Posted by William Neikirk at 1:30 p.m. CDT

After the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Tuesday to remove protections for government workers who blow the whistle on official misconduct, the name of A. Ernest "Ernie" Fitzgerald immediately came to mind.

Who is that, you ask? Well, once Ernie Fitzgerald was a household name in America. He was a whistleblower's whistleblower. As a civilian Air Force analyst, he disclosed much Pentagon profligacy in the 1960s and 1970s, including a $2.3 billion cost overrun on the C-5 cargo aircraft program.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:37 am CDT

President Bush, making his first public comments today about an attack by Marines in the western Iraqi city of Haditha last November that left 24 Iraqi civilians dead, vowed "there will be punishment'' if the military's investigation supports Iraqi claims of unprovoked murders by Marines.

“I am troubled by the initial news stories,'' said Bush, who reportedly learned of the incident only after Time magazine called the White House with inquiries about the alleged Haditha massacre. The attack was first reported by Time in January.

Posted by William Neikirk at 11:34 am CDT

Since President Bush said in 2002 that Iraq, Iran and North Korea constituted an "axis of evil," he has come a long way in how he deals with the individual parts of the axis. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's announcement Wednesday that the U.S. is prepared to join with European nations to negotiate with Tehran over its nuclear program is the latest sign that Bush has learned the value of reaching out to allies.

With Iraq, he went to war in 2003, saying Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and represented a threat to America's vital interests, even though he proved to be wrong about the weapons part. He virtually ignored protests from key allies that war was not the answer, but Bush plunged ahead. Iraq has not been the "cake-walk" that Vice President Cheney thought it would be.

Posted by David Lightman and Mark Silva at 10:20 am CDT

President Bush's choice of Henry Paulson as Secretary of the Treasury has drawn some praise from one key Democrat. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., second-ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, had kind words for Paulson, though Dodd stopped short of an endorsement.

"The next Secretary must be more than a salesman charged with attempting to convince the American people that this administration’s economic policies have somehow helped them, " said Dodd, who is the top Democrat on Banking's Securities and Invesment subcommittee.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Wednesday, May 31, as gathered by the Associated Press.

President Bush swears in the new CIA director, Michael Hayden, actually a ceremonial ritual since Hayden was officially sworn in Tuesday.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda meets with President Bush and then holds a news conference.

The National Spelling Bee holds its first rounds.

Posted by Frank James at 7:20 pm CDT

The House's general counsel, Geraldine Gennet, wrote Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about developing a procedure to allow the Justice Department to conduct investigations of members of Congress while respecting the constitutional separation of power.

Read the letter below.

Posted By Frank James at 4:30 pm CDT

Much of the reporting about opposition to the Senate-passed immigration legislation has centered on the hostility of House Republicans who call the path to citizenship the bill would provide an unwarranted amnesty to lawbreakers.

But there’s also significant resistance from many illegal immigrant advocates. They argue that the Senate legislation is deeply flawed because it would result in many fewer illegal immigrants achieving legal status than has been commonly reported.

Posted by Frank James at 2:50 pm CDT

Is it constitutional for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to search a congressman’s office? Put another way, is a member of Congress constitutionally protected from such an intrusion in a way no other citizen is?

As with so many things in Washington, the answer is either yes or no, depending on which authority you accept.

Posted by Mark Silva at 8:53 am CDT

President Bush today nominated a new treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson, Jr., chairman of the Wall Street investment banking firm, Goldman Sachs Group.

The replacement of outgoing Treasury Secretary John Snow, announced in a brief Rose Garden ceremony this morning, completes one of the longest-expected turnovers in Washington.

Snow's departure was long-predicted, with critics faulting him for a lack of aggressiveness in pressing for the continuation of Bush's first-term tax cuts.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:50 am CDT

It's hot, hazy and breezy today on the Memorial Bridge, which spans the Potomac River between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. The wide, four-lane roadway is cleared of traffic, with only an occasional jogger or walker crossing along the spacious sidewalks on each side, because the president is coming.

Preceded by 10 motorcycles, the president's 15-car motorcade crosses the bridge westward toward the cemetery, the procession of two matching black limousines and several black armored SUVs fanned out along the full width of the roadway. The motorcade steers around the circle on the Arlington side of the river and up to the hillside cemetery, where the president will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Good Morning.

Here are some Memorial Day events in Washington, as gathered by the Associated Press.

Memorial ceremony at the African American Civil War Musuem. 1200 U St. NW.
8:30 a.m. Armed Forces full honors weath ceremony marking John F. Kennedy’s 89th birthday. Kennedy gravesite, Arlington National Cemetery.
8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. World War II Memorial dedication ceremony.
10:20 a.m. Senior Department of Defense officials will participate in a wreath-laying and remembrance ceremony at Arlington Cemetery, following a performance by the U.S. Navy Band.
11 a.m. Wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with special military concert. Arlington Cemetery.
12 p.m. Six hundred service members, who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, will march in the National Memorial Day Parade. Service members include Active Duty, National Guard and Reserve from 50 States. The parade starts on Madison Dr. NW., and concludes at 15th St. and Constitution Ave. NW.
1 p.m. Wreath laying ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial, 9th St. NW.
1 p.m. Memorial ceremony for Vietnam veterans. Presentation of colors, wreath laying and remarks. Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
3 p.m. Bell ringing on the Congress Bells at the Old Post Office. 12th and Pennsylvania, NW.
3 p.m. National Moment of Remembrance, taps to be played at various sites.
4 p.m. National memorial ceremony for women in military service. Formal military honors, rose petal ceremony, remarks and personal tributes. Women’s War Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery.
4 p.m. Women’s Memorial holds annual Memorial Day ceremony. Participants to include National Guard Maj. Annette Sobel, others. Women’s Memorial, gateway to Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.
8 p.m. U.S. Navy Band concert at the U.S. Navy Memorial, 9th St. NW.

