEADLINES
When President Bush made an "impromptu" stop at a local hardware store this morning to make remarks about the latest job numbers, it seemed like the White House might finally get a day to showcase what they say is a growing economy, as they've been trying to do for weeks. But an unexpected announcement is trumping all that.
President Bush announced that Porter Goss will step down as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Bush praised Goss' leadership and thanked him for his service; Goss, who was with the president in the Oval Office for the announcement, replaced George Tenet at the CIA in September 2004. Goss reassured the president that the CIA is on "even keel" and has improved "dramatically" in this administration, and that the country is safer for it (while Democrats argue it is quite the opposite). The announcement was short and the two did not take questions, leaving Washington with plenty to chew on over the weekend: why did Goss resign and who will replace him?
From a political standpoint, Democrats viewed Goss as a Republican partisan when the White House tapped him to head the CIA, after serving as a Republican congressman from Florida and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He gave fodder to those critics by replacing some top officials at the CIA -- an agency that the White House had often viewed as recalcitrant -- with GOP loyalists. Goss also drafted a memo to CIA employees in late 2004 telling them that it was their job to ''support the administration and its policies." Most recently, he received considerable attention, and some criticism, after he launched an effort to crack down on leaks to the media that didn't exactly portray the White House in a favorable light. Mary McCarthy, a 22-year veteran of the agency, was fired for allegedly leaking classified information.
• From WRC-4, Elizabeth Wilner and Kevin Corke
THE CRASH AT THE CAPITOL
Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., son of Massachussetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, has been charged by the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) with three traffic violations after Rep. Kennedy narrowly missed colliding with a USCP cruiser and crashed into a security barrier on Capitol Hill very early Thursday morning. The violations include failure to give full time and attention, failure to stay in the proper lane and driving at an unreasonable speed.
Patrick Kennedy says that he was disoriented from having taken a combination of Ambien and an anti-nausea medication prescribed for gastroenteritis at the time of the incident. Per a letter from a local police union official to the acting head of the USCP, the officers who approached Kennedy thought he appeared to be intoxicated; Kennedy denied having consumed any alcohol prior to driving. Senior officers then sent Kennedy home without attempting to conduct a sobriety test, prompting the union official to request an investigation. Kennedy says he never asked the police for special treatment and would cooperate fully with any investigation. He is expected to give interviews to local media in Rhode Island today. Ted Kennedy remains in Washington.
At the White House, press secretary Scott McClellan is marking his last day on the job; Tony Snow takes over on Monday. "This is a day to express what an honor it has been to serve in this administration," the always on-message McClellan told reporters. He was coy about his future plans beyond saying that he looks forward to helping his mother, who is waging an independent campaign for governor of McClellan's home state of Texas.
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From Elizabeth Wilner, Mark Murray, Huma Zaidi and Holly Phillips
FIRST GLANCE
President and Mrs. Bush take part in the Friday evening parade at the Marine Barracks in Washington at 8:45 pm. Bush doesn't currently have any public events scheduled before then, but his interview with CNBC's Larry Kudlow will air at 5:00 pm. The Administration stands ready to try to capitalize on a strong stock market and what they'll call a positive jobs report; per the Labor Department, unemployment held steady in April at 4.7%. Meanwhile, another poll shows Bush's job approval rating at a new low: AP/Ipsos has him at 33%. The poll also shows Congress' job approval rating at a new low and its widest advantage ever for Democrats over Republicans in terms of which party people would prefer to have in the majority on Capitol Hill.
So much attention is being paid to the two parties' prospects in the midterm elections. And so much attention -- maybe even more -- is being paid to 2008 already. Yet there hasn't been much looking at the links between the two. For all the buzz these days about apparent frontrunners McCain and Clinton, how the presidential candidates are positioned going into the 2008 race could depend a great deal on what happens in 2006.
Sen. John McCain is doing whatever he can to help Republicans win this fall. He has endorsed 50 GOP candidates from 28 different states, doled out $16,800 from his leadership PAC to some of them, and appeared at 14 fundraisers and candidate events since April. But if Republicans suffer losses in November, as political analysts expect, McCain might not lose as much sleep as some of his potential GOP rivals. Indeed, a bad 2006 for the GOP could actually boost McCain’s chances in 2008 because Republican voters might be more inclined to support a candidate who’s seen as a reformer and who isn’t directly tied to the Bush White House. “If it’s a bad day for the Republicans, what is the antidote to that?” asks nonpartisan political analyst Stuart Rothenberg. “It is two words: John McCain.”
