Sessions to take over top GOP slot on Judiciary  —  Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) will take over the ranking member position on the Senate Judiciary Committee after striking a deal with his more senior colleagues over the weekend, sources confirm to The Hill.  —  Sessions and Sen. Chuck Grassley …

N.Y. Times to File Notice It Will Close Boston Globe  —  The New York Times Co. said last night that it is notifying federal authorities of its plans to shut down the Boston Globe, raising the possibility that New England's most storied newspaper could cease to exist within weeks.

Ridge Trails Pennsylvania's Specter By 3 Points, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; New Democratic Senator Tops Toomey By 20 Points  —  Newly-minted Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter would whip old Republican rival Pat Toomey 53 - 33 percent if the 2010 Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race were held today …

The Case Against Sotomayor  —  Indictments of Obama's front-runner to replace Souter.  —  This is the first in a series of reports by TNR legal affairs editor Jeffrey Rosen about the strengths and weaknesses of the leading candidates on Barack Obama's Supreme Court shortlist.  —  RELATED CONTENT

Firms Face New Tax Curbs  —  Obama Plan Aims to Limit Use of Offshore Havens by Multinationals and the Wealthy  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will roll out details Monday of what aides are calling a far-reaching crackdown on offshore tax avoidance, targeting …

GOP turns to Bush aides for advice  —  Republicans looking to recover from Bush-era defeats are turning to an unlikely source for advice: top aides to former President George W. Bush.  —  Former White House press secretary Dana Perino, former Bush counselor Ed Gillespie …

White House Cheat Sheet: Republicans Redouble Re-Branding Efforts  —  Is Eric Cantor the man to revive the Republican Party?  Photo by Ricky Carioti of the Washington Post.  —  National Republican leaders gathered in Northern Virginia over the weekend for the first in a series …

Sarah Palin's “Revelation”  —  This is unfinished business - a news event that got swallowed up by the release of the ICRC report, the OLC Memos and the Senate Armed Services report.  But given this blog's coverage of governor Palin's various strange stories about Trig …

Worries Rise on the Size of U.S. Debt  —  The nation's debt clock is ticking faster than ever — and Wall Street is getting worried.  —  As the Obama administration racks up an unprecedented spending bill for bank bailouts, Detroit rescues, health care overhauls and stimulus plans …

5/4: Paterson Approval Rating: Scraping Bottom?  —  How low can New York Governor David Paterson's job approval rating go?  Based on the latest Marist Poll numbers, it can still go lower, but not by much!  Not quite one-fifth of New York registered voters statewide — 19% …

Personal Savings and the Age of Reagan  —  I've heard Europeans ascribe the low American savings rate to some aspect of our national character, but as you can see on this chart it's something that's changed quite a bit over the years:  —  Any political observer will look at this trend …

Franken's in limbo as the weeks grind on  —  He's got the lead, but all he can do is study issues, talk policy and raise money to pay his recount bills.  —  Six months after Election Day, Al Franken is a man in limbo, preparing for an office he's not entirely sure he's going to get …

Looking to Big-Screen E-Readers to Help Save the Daily Press  —  The iPod stemmed losses in the music industry.  The Kindle gave beleaguered book publishers a reason for optimism.  —  Now the recession-ravaged newspaper and magazine industries are hoping for their own knight in shining digital armor …

Proposals Would Transform College Aid  —  Obama Plan to Expand Federal Control of Lending Includes Creating Entitlement  —  President Obama's health-care goals may be garnering attention, but his higher-education proposals are no less ambitious.  —  If adopted, they could transform …

4th-Grader Questions Rice on Waterboarding  —  Ex-Secretary of State Stresses Legality  —  Days after telling students at Stanford University that waterboarding was legal “by definition if it was authorized by the president,” former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice was pressed again …

Bush's Lawyers Strike Back  —  Blogs and Stories  —  In a brutally frank and at times contentious interview, former Attorneys General John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales sat down with Dan Abrams to talk about:  —  •their definition of torture ("Were the interrogations harsh?  Yes.

Bush Library Raises $100 Million in 100 Days  —  George W. Bush often has said that historians will vindicate his presidency.  And since he left office, he's moving fast to give them the tools.  —  Longtime financial backers of the 43rd president have raised more than $100 million …

God Talk  —  In the opening sentence of the last chapter of his new book, “Reason, Faith and Revolution,” the British critic Terry Eagleton asks, “Why are the most unlikely people, including myself, suddenly talking about God?”  His answer, elaborated in prose that is alternately witty …

Prisoners of the White House  —  Smart decisions don't grow in a vacuum.  The most successful presidents recognize the fact and encourage debate—and even rivalry—between their advisers.  They do their best to consider the options fully.  All the same, it's harder than many people might imagine …

Journalist group: US reporter hospitalized in Iran  —  CAIRO - The American journalist on a hunger strike for two weeks to protest her imprisonment in Iran was briefly hospitalized after she intensified her fast by refusing to drink water, Reporters Without Borders said Monday.

Obama criticism shuts down conversation  —  Parties were more fun when George W. Bush was president.  You could debate, argue even, praise and condemn, throw darts and laurels and solve the world's problems over a bottle of wine.  —  No more.  At least not in my circles.