Around Town: On the Hill, More Moves by Dems

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ANTICIPATION IS RATCHETING UP for Speaker-elect Nanci Pelosi's so-called 100-legislative-hour kickoff to the Democratic-controlled Congress. Labor and liberal leaders are prepping an aggressive (and, naturally, progressive) legislative platform with Democratic representatives and Pelosi's staff, according to The Hill's Alexander Bolton. Several items on the list will be of immediate importance, the proposed minimum-wage increase and lower interest rates for student loans being two.

But Pelosi's introduction to the leadership position hasn't been gentle. She has yet to determine who will chair the House Intelligence Committee, a subject of some dispute — as her process of elimination has been quite public. It's well known now that Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., and Jane Harman, D-Calif., didn't pass muster: Hastings was removed from the judicial bench in a previous political life, and Harman is considered by some (Pelosi included) to be too soft on Bush's use of intelligence-gathering wiretaps.

Snoops are on the lookout for intel on whom Pelosi is considering for intel. Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Norm Dicks of Washington state and Silvestre Reyes of Texas are considered compromise candidates, The Post's Jonathan Weisman and Peter Slevin report.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
» "Dems, Allies Plot Strategy" [The Hill]
» "Hastings, Harman Rejected for Chairmanship" [WaPo]

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» ALEXANDRIA: Chalk up one for Virginia Paving Company: The Post's Annie Gowen notes that the company seems to have won the battle that defines the war between light industry and residents in Alexandria. The asphalt company will be permitted to operate all night long. But not every night — the city council decided to grant them late hours for 110 days of the year. [WaPo]

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