While GOP losses in 2006 could boost McCain, or a candidate who isn't "of Washington" like former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani or a governor, losses could hurt other possible Republican candidates such as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. “It is difficult to launch a presidential campaign on the heels of losing Senate seats,” says Erik Smith, a Democratic strategist. Smith should know: He was a top aide to former House Leader Dick Gephardt, whose 2004 presidential bid failed to take off after Democrats suffered losses in the 2002 midterm elections. Although he's an outside-the-Beltway contender, Gov. Mitt Romney, who heads the Republican Governors Association, might experience a similar fate if his party loses a significant number of governorships this year; analysts currently predict they could lose as many as six.
Conversely, Frist and Romney could see their presidential fortunes improve if Republicans do better than expected in the midterms. That also might boost a candidate like Sen. George Allen, whom many conservatives and GOP operatives seem to prefer over McCain. Rothenberg says that if Republicans beat expectations because of a strong turnout by the GOP base, “then I think that would help George Allen.” Indeed, David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, points out that a strong election night for Republicans would be an affirmation of Bush and his policies, and would benefit the presidential candidates most closely associated with the White House. It would also make Republicans feel bulletproof heading in 2008. On the other hand, a disappointing night for Republicans could hurt Allen along with Frist, since Allen is viewed as the candidate who most resembles Bush.
The impact the midterms could have on the Democratic field isn’t as clear. Chuck Todd, editor-in-chief of The Hotline, says a worse-than-expected election night for Democrats could possibly help someone like Sen. Hillary Clinton, because Democratic voters will think that the Clintons are the only ones in the party who know how to win, or former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, because Democrats will be looking for the most “electable” candidate -- someone who hails from a southern or red state.
But Todd says that one thing is clear: Almost every Democrat in the presidential field, including Clinton, could be hurt if Democrats take back control of Congress. “Hillary is hurt a lot by Speaker Pelosi,” he says, referring to current House Leader Nancy Pelosi. Todd explains that a Democratic-controlled House -- especially one subpoenaing the Bush Administration -- could rally the GOP base, boost Bush’s standing, and alter the political environment. “The best thing for Bush would be a Democratic Congress,” Todd adds. “He would get a bump.”
Yet judging the presidential field based on the midterm results isn’t always accurate. After 2002, when Republicans won seats on the issue of national security (especially in defeating Democratic senators like Georgia’s Max Cleland and Missouri’s Jean Carnahan), Democratic voters eventually selected Vietnam war hero John Kerry to be their nominee, thinking that he could give their party the edge on national security. But that, of course, didn’t quite work out.
PATCHES' WILD RIDE
At approximately 2:45 am yesterday morning on Capitol Hill, a car driven by Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D), son of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D), narrowly missed hitting a US Capitol Police (USCP) cruiser. Per a letter from a local police union official to the acting head of the USCP, Kennedy's car continued on after this near-collision, then stopped upon hitting a security barricade. When approached by several USCP officers, Kennedy identified himself as a member of Congress (take note, Cynthia McKinney) and said he was late for a vote, though the House had adjourned nearly three hours before. The officers thought Kennedy appeared to be intoxicated. Senior officers then sent Kennedy home without attempting to conduct a sobriety test. In his letter, the union official requested an investigation.
In an initial statement, Kennedy said he had not consumed any alcohol before the incident. In a later statement, he said he was disoriented from having taken a combination of Ambien and an anti-nausea medication prescribed for gastroenteritis. He said he never asked the police for special treatment and would cooperate fully with any investigation. Kennedy has spoken publicly before about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and per the Almanac of American Politics, "he had a somewhat troubled youth, spending time in a drug rehabilitation clinic in 1986."
The Boston Herald reports that while Kennedy said he had not consumed any alcohol before the incident, a "hostess at a popular Capitol Hill watering hole told the Herald she saw him drinking in the hours before the crash. 'He was drinking a little bit,' said the woman, who works at the Hawk & Dove and would not give her name."
