WASHINGTON - A tentative agreement to renew the Patriot Act this week teetered late Wednesday without explicit support of the lead Senate negotiator, as Democrats claimed the draft wouldn't sufficiently curb the FBI's power to investigate the most private aspects of people's lives.
Hours after House and Senate negotiators said they had reached a tentative agreement, Democrats alleged it didn't address their chief concern: the curbing of FBI power to gather certain information by requiring the investigators to prove the subject's records are connected to a foreign agent or government.
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., had hoped to reach an agreement. But by dinner time, Specter had canceled a news conference on the Patriot Act. His office said negotiations were continuing.
The agreement, which would make most provisions of the existing law permanent, was reached just before dawn Wednesday. But by midmorning GOP leaders had already made plans for a House vote on Thursday and a Senate vote by the end of the week.
Cheney joins criticism of Democrats over claims
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney added his voice on Wednesday to the chorus criticizing Democrats who have accused the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence on Iraq, calling it "one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city."
"Some of the most irresponsible comments have, of course, come from politicians who actually voted in favor of authorizing force against Saddam Hussein," Cheney said in remarks prepared for a GOP fundraiser.
Cheney's comments were part of a GOP effort to push back against criticism on Iraq. Bush in the past week has made two speeches that labeled Democrats as hypocrites for criticizing the Iraq war after earlier supporting the idea that Saddam should go.
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pointed out Democrats who in the past had depicted Saddam as a threat with weapons of mass destruction, including former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
"These are elected officials who had access to the intelligence, and were free to draw their own conclusions. They arrived at the same judgment about Iraq's capabilities and intentions that was made by this administration and by the previous administration," Cheney said.
Democrats: Alito not a lock to be confirmed
WASHINGTON - Democrats said on Wednesday that Samuel Alito's confirmation was not guaranteed as senators kept the focus on a 20-year-old document in which the Supreme Court nominee wrote that the Constitution "does not protect a right to an abortion."
"Anyone who thinks that this nomination is a foregone conclusion is sadly mistaken," said New York Sen. Charles Schumer.
Republicans came to Alito's defense, with some committing their votes well in advance of his Jan. 9 confirmation hearing.
Others warned Democrats not to think about using a filibuster to try and stop his confirmation.
"Even a suggestion that he doesn't deserve an up-or-down vote is outrageous," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
Alito has gotten positive reviews from senators since the president announced his nomination on Halloween as the replacement for Harriet Miers.
