Posted by Andrew Zajac at 4:24 p.m. CST

The Supreme Court's landmark Hamdan decision was a big win for Northbrook native and 1987 Loyola Academy grad Neal Katyal, who argued the case in his first appearance before the high court.

Posted by Frank James at 2:00 pm CDT

Unfortunately for the Democrats, the torrential rain which inundated the nation’s capital this week ended in time to allow the playing of the 45th Annual Roll Call Congressional Baseball Game.

The Republicans stomped the Democrats 12 to 1 in the game played at RFK Stadium, home of the Washington Nationals. Whether or not this is an omen for the November elections who can say? But it looks like the Democrats need to work on their pitching and defense maybe even more than their political message.

On the mound was Illinois’s own Rep. John Shimkus who pitched the entire seven innings.

The loser according to a news brief on the Roll Call website was Rep. Joe Baca of California. Roll Call says it was the sixth consecutive win for Republicans. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

(Photos were provided by Rep. Shimkus's office.)

Posted by Frank James at 12:00 pm CDT

In an item I posted yesterday on the Supreme Court’s Hamdan v. Rumsfeld decision, I said the decision would be, for congressional Republicans, an unintended gift that would keep on giving through the November election.

I said that because the decision would allow House Republicans to employ their strategy for re-election and holding onto power which is to portray themselves as far tougher and thus more effective in the war on terror than their Democratic collegues.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:30 am CDT

Thirty years after the Supreme Court ruling that enabled states to reinstate the death penalty in the United States, about two-thirds of Americans still voice support for capital punishment for people convicted of murder.

While support is strong, it is not as strong as it was a decade ago. And many Americans are ready to accept life imprisonment as an alternative to death – when a life term is posed as an option in a murderer’s sentencing, support for death slips to 47 percent, with 48 percent supporting life. These are among the findings of a recent Gallup Poll, as the 30th anniversary of the July 2, 1976, ruling in Gregg v. Georgia nears. That ruling became a trigger for many states ready to resume capital punishment.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Friday, June 30, as compiled by the Associated Press.

President Bush is showing off a bit of Americana to visiting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, taking him to Elvis Presley's Graceland estate in Memphis. And Bush later in the day campaigns for Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine in Columbus.

June 30 - July 4. FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL — First session of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, focusing on life in the Canadian province of Alberta, evening concerts celebrating African American music from New Orleans, and basketweavers from a wide variety of geographical regions, others.
10:30 a.m. Opening ceremony, with Premier Ralph Klein of Alberta, members of Congress, others.
Location: Mall between 7th and 14th Sts.

Posted by Mark Silva at 4 pm CDT

President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush gave a present to the president’s buddy, the Elvis-loving prime minister of Japan: A jukebox.

But it’s difficult to rival the spread that the White House is laying out for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at an official dinner tonight. The menu includes Texas Kobe beef with cracked black pepper shitake mushroom jus. Bush, thanking the Japanese leader for starting to import U.S. beef after fears of also importing Mad Cow disease, told him in the East Room today: “I think the Japanese people are going to like the taste of U.S. beef.’’

Posted by Frank James at 2:27 pm CDT

In its decision handed down today in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, in which the Supreme Court majority essentially said President Bush didn’t have the authority to use military tribunals to try accused terrorist detainees, it added that to abide by the law, Bush needed to go back to Congress to get that power.

After digesting the high court’s decision, Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), the Senate’s majority leader, indicated this afternoon that, if he has anything to do with it, Congress will speedily give the president that authority.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:30 am CDT

WASHINGTON – President Bush, visibly troubled by the Supreme Court's repudiation of his handling of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, pledged today to "find a way forward'' with Congress on trials for many people whom the president maintains cannot be returned home.

"We will work with the Congress,'' said Bush, saying he takes the ruling "very seriously… I want to find a way forward.''