Roll Call adds, "This morning's incident comes just over two weeks after Kennedy was involved in a car accident in Rhode Island. According to a Portsmouth Police Department report, the accident took place April 15 at the entrance of a CVS pharmacy when a 2003 Crown Victoria driven by Kennedy collided with 2000 Nissan Maxima."
Ted Kennedy, accompanied by dog Splash, had been scheduled to appear at PS 11 in New York this morning to sign his new book for kids -- but has canceled that appearance and is still in Washington.
IT'S THE ECONOMY...
In his weekly National Journal column, NBC political analyst Charlie Cook says gas prices might not be factor in the midterms that some believe they will. Citing the latest Cook Political Report/RT Strategies poll, Cook notes that 1) voters who believe gas prices are the most important issue aren't all that motivated about the midterms; and 2) that these voters' preference for Democrats or Republicans doesn't reflect any telling shift.
In a front-page article, the New York Times traces the rise and fall of Senate Republicans' proposed $100 gas tax rebate. It “offers a window on how Washington sometimes works in a slapdash way, featuring in this case Congressional aides who misread the political climate and lawmakers desperate to hang onto their jobs… And it is yet another example of how Senator Frist, who is contemplating a bid for the White House in 2008, has stumbled at the pinnacle of Senate power.”
Energy Secretary Sam Bodman is urging Congress "to consider lifting the tariff on imported ethanol," a proposal which "has bipartisan support, but it would have powerful opponents among farm-state lawmakers. Trying to kill it shows how complex the mix of energy policy and politics can be in an election year when voters are demanding action."
MORE ON THE BUSH/GOP AGENDA
The new AP/Ipsos poll finds that angry conservatives are driving Bush’s and Congress’ ratings to new lows. “Even 31 percent of conservatives want Republicans out of power.”
The Senate's just-passed $109 billion emergency supplemental funding bill for Hurricane Katrina recovery and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is $14 billion more than Bush requested, despite his veto threat. The Hill GOP leadership is lined up against the bill: Majority Leader Bill Frist voted against it, and on the House side, Majority Leader John Boehner warned yesterday that any emergency spending bill coming out of the Senate "that spends one dollar more that what the President has asked for" will not be considered by the House, "period," while Speaker Hastert issued a statement calling the bill "dead on arrival in the House." The last time Congress sent Bush a big spending bill that exceeded his prescribed limit, last summer's highway bill, he signed it into law anyway after Congress whittled it down somewhat.
Boehner addresses the Republican National Committee's state chairs' meeting in Colorado Springs today.
"Conservatives would be heartened by the first veto of Mr. Bush's presidency," says the Washington Times of the porked-up supplemental.
"The final 77-21 vote captured the growing disconnect between Mr. Bush and congressional Republicans over reining in deficits before the midterm elections," says the Wall Street Journal. "With his poll numbers down, the president and his new chief of staff, Josh Bolten, are eager to look tough. But lawmakers worry more about their own survival and with tax revenue rising, they appear happy to defer deficit worries until after November."
The Los Angeles Times suggests that "in private, some senators and staff said the president's veto threat actually emboldened senators to add spending, because they could rely on the threat to provide cover for removing those provisions before sending the bill to the president."
The Wall Street Journal editorial page cheers the prospect of Bush's first veto: "So much the better that he is promising to break his dubious record by nixing the astonishing supplemental spending bill passed by the Senate yesterday. If ever a bill deserved a veto, this is it."
The Boston Globe details some of the extras in the bill: "$3.9 billion in farm aid, $1.1 billion to benefit the fishing industry, and $6 million for sugar interests in Hawaii... $700 million to move a rebuilt Gulf Coast freight rail line that Katrina destroyed -- a project opponents have dubbed the 'railway to nowhere'... $500 million to defense contractor Northrop Grumman, compensation for hurricane damage at a shipyard in Mississippi that Northrop's insurers have refused to cover. And New England senators added $20 million to help the region's fishing industry rebound from a red tide outbreak that dampened last year's shellfish harvest."
The AP notes that the bill "would bring total spending on war-related costs since the September 2001 attacks to roughly $430 billion, according to calculations by the Congressional Research Service. Appropriations for last year's hurricanes would now total about $96 billion."
