The Earlybird: Today's headlines

More judicial nominees, Dem energy plan, Senate tax bill, interest rate cut, new Shuster in Pa.-09, new babies for Swift, questions over missing intern:

• President Bush is preparing a second batch of judicial nominees, which includes "three conservative judicial candidates he withheld from the Senate last week," the Washington Times reports. He "might submit one of them, Rep. Christopher Cox," D-Calif., "as early as next week."
• On Tuesday Bush gave his support to a bill sponsored by Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn, "that would chip away at legal barriers preventing most patients from successfully suing HMOs or managed-care plans for bad care," USA Today reports.
• Bush will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month in Europe, and the administrations expects Putin to ask Bush "to reconsider his inclination to scrap a 1972 major arms-control agreement and build a U.S. anti-missile shield," AP reports.

• At an Exxon station near the Capitol, House Democrats "unveiled a national energy plan Tuesday that promotes conservation over production and draws battle lines against a White House plan due out this week that calls for more oil drilling and at least 1,300 new power plants," the Houston Chronicle reports.
• Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said "she would propose immediate tax incentives to encourage home energy conservation and the purchase of fuel-efficient cars, and a number of other short-term measures," the Washington Post reports. Bush is expected to announce his energy policy on Thursday, "but the White House has signaled there is little in the plan for dealing with the country's immediate energy problems."
• Following his discussion with Bush about the president's energy plan, Teamsters president James P. Hoffa said Tuesday that "his union, which endorsed Al Gore for president, would begin taking a more bipartisan approach to politics," the New York Times reports.
• The North American Electric Reliability Council, "an industry-sponsored grid watchdog organization," said Tuesday that "power blackouts could hit the Northeast" this summer as well as California, AP reports.
• The California Public Utilities Commission approved a plan Tuesday that will raise "rates by as much as 80 percent for residential customers who use the most power," AP reports.

• The Senate Finance Committee voted Tuesday to approve a $1.35 trillion tax cut bill, AP reports. The bill, "which contains the core of Bush's original tax cut plan," could reach the Senate floor as early as today.
• National Journal News Service reports on the markup of the bill.

• On Tuesday Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., released a bill "that would require criminal background checks for all firearms sales at gun shows," the Dallas Morning News reports.
• Americans for Gun Safety kicked off an ad campaign in support of the McCain-Lieberman legislation, NationalJournal.com reports.
• McCain also "criticized Republican leaders for a delay in sending his campaign finance bill to the House and took the unusual step of demanding a floor vote to move the Senate-approved measure," the Washington Times reports.

• "The Senate yesterday narrowly rejected a Democratic proposal to set aside $7.1 billion over the next five years to reduce class sizes by hiring more teachers," the Washington Post reports.
• A bipartisan group of senators on Tuesday introduced an election reform bill "that includes $2.5 billion for states to upgrade voting machines," the Houston Chronicle reports.
• Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, "insisted yesterday that he would not postpone the vote again" to confirm Theodore B. Olson as solicitor general, the Baltimore Sun reports.

• The Federal Reserve Board "cut the key federal funds rate yesterday by a half-percentage point to 4 percent -- its lowest level in seven years -- and hinted that the economy's weakness made still another reduction possible," the Baltimore Sun reports. "The central bank also cut the more symbolic discount rate by a half-point" yesterday, and "banks immediately announced reductions in their prime lending rates."
• The New York Times transcribes the board's statement.
• When the interest rate was announced, stock prices went up, "but the ovation lasted only a couple of seconds," the Washington Post reports.

• During meetings with Chinese officials yesterday, Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly "failed to overcome China's opposition to Washington's plans for a new missile shield defence system," BBCNews.com reports.
• "The crew of the Navy surveillance plane forced to land in China last month was unable to destroy or dump all of its classified manuals and other documents, and Bush administration officials now assume that the Chinese military gained useful information about the workings of American reconnaissance flights," the New York Times reports.

• An Israeli embassy official said Tuesday that Israel has "rejected the recommendation of an international report" by a commission headed by former Sen. George Mitchell "that it freeze Jewish settlement construction as a step toward ending more than seven months of violence with the Palestinians," AP reports.
• The United States is expected to add the Irish group Real IRA to a list of foreign terrorist organizations, CNN.com reports.

• Some legal experts said Tuesday that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh's letter to the Houston Chronicle denying that there was a John Doe No. 2 involved in the bombing "may convince judges reviewing potential appeals that the FBI's failure to disclose documents did little harm," the Houston Chronicle reports.
• "FBI field offices across the country yesterday assured top officials that they have no more records related to the Oklahoma City bombing case," the Washington Post reports.
• Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said Tuesday that the FBI "is undermining the confidence of the American people in the bureau," AP reports. Members of the committee "met privately with FBI Director Louis Freeh" yesterday.
• Today Freeh will testify before a congressional hearing "about his bureau's proposed spending," but he is "likely to be grilled about the FBI's series of blunders in recent years," Reuters reports.
• Meanwhile, a lawyer for accused spy and former FBI agent Robert Hanssen said yesterday "that talks with federal prosecutors about a plea bargain had broken off over the government's refusal to negotiate a deal that would spare Mr. Hanssen's life," the New York Times reports. CNN.com reports a lawyer for Hanssen "said he expects his client to be indicted Wednesday on espionage charges."

• AP reports that Republican Bill Shuster, son of retiring Rep. Bud Shuster (R), won yesterday's special election in Pennsylvania's 9th District, beating Democrat Scott Conklin. "With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Shuster had 52 percent, or 55,549 votes," to Conklin's "44 percent, or 47,049 votes."

• Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift (R) delivered "twin girls by Cesarean section on Tuesday," Reuters reports. Lauren Alma, six pounds, and Sarah Jane, five pounds and four ounces, are the first babies born to an acting governor.
• "Swift, 36, was conscious throughout the procedure and retained her full gubernatorial powers," the Boston Globe reports.
• "Swift started experiencing intense contractions about 4:10 p.m., during a conference call" with Vice President Dick Cheney "and other GOP governors," the Boston Herald reports.

• Jersey City, N.J., Mayor Bret Schundler (R), the underdog in next month's GOP gubernatorial primary, now "finds himself weathering criticism from some pro-gun activists -- despite receiving the endorsement of the National Rifle Association" -- "after canceling an appearance at a gun-rights rally on Sunday," the Newark Star-Ledger reports.
• Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., "officially shut the door Tuesday on a gubernatorial bid," the Tulsa World reports.
• A new poll shows Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) "would garner 40 percent of the vote to" Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's 47 percent "in a hypothetical one-on-one primary matchup" for governor, the Baltimore Sun reports.

• Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gave a speech yesterday in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., the Miami Herald reports. "His speech, which drew nearly 100 protestors unhappy with the Supreme Court's role in the 2000 presidential elections, centered on religious themes and did not touch on his role in the court's decision to halt the statewide hand recount of presidential ballots in Florida."
• Chandra Levy, 24, a former intern in the press office of the Bureau of Prisons, has been missing since April 30. She "told friends just before she vanished that she was secretly dating a politician," the New York Daily News reports. Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif., "was interviewed by cops" and "issued a statement denying he had a romantic relationship with Levy."