Pelosi Endorses Murtha as Next Majority Leader  —  House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) yesterday as the next House majority leader, thereby stepping into a contentious intraparty fight between Murtha and her current deputy, Maryland's Steny H. Hoyer.

Democrats Push for Troop Cuts Within Months  —  Democratic leaders in the Senate vowed on Sunday to use their new Congressional majority to press for troop reductions in Iraq within a matter of months, stepping up pressure on the administration just as President Bush is to be interviewed …

China sub secretly stalked U.S. fleet  —  A Chinese submarine stalked a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in the Pacific last month and surfaced within firing range of its torpedoes and missiles before being detected, The Washington Times has learned.  —  The surprise encounter highlights …

Fresh Off the Farm in Montana, a Senator-to-Be  —  "He's a small farmer from the homestead,'' a friend says of Jon Tester. "  That's absolutely who he is.  When he joins the United States Senate in January, big Jon Tester — who is just under 300 pounds in his boots …

Lieberman a Wild Card in Iraq Policy  —  Senator Says Bipartisan Effort Is Needed for a Successful End  —  Voters seemed to be speaking loudly and clearly about Iraq last week when they elected war critics such as Bernard Sanders of Vermont, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and James Webb of Virginia to the Senate.

For Conservatives, It's Back to Basics  —  THE morning after the Republican drubbing in the midterm elections, Ken Mehlman, chairman of the party, headed to the weekly coalition meeting where limited government conservatives, Christian traditionalists and gun-rights groups gathered to plot strategy.

Bush approval drops, Democrats' goals backed -poll  —  Source: Reuters  —  Just days after Democrats took over Congress, Americans embraced their top goals and President George W. Bush's job approval rating slid to 31 percent, according to a Newsweek poll issued on Saturday.

The Prodigal Returns  —  Supporting Cast: Bush 41's national-security team, in 1991.  From far left, Scowcroft, Gates, Cheney, Quayle, Baker, Bush and Powell.  —  George Herbert Walker Bush is a proud father; tears easily come to his eyes when he thinks of his children, all of them …

True Blue Populists  —  Senator George Allen of Virginia is understandably shocked and despondent.  Just a year ago, a National Review cover story declared that his "down-home persona" made him "quite possibly the next president of the United States."  Instead, his political career seems over.

Baghdad's morgues so full, bodies being turned away  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Baghdad's morgues are full.  —  With no space to store bodies, some victims of the sectarian slaughter are not being kept for relatives to claim, but photographed, numbered and quickly interred in government cemeteries.

Administration Opposes Democrats' Plan for Negotiating Medicare Drug Prices  —  The Bush administration said on Sunday that it would strenuously oppose one of the Democrats' top priorities for the new Congress: legislation authorizing the government to negotiate with drug companies to secure lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries.

The realists take charge in Washington  —  Editor's note: The following is a summary of this week's Time magazine cover story.  —  (Time.com ) — This was a big deal.  Certainly, it was the end of George W. Bush's radical experiment in partisan governance.

Hezbollah's missiles back in Lebanon  —  FOUR months after Israel launched its onslaught against Hezbollah, the Lebanese guerrillas are back in south Lebanon stronger than ever and armed with more rockets than they had before the conflict, according to Israeli intelligence.