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire reports, "Tax agenda falters amid Republican disagreements. Republican leaders had hoped to extend dividends and capital-gains tax cuts last year. But bickering persists between Rep. Thomas and Sen. Grassley. Stalemate has prevented extension of R&D tax credit, the biggest element of Bush’s 'Competitiveness Initiative.' Outlook for estate-tax repeal also is clouded by gas-price distraction, intra-Republican strategy disputes. New targets: Republican lawmakers now seek votes on investor tax breaks next week, estate tax in June."
Per the Congressional Budget Office, an increase in tax revenues could reduce the federal budget deficit for the second year in a row, despite continued spending in Iraq and on hurricane recovery. “The budget agency predicted that the full-year deficit would be ‘significantly less’ than $350 billion and could end up as low as $300 billion, compared with $318 billion in 2005.”
Reps. Barney Frank and Edward Markey (both D-MA) "announced yesterday that they will sponsor a resolution to protest President Bush's assertions that he is not bound to obey more than 750 laws enacted over the past five years, saying that Congress must push back against the White House's expansive interpretation of executive authority," reports the Boston Globe. "The lawmakers said their resolution will call for writing all future 'legislation in ways that make such abuse of a constitutional principle impossible,' such as by including provisions to cut off funds 'in cases where the administration has attempted to pick and choose which parts of the law it will follow.'"
JUDICIAL POLITICS
In an outright effort to avoid a Democratic filibuster and produce "favorable results," Senate Judiciary Committee chair Arlen Specter announced yesterday that he'll honor committee Democrats' request for another hearing for appellate court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. NBC's Ken Strickland reports that the hearing will take place on Tuesday, with a vote scheduled for Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has pledged to bring up the nominations of Kavanaugh and one other controversial Bush judicial pick for final votes before the Senate leaves town for Memorial Day.
In announcing the new hearing, Specter said, "I do not want to place the Senate where we were a year ago," when the chamber was engaged in a judicial showdown "and posed a very serious threat to our institution." Specter said he was also led to believe that "if we have another hearing and the bottom doesn't fall out or something cataclysmic happen," that a key coalition of moderate Democrats and Republicans would not support a filibuster.
ETHICS
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is calling for an Ethics Committee investigation of fellow Democrat Bill Jefferson on the heels of a second guilty plea by a Jefferson associate in an ongoing federal investigation of Jefferson. Viq notes that Pelosi was quick to point out that there are also several Republican scandals that she feels merit ethics probes. As Viq points out, Pelosi has the power (like every member of the House) to file her own complaint with Ethics about Jefferson or any other member under a cloud. She has declined to do so, instead insisting that the committee should initiate a probe.
There will be a motions hearing in the Lewis "Scooter" Libby legal proceedings today at 1:30 pm as Libby's attorney continue their pursuit of classified documents they say they need to build his defense.
Per NBC's Joel Seidman, lawyers for David Safavian, who faces trial on May 22 in the Abramoff influence-peddling scheme, are seeking to limit the prosecution's use of e-mails because they feel the e-mails may prejudice the case; they also claim that none of them has even been authenticated. The e-mails, Seidman notes, seem to document the disintegration of traditional borders separating Abramoff (who was seeking special favors) and Safavian (a government official who had access and could assist Abramoff). And prosecutors will likely argue that the e-mails are central to their case.
MORE OH-EIGHT
For the full story on how the 2006 outcome could affect the candidates' chances in 2008, see MSNBC.com.
Seems like there's a bit of a competition among some of the Democratic presidential candidates to talk about Iraq. Sen. Joe Biden did it earlier this week, proposing in the New York Times that Iraq be split into three regions with a central government in Baghdad. Sen. Russ Feingold, who has proposed a December 31 deadline for US troop withdrawal, will address the National Press Club's newsmaker's luncheon in a speech titled “Redeploying from Iraq and Refocusing on Terrorist Threats” this coming Monday. And Sen. John Kerry has a two-part proposal: a May 22 deadline by which either a new Iraqi government has been established and the United States plans to withdraw its combat troops by the end of the year, or by which point the United States withdraws its troops immediately if there is no new government. Kerry gives a speech at Grinnell College in Iowa tomorrow on national security, dissent, and the war. He's in New Orleans with his colleague Mary Landrieu today.