The Earlybird: Today's headlines

Military reform, final tax push, gas prices, Virginia 04 Dem nominee, Baucus' trouble, Franks' new challenge, Powell's U.N. disappointment, Florida machines on eBay:

• Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld "is set to unveil sweeping changes in U.S. military strategy, including the formal abandonment of the 'two major war'" policy, next week, the Washington Post reports.
• "The Navy has won an early skirmish" in Rumsfeld's review, the Washington Times reports, by eliminating language that questions the need for large aircraft carriers.
• "An Air Force plane today flew the first U.S. reconnaissance flight off China's coast since the April 1 collision between a Navy spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet," AP reports.

• Democrats this week are planning to "make a final push to force President Bush to scale back tax cuts to free money for education and other needs," Reuters reports.
• Although President Bush contends "his plan to slash the top income-tax rate" will bring relief to millions of small-business owners, the Wall Street Journal reports that fewer than 500,000 active business owners pay taxes at that rate.

• "Lawmakers are trying to force the government to stop hiring U.S. companies for dangerous counternarcotics missions in South America," AP reports.
• "The Republican-led House, supposedly stronger than the Senate for advancing President Bush's legislative agenda, is showing some chinks in its armor," the Washington Times reports.
• With complaints about air travel continuing to climb, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports, "a 'passengers' rights' bill appears headed to the Senate floor.

• Gasoline prices in Chicago and California could hit $3 a gallon this summer, USA Today reports.
• The White House "is considering pleas from coal and electric companies to drop a series of government lawsuits" -- a move that the New York Times reports "has touched off a debate within the administration."
• "House GOP leaders are growing increasingly concerned that if the administration and Congress fail to address looming blackouts and soaring gasoline prices Republicans will be punished at the polls in 2002," Roll Call reports.

• "Hundreds of supporters for" Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D) "made the trip to the Democratic convention in Prince George County" this weekend "and overwhelmingly selected her to be the party's nominee for the 4th District Congressional race," which is June 19, the Norfolk Virgian-Pilot reports.
• Ohio state Sen. Robert Hagan (R) "is seriously interested in a repeat challenge to the indicted" Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, Roll Call reports.
• Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., "said last week he would consider challenging" Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., in 2002, Roll Call reports. And the "scandals embroiling two of the state's top officials have even sparked rumors that former Garden State Gov. Christine Todd Whitman (R)... would leave her new post" at the Environmental Protection Agency "to challenge Torricelli."
• The 2002 Arkansas Senate race between Sen. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark., and Attorney General Mark Pryor (D) "will likely give Arkansans a dose of what modern Senate races have become -- 'nationalized' affairs featuring significant roles by out-of-state contributors, interest groups and party officials, races that routinely break in-state spending records," the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
• A new poll shows "a majority" of Montana voters "say they would at least consider replacing" Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the Billings Gazette reports.
• U.S. Attorney Doug Jones (D) from Alabama "has been eyeing a possible" 2002 Senate bid against Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the Birmingham News reports.
• Judicial Watch has asked the National Republican Senatorial Committee "to cease plans to let high-level donors meet with cabinet members and diplomats during a fund-raising gathering here later this month," the Wall Street Journal reports. The conservative watchdog group said "such meetings constitute 'illegal fund raising.'"

• The 2002 New York gubernatorial race "will feature competition for endorsements beyond the Democratic and Republican parties" as the state Independent Party enjoys "rising profile and swelling ranks," the Albany Times Union reports.
• "Only a few hours after" former New Jersey Rep. Bob Franks' "legal victory over fellow Republican" Bret Schundler, "Democrats went to court with their own attempt to get him tossed from" the gubernatorial ballot, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.
• Former Rep. Robert Weygand, D-R.I., "will become the next president of the New England Board of Higher Education next month, but said he is not ready to take himself out of the running for the Democratic nomination for governor of Rhode Island next year," the Providence Journal-Bulletin reports.

• Palm Beach County "will soon begin selling some or all of its 5,000 Votomatic machines on eBay" to help "pay for more modern voting equipment," AP reports.
• "Cincinnati braces for a grand-jury decision that some fear could rekindle violence and divisiveness," as prosecutors will announce tonight the grand jury's ruling on the police killing of an unarmed black man last month, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
• Census data show that "the nation's largest cities grew nearly twice as fast in the 1990's as in the 1980's," the New York Times reports, "with three out of every four urban centers gaining population."

• FBI Director Louis Freeh has given President Bush "a list of people -- possibly including Iranian officials -- who he believes should be indicted in the 1996 bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. servicemen," Reuters reports, citing a New Yorker article released on Sunday.
• Senate Parliamentarian Robert Dove was fired last Thursday, Roll Call reports. "Dove, who has served in the Senate in one capacity or another since 1966," had reportedly angered conservatives and Senate leaders with some of his recent rulings.
• "Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is said to be most upset over the U.S. loss last week of its seat on the U.N. Commission on Human Rights," the Washington Post reports.
• White House officials are "seriously looking" at the possibility of naming Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., to head the Drug Enforcement Administration, Roll Call's "Heard On The Hill" reports.
• President Bush is expected to nominate securities lawyer Harvey Pitt to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• "John Paul II became the first pope to enter a mosque" during his visit to Syria Sunday, the Baltimore Sun reports.
• U.S. News' "Washington Whispers" reports that the Clintons "spent $150,000 replacing soiled and worn linens and $100,000 touching up" the White House just before their departure.
• On Saturday, the Georgia GOP elected former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed to chair the state party, CNN.com reports.
• The health of Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., is the subject of yet another story, this time in USA Today.
• Dennis Tito, the "world's first space tourist," returned to Earth Sunday. The millionaire was "clearly convinced" his $20 million trip "was a good value," the Daily Telegraph reports.