Posted by Mark Silva at 6 am CDT

Most Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track -- and nearly half say the nation's economy is "worse off'' today because of President Bush's economic policies -- according to the findings of a new Los Angeles Tiimes/Bloomberg poll.

And 61 percent of those surveyed believe that the president is responsible in some way for the high price of gasoline, according to the survey of 1,321 adults conducted June 24-27. (Just 20 percent of those surveyed call Bush entirely responsible for gas prices, while 41 percent say partially responsible.)

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Thursday, June 29, as compiled by the Associated Press.

President Bush meets with Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and later hosts an official White House dinner for him.

The Supreme Court is handing down more decisions.

The Commerce Department is releasing its revised first quarter report on the Gross Domestic Product at 8:30 a.m.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:20 am CDT

Japanese and American flags are flying side-by-side from poles lining Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House, a sign that President Bush will play host to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi this week.

And the White House announced today that the president will be the guest of German Chancellor Angela Merkel next week at her home state on the Baltic Sea, in a region of northeast Germany that once stood behind the Iron Curtain. Bush loves to celebrate the alliances that the United States has today with former adversaries - and as a sign of friendship plans to treat Koizumi to more than an official dinner at the White House on Thursday; Bush also plans to take the Japanese prime minister, who is a fan of Elvis Presley, on a tour of Graceland on Friday.

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 7:37 a.m. CDT

Sen. Barack Obama is giving fellow Democrats a little religion today.

In a speech to be delivered this morning, the Illinois Democrat gently scolds liberals for being dismissive of religious Americans. It's time, he said, for Democrats to court evangelicals and to speak openly about their own religious beliefs.

"At best," he says, "we may try to avoid the conversation about religious values altogether, fearful of offending anyone and claiming that – regardless of our personal beliefs – constitutional principles tie our hands.

Gpood morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Wednesday, June 28, as compiled by the Associated Press.

The Supreme Court may hand down more decisions today as it nears the end of its annual session.

President Bush is campaigning in St. Louis for the re-election of Missouri Sen. Jim Talent.

The House Veterans Affairs Committee holds an oversight hearing on the recent security breach at the VA Department. 10:30 a.m.

Posted by Andrew Zajac at 3:44 p.m. CST

FBI Director Robert Mueller has filled a key vacancy, tapping Willie Hulon to be Executive Assistant Director for the bureau's National Security Branch. Simply put, he's the guy who's supposed to make sure the FBI shares information with CIA and the rest of the national security apparatus, something that hasn't always happened amongst the ferociously competitive and territorial intel agencies.

Posted by Christi Parsons at 3:15 pm CDT

It was a tight squeeze, but Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich managed during a visit to the nation's capital this week to fit in a brief meeting with members of the state's delegation in Congress.

The meeting took place over the lunch hour on Tuesday in the Capitol offices of Sen. Dick Durbin, who hosted several lawmakers for a chat with Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley about their federal agenda. After the meeting, Blagojevich dashed for the door, at first dodging a previously scheduled press conference with Durbin, Daley and other members of Congress who had taken part in the lunch discussion. But then he decided to drop in for the press conference -- after he got stuck talking to a gaggle of reporters in the hallway anyway.

Posted by Mark Silva at 10:20 am CDT

As senators open hearings this week on President Bush’s proliferation of “signing statements’’ – the many formal statements that Bush has issued expressing reservations about bills even as he signs them into law – the White House insists that the president isn’t breaking any of the laws he is signing.

“The president does not, and the adminsitration does not, refuse to carry out the laws that have been passed by Congress and signed into law by the president,’’ White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said today. This doesn’t mean the statements are “academic,’’ Snow noted, but it does mean they have “no teeth.’’ But, wait a minute -- they certainly signal agencies about how to carry out laws which the president has expressed reservations about, he acknowledged, adding: “That’s how the regulatory process works.’’

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Tuesday, June 27, as compiled by the Associated Press.

The Senate may vote today on whether to approve the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, which says in its entirety: "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States." If the amendment wins a two-thirds vote in the Senate it would be sent to the 50 state legislatures, at least 38 of which would have to ratify it before it became part of the Constitution.

President Bush is speaking this morning on the line-tem veto he wants Congress to give him the right to use to stem federal spending.

Posted by Andrew Zajac at 5:45 p.m. CST

Like several other government buildings along Constitution Avenue, the Justice Department's main headquarters building, between Ninth and 10th streets, is closed today due to flooding from monsoon-like rains which have inundated the Washington area over the last three days.

Posted by David Lightman at 3:28 p.m. CDT

Andi Grant, a Rocky Hill, Ct., woman who began an effort to send care packages to Iraq troops in the basement of her home, was among 14 support groups honored today at the White House.

Grant, whose husband Brian was a Marine sargeant in Iraq, started painting Easter eggs to send to U.S. forces in 2003, when her husband was first deployed. Soon volunteers were helping, and Grant began sending care packages to troops. Today, her group, Give2TheTroops, has branches in eight states and sends thousands of boxes to troops fighting the war.

She almost missed her appointment with Bush, though.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11 am CDT and updated at 11:25 am CDT

The White House is soft-pedaling as "scenario-building'' reports that American military commanders in Iraq are starting to speak of scaling back American forces – with Gen. George Casey hinting at a draw-down of 7,000 troops in September and 28,000 by the end of next year.

"Gen. Casey is assigned the business of making a lot of plans, and this is one of the plans that's under consideration,'' said Tony Snow, White House press secretary, maintaining as the president has for months that the deployment of nearly 130,000 American troops in Iraq will be based by "conditions on the ground.''

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Monday, June 26, as compiled by the Associated Press.

Vice President Cheney is campaigning in Nebraska for congressional candidate Adrian Smith and later in the day for Minnesota congressional candidate Michele Bachmann.

The Supreme Court may hand down more decisions.

Posted by Mark Silva at 10:25 am CDT

As President Bush came face to face with a souring opinion of the United States as he traveled across Europe last week, my mind reeled to one of the face-to-face encounters that Bush had with his rival for the White House during the presidential campaign of 2000.

"If we're a humble nation, but strong, they'll welcome us,'' said Bush, when asked during a series of presidential campaign debates how he might project the United States around the world. And now, with more than 100,000 U.S. troops deployed across Iraq and Afghanistan, and with the Bush administration committed to maintaining military forces in Iraq until the new government can "stand up,'' I was reminded of these words that Bush voiced during the second of the 2000 campaign debates: "I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building. I think our troops ought to be used to fight and win war.''

Posted by Mark Silva at 9:06 am CDT

One of the flight attendants aboard the press charter that followed President Bush to Europe and back this week recalled the first presidential charter she had worked – following President Clinton on a two-week trip to Japan.

When Bush made his 15th trip to Europe this week, Air Force One lifted off from Andrews Air Force Base at 7:20 am EDT on Tuesday and returned to the air base at 8:10 pm EDT on Thursday – a voyage to Vienna and Budapest and back completed in less than 61 hours. Yet, if Bush doesn't share his predecessor's zeal for long-term foreign travel, Bush does long for something else that President Clinton possessed briefly – the line-item veto. The president plans to deliver a speech in Washington on Tuesday urging Congress to give him the line-item veto, and made the case in his weekly radio address today.

Guest posting by David Lightman at 8:00 pm CDT

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd's first major presidential fundraiser took in about $1 million this week. The event at Washington's Phoenix Park Hotel was the first bid for presidential cash since the Connecticut Democrat said May 22 he was considering a run for the White House.

Dodd has made few public moves since saying May 22 he was considering a White House bid; he knows his biggest need is to come up with a campaign treasury that will be considered viable. In the insular world of early presidential politics, activists look to the money figures as evidence of credibility and support.