Posted by Frank James at 12:19 pm CDT

Senate opponents of the immigration legislation that passed in that chamber last week frequently accused the bill's supporters of being so determined to pass it that they would even ignore profound flaws so long they could declare victory and leave town for the Memorial Day recess.

One element of the Senate bill opponents attacked as a glaring defect would allow illegal immigrants who've committed identity fraud by using stolen Social Security numbers to qualify for legal status.

Posted by Mark Silva at 10:45 am CDT

President Bush, commissioning the graduating class of West Point for "a war unlike any our nation has fought before,'' told the graduates of the U.S. Military Academy today that they will enter their Army commands in an era as challenging as that of the Cold War.

This was the 208th graduating class of West Point and the 27th to graduate women -- with 131 women among the 861 graduates today, according to the academy. But this was the first class to have entered West Point since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the president made a point of noting, and Bush advised the Class of 2006 that its military careers are likely to be consumed with a new breed of enemy unlike the warring nations of the past -- radical militants intent on spreading terrorism.

"Unlike the Soviet Union, the terrorist enemies we face today hide in caves and shadows -- and emerge to attack free nations from within,'' Bush said. "The terrorists have no borders to protect or capital to defend. They cannot be deterred -- but they will be defeated.''

Posted by Frank James at 2:32 pm CDT
(Matthew Chayes contributed)

During today's Capitol Hill emegency, which was evidently caused by someone who mistook the sound of pneumatic hammers being used by elevator mechanics as gunshots, the U.S. Capitol Police emailed instructions to members of Congress and their staffs on how to respond when police searchers came knocking at their offices.

Here's the email the Capitol police sent out. The number of knocks and code word were redacted.

Posted by David Lightman of the Hartford Courant at 3:20 pm CDT

After four and a half hours Rayburn House Office Building occupants were given the all clear.

Before the U.S. Capitol Hill Police declared the emergency over, they searched offices by using a special knock on each door and password. At Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro's office, the congresswoman was on the phone at the time of the search.

Posted by Mark Silva at 2 pm CDT

The government slowed down somewhat last year in the classification of top secret and confidential information, and it also declassified slightly more documents than had been opened up the year before.

But the numbers still rank among record-levels: With 14 million decisions made last year to classify information, a slight decline from the 2004 record, and 29.5 million pages declassified last year -- far fewer than the 100 million pages declassified in 2001. And once again, Vice President Dick Cheney, who has refused to report on his office's classification activities since 2003, is missing from the count.

Posted by Frank James at 1:05 pm CDT

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) had an immigration press conference this morning in the Rayburn House Office Building before all the commotion broke out over the possibility of a gunshot or gunshots being fired in the building.

If the hubbub over the possible gunshot hadn’t happened, the big Washington story on the cable news shows this morning would have likely been what Sensenbrenner said.

Posted by David Lightman of the Hartford Courant at 11:23 am CDT

Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) was among those who were told to stay in their Capitol Hill office Friday after reports that shots were fired in the Rayburn House Office Building.

DeLauro and Rep. Nancy L. Johnson (R-Conn.) have offices in the sprawling building. Johnson was not in the office; she took an early morning flight back to Connecticut.

Posted by Frank James at 10: 25 am CDT

I just talked with with a very calm David Gillies, chief of staff for Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) who said the congressman's staff is sheltering-in-place in their offices in the Rayburn House Office Building where police are investigating a report of the sound of a gunshot or gunshots.

"We've been told to shelter in place, stay in the office and that's what we're doing. We'll just stay here in the office and continue to do our work. We're out of session today, that helps a little bit. It's very much business-as-usual right now. We'll continue to do our work."

Posted by Frank James at 9:53 am CDT

The U.S. Capitol Police are investigating a report of the sound of gunfire in the basement parking garage of the Rayburn House Office Building. We have no confirmation of any actual shooting, victims etc. As soon as we know more, we'll update.

Posted by Mark Silva at 9:40 am CDT

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair went to war together. And they have gone down in the polls together.

But the two leaders maintained, during a nationally televised news conference in the East Room of the White House Thursday evening, that their resolve for fighting is unshaken.

Posted by David Lightman of the Hartford Courant at 9:30 pm CDT

Joe Lieberman may not be in the presidential race, but at least he's getting to show flashes of the humor that once earned him the title of "Funniest Man in Washington."

When colleague Chris Dodd said he was preparing for a presidential run, Lieberman joked that the decision sealed his own fate. "We have an agreement," Lieberman said. "When one of us runs for president, the other doesn't." Lieberman ran for president in 2004 and vice president in 2000.

Good morning.

Here are some Washington events of note for Friday, May 26, as collected by the Associated Press.

Vice President Cheney is delivering the commencement address at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks at Georgetown University on the challenges facing the international community before returning to London.

Posted by Mark Silva at 5 pm CDT

When your Justice Department has raided the office of a congressman, executing the first search ever conducted in a Capitol office, and the Republican speaker of the House and Democratic minority leader join forces to protest the intrusion as a violation of separation of powers, and the speaker says the Justice Department is attempting to "intimidate'' him for protesting the search, your next move might just be a 45-day sealing of the material obtained to give everyone a chance to cool off.

That's what President Bush did today, "In the Matter of the Search of Rayburn House Office Building Room Number 2113,'' the office of Rep. William Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat accused by the FBI of stashing bundles of cash in his home freezer. The president issued the following order today: