Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Another development that makes al-Sadr stronger and Maliki weaker: “Iraq’s top Shiite religious leaders have told anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr not to disband his Mehdi Army, an al-Sadr spokesman said Monday amid fresh fighting in the militia’s Baghdad strongholds. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki demanded Sunday that the cleric disband his militia, which waged two uprisings against U.S. troops in 2004, or see his supporters barred from public office. But al-Sadr spokesman Salah al-Obeidi said al-Sadr has consulted with Iraq’s Shiite clerical leadership “and they refused that.” He did not provide details of the talks.”
* I’ll have more coverage of the Petraeus/Crocker hearing(s) in the morning, but Spencer Ackerman’s live-blogging has been excellent all day. Pay particular attention to Joe Biden and Jim Webb, both of whom probably saw the VP stock rise today.
* More discouraging news on gas prices: “In the latest bit of bad news for cash-strapped consumers, the Energy Information Administration released its annual report on the outlook for summer fuels Tuesday and predicted that average gasoline prices will shoot up to $3.60 a gallon in June and remain nearly that high into fall. In a report released before a presentation scheduled for 11 a.m., the EIA — the statistical and analytical arm of the Energy Department — says that it expects gasoline prices to peak in June to just over $3.60 a gallon for regular unleaded. The monthly average diesel price is expected to peak at just over $3.90 per gallon this month.”
* This was unexpected: “For the first time, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino Tuesday left the door open to President Bush skipping the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Beijing to protest China’s crackdown in Tibet and human rights record. Asked by CNN at an on-camera briefing if Bush will specifically attend the opening ceremonies in Beijing, Perino would not be definitive. ‘We haven’t provided any schedules on the president’s trip,’ she said.”
* This was less surprising: “On Tuesday, the Senate voted 92-6 to cut off all debate and hasten passage of the legislation, which would provide billions in tax breaks for homebuilders, tax credits for people who buy foreclosed homes and about $100 million for foreclosure prevention counseling. The bill lacks some of the most aggressive measures meant to help troubled homeowners, including a proposal that would allow bankruptcy judges to restructure mortgages in default. But even the bipartisan proposals, including $4 billion in community development block grants, have run into White House opposition.”
* Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice really isn’t going to be McCain’s VP.
* No one ever seems to get fired from the Bush administration: “A Federal Aviation Administration official who was criticized last week for the agency’s handling of missed inspections at Southwest Airlines has been reassigned, an agency spokeswoman said Monday.”
* Solid follow-up work from Glenn: “I just received the following statement from the Vice Chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Rep. Lee Hamilton, in response to my inquiries last week (and numerous follow-up inquiries from readers here) about Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s claims about the 9/11 attack and, specifically, about Mukasey’s story that there was a pre-9/11 telephone call from an ‘Afghan safe house’ into the U.S. that the Bush administration failed to intercept or investigