Sunday Snapshot: Gas And Condi

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA): "The fact that he is part of the military today would be the major problem. Now, just resigning commission and moving on, putting on a striped suit, a pinstriped suit versus an Air Force uniform, I don't think makes much difference" ("This Week," ABC, 5/7).

House Min. Leader Nancy Pelosi, on Hayden: "He's too closely tied to this question of domestic surveillance, which should be looked into, but not in the course of a confirmation hearing for the head of the Central Intelligence Agency. ... There's a power struggle going on between the Department of Defense and the entire rest of the intelligence community. So I don't see how you have a four-star general heading up the CIA. There has to be more people that could be drawn upon. These people are all just this little clique. They play musical chairs. They're all far too close to the president politically, and I think that, that the confidence that everyone needs in the CIA would be better instilled if we had someone else" ("Meet the Press," NBC, 5/7).

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS): "Here we have a man who everybody says is one of the best briefers that they've ever had on intelligence, a man who has been described by people on both sides of the aisle as probably knowing more about intelligence than anybody else. But there's some real concern about somebody from the military heading up the CIA. You can solve that pretty quickly by simply resigning in terms of his post of being a general and also putting in some deputies there that I think people would agree with, that have a strong civilian background and that would help the situation with the CIA as they transform and continue the transformation" ("Late Edition," CNN, 5/7).

Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA): "Hayden is a capable man, but there are certain strikes against him. One is his military background. ... A second is that he has a technical background. He doesn't have experience building the clandestine service, which is what the CIA needs to transition into. And the third thing is that it's not clear he will be independent of this White House. I think he made a big mistake in going to the National Press Club a few months back and defending the legality of the president's NSA program" ("Late Edition," CNN, 5/7).

Sens. Joe Biden (D-DE) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) were on "Fox News Sunday" to talk about Hayden, but the discussion quickly turned to wire tapping with both senators saying they would use Hayden's nomination to ask questions about the NSA program.

Biden: "I will obviously not speak for Senator Specter, but Senator Specter and I, with his lead, have been trying to figure out what Hayden has actually been doing in those wiretaps, and it may give us an opportunity to figure out what the program actually is."

Specter: "I believe that his nomination will give us an opportunity to try to find out about what the program is." More: "It's going to be up to the Intelligence Committee to have the hearings. I wish it were Judiciary, but it's not. But I have some very pointed questions. I want to know what the program is. We cannot judge its constitutionality without knowing what the program is. And I'm going to see what he has to say and how it goes" (5/7).

MIDTERM MADNESS

Pelosi was the lead guest on "Meet the Press" and there was a lot of '06 talk.

On gas prices: Dems "are declaring energy independence for the American people and we intend to achieve it within 10 years." More: "We intend to send our energy dollars to the Midwest and rural America, not to the Middle East. We intend to focus on biofuels, on alternative energy, conservation and efficiency."

On the budget: "President Bush has taken us to such a place you can't balance in one year, but we'll put ourselves on a course of balance. But we did when President Clinton was president because of the Democratic economic package."

NBC's Russert: "So they'll be no increase in spending if the Democrats take control of Congress?"

Pelosi: "No deficit spending. I pledge that to you. No deficit spending, pay as you go. Pay as you go."

Asked about John Conyers being for impeachment: "Democrats are not about impeachment. Democrats are about bringing the country together. This is what we have to do."

Russert: "But that's the man who would be chairman of the Judiciary Committee."

Pelosi: "Yeah, but that is not where the decision would be made." More: "John Conyers is an enthusiastic advocate. I am the leader. Our caucus will decide where we go." More: "We will have subpoena power."

On Dem ethics problems: "I've asked for the Ethics Committee to investigate Mr. Jefferson. You have never seen a Republican ask for an ethics investigation of the Republicans. You're talking about some individual challenges that those people will have to deal with."

Asked if she will ban lobbyist contributions: "I'm for what we call clean campaigns. ... Public funding of campaigns. I think we have to break the link completely" (NBC, 5/7).

Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) was on "This Week" and he warned of the consequences if Dems take the House in '06: "John Conyers will be the chairman of the Judiciary Committee if the Democrats take over. John Conyers is to the left of your next guest, Howard Dean, and he's already participated in mock impeachment hearings."

More DeLay: "The Democrats, the last time they were in charge in 1993, they raised taxes and increased spending."

Asked if his ethics problems will hurt GOPers in '06: "Do you know there's 22 Democrats that have ethics problems right now? Every leader. Nancy Pelosi was found guilty of having two leadership PACs. Steny Hoyer failed to disclose over 10 trips that he has taken. The chairman of the caucus took a trip paid by a lobbyist. Rahm Emanuel has many ethics problems that he encountered back in Chicago. And I could go on and on. The only people that have been found guilty is Duke Cunningham, yes, a Republican. But Frank Ballance in North Carolina has been found guilty. Nancy Pelosi is found guilty. Jim McDermott from Washington has been found guilty. William Jefferson from Louisiana is about to be found guilty. Just had a guy plead guilty that he received $400,000 in bribes. I think this is really unfortunate that the Democrats are trying to play the politics of personal destruction while they're hypocrites and don't attack their own members" (ABC, 5/7).

DNC Chair Howard Dean was on after DeLay and asked about his comments: "I'm not going to get in an argument with a guy who is on his way out of Congress."

Asked about Dem ethics problems: "There are individual Congressmen that have made mistakes. Unlike the Republicans, our leader, Nancy Pelosi, particularly asked for an ethics investigation of Congressman Jefferson."

Asked if Jefferson should leave office if indicted: "Yes" ("This Week," ABC, 5/7).

ROUNDTABLE ROUNDUP

The "Meet the Press" roundtable discussed Bush's approval ratings, VP Cheney and the situation in Iraq. Then they questioned Bush impersonator Steve Bridges about admin policies (NBC, 5/7).

The "Face the Nation" roundtable discussed Hayden's nomination. New York Times' Brooks, asked if he was surprised at the opposition to Hayden: "I am actually. Mostly because I guess the charge is that General Hayden being a general is going to be too close to Donald Rumsfeld, and people in Congress are afraid of Donald Rumsfeld. I'm amazed they could find a general they could even accuse of being close to Donald Rumsfeld, because not many generals are close to Donald Rumsfeld these days. ... I'm a little surprised -- I think it's just fear of Rumsfeld that's driving this more than fear of Hayden" (CBS, 5/7).

The "Fox News Sunday" roundtable also discussed Hayden. Weekly Standard's Kristol: " I think Porter Goss was doing what he had to do. I think he was trying to carry out the president's agenda. ... I think it's a terrible signal to conservatives anywhere in the State Department, Defense Department, CIA, anywhere in the federal government who are trying to carry out the president's agenda against the bureaucracy, that, unfortunately, the White House is not going to stand behind them. ... I think the CIA will now become a mini State Department. Everyone will be happy. They will replicate the career bureaucrats who are in charge, and anyone who believes in aggressively carrying out President Bush's foreign policy is going to be worried now that he'll stick his head out. The New York Times won't like it."

They also discussed Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and ethics problems (5/7).

The "This Week" roundtable discussed the CIA shakeup. ABC's Raddatz: "Clearly, Porter Goss was pushed and clearly the president approved of that." George Will, on the Hayden criticism: "The president clearly wants this fight, by nominating the man who has been an ardent defender of and an administrator of the NSA surveillance of domestic to foreign and foreign to domestic telephone conversations. They're inviting an argument on this because they think it's a political winner. And the Democrats are going to want to stand and fight on that. So I don't think his confirmation is a given" (5/7).