BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL  —  King: Giuliani ‘very close’ to joining GOP presidential race  —  Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose presidential campaign fizzled in 2008, is leaning toward another race for the White House, according to a close associate.  New York Republican Rep. Peter King …

A Palestinian perspective  —  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted House Speaker John Boehner's invitation to address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.  The speaker says his invitation is a chance to promote freedom, security and peace in the Middle East.

Strauss-Kahn's pals bid to pay off woman's kin  —  By ORON DAN in Tel Aviv and LAURA ITALIANO and BOB FREDERICKS in NY  —  Friends of alleged hotel sex fiend Dominique Strauss-Kahn secretly contacted the accusing maid's impoverished family, offering them money to make the case go away since …

GOP lawmaker says Sen. Scott Brown ‘should be ashamed of himself’  —  Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) scolded the senator for opposing the House GOP budget from Rep. Paul Ryan.  —  An Illinois Republican on Monday said Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) should be “ashamed of himself” for opposing Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget plan.

State Secrets Block Resolution of Contractors' Suit, Justices Say  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled that national security considerations made it impossible for it to take sides in a multibillion-dollar dispute between military contractors and the government.

Steady Decline in Major Crime Baffles Experts  —  The number of violent crimes in the United States dropped significantly last year, to what appeared to be the lowest rate in nearly 40 years, a development that was considered puzzling partly because it ran counter to the prevailing expectation …

White House Adds New Position to Deal with Unfavorable Online Media  —  The White House has named Jesse Lee to a new position within its communications department titled Director of Progressive Media & Online Response.  According to The Huffington Post, Lee will essentially be responsible …

Frank Bruni Named Times Op-Ed Columnist  —  Frank Bruni, whose writing career at The New York Times has spanned two presidential campaigns, a pope and more than five years as chief restaurant critic, has been named an op-ed columnist.  —  Andrew Rosenthal, editor of the Opinion Pages …

Sessions threatens to block budget votes, Memorial Day recess  —  Senate Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) threatened on Monday to derail planned budget resolution votes this week — as well as the Memorial Day recess — to protest Democrats' lack of a budget plan.

Democrats Try to Woo Consumer Advocate to Run  —  WASHINGTON — Officials in the Democratic Party are wooing Elizabeth Warren to run for the Senate against the Massachusetts Republican Scott P. Brown rather than have her continue to set up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

‘Rock and roll dude’ eyes W.H. run  —  Another Republican is eyeing a late entrance into the presidential primary, and his name is not Jeb, Chris, Paul or Rick.  —  It's Thaddeus.  —  In an interview Monday with POLITICO, Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter said he's seriously considering …

New York On Media Matters: ‘Responsible Arbiters’ Who ‘Deserve Credit’ For Glenn Beck's Exit?  —  In the political debates regularly covered here at Mediaite, this New York Magazine story would fairly be described as “the other story.”  Not the explosive one on Roger Ailes and Fox News that we have …

FACT CHECK: Not the whole truth in Pawlenty claims  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — “Truth” was Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's buzzword Monday when he announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.  He said he will tell the truth about hard choices facing the nation while others …

What a top aide to Sarah Palin really thinks about Mitt Romney, Bristol Palin, Erick Erickson and more  —  A series of messages forwarded to The Daily Caller show a top aide to former Alaska Gov. and possible presidential candidate Sarah Palin mocking top political figures and even her boss's own daughter, Bristol Palin.