Intelligence Chief Is Shifted to Deputy State Dept. Post  —  John D. Negroponte, whom President Bush installed less than two years ago as the first director of national intelligence, will soon leave his post to become the State Department's second-ranking official, administration officials said Wednesday.

W pushes envelope on U.S. spying  —  New postal law lets Bush peek through your mail  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush has quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant, the Daily News has learned.  —  The President asserted his new authority …

In the House, Suddenly Righteous Republicans  —  Thirty-one-year-old Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is not a large man, standing perhaps 5 feet 3 inches tall in thick soles.  But he packed a whole lot of chutzpah when he walked into the House TV gallery yesterday to demand …

The Right Minimum Wage  —  A federal minimum wage is an idea whose time came in 1938, when public confidence in markets was at a nadir and the federal government's confidence in itself was at an apogee.  This, in spite of the fact that with 19 percent unemployment and the economy contracting …

A Chance To Change The Game  —  This past Election Day, the American people sent a clear message to Washington: Clean up your act.  —  After a year in which too many scandals revealed the influence special interests wield over Washington, it's no surprise that so many incumbents were defeated …

Passed Over by Pelosi, Harman Doesn't Get Even.  She Gets Mad.  —  Catfight aftermath: Rep. Jane Harman is still quite irked that House Speaker-designee Nancy Pelosi nixed her for chairman of the House intelligence committee — and she's not exactly being stoic about it.

Angry Nixon vowed to 'ruin' diplomatic corps … WASHINGTON (AP) — Embittered by career diplomats during his first term, President Nixon said he wanted to "ruin the Foreign Service" before leaving office, according to newly released State Department documents.

RANGEL BOOTS VEEP  —  EVICTS CHENEY FROM CHOICE CAPITOL DIGS  —  Rep. Charles Rangel has evicted Vice President Dick Cheney from his office in the Capitol, and the Harlem heavyweight is moving into the prime digs today, The Post has learned.  —  Gilded letters were freshly painted atop …

U.S. Bars Lab From Testing Electronic Voting  —  A laboratory that has tested most of the nation's electronic voting systems has been temporarily barred from approving new machines after federal officials found that it was not following its quality-control procedures and could not document that it was conducting all the required tests.

In Padilla Wiretaps, Murky View of 'Jihad' Case  —  In 1997, as the government listened in on their phone call, Adham Hassoun, a computer programmer in Broward County, Fla., proposed a road trip to Jose Padilla, a low-wage worker there.  The excursion to Tampa would be his treat, Mr. Hassoun said …

Lieberman Party Now in Hands of Critic  —  HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The party Sen. Joe Lieberman created to mount his independent re-election campaign has been seized by one of his critics, and the secretary of state's office said Wednesday that it won't challenge the takeover.

Iron Man  —  WHY BUSH STILL WON'T CHANGE HIS STRATEGY.  —  In the final paragraph of the New York Times' Jan. 2 story about the impending new Iraq strategy, President George W. Bush is quoted as telling members of the Baker-Hamilton commission that "victory" was still his goal.

Middle-class woes?  A letter to Lou Dobbs.  —  America's trade deficit is evidence of its economic vigor and promise, not a cause for concern.  —  FAIRFAX, VA. - Dear Mr. Dobbs, Congratulations on having a large new bloc of voters bear your name!  Politicians ignore the "Lou Dobbs Democrats" at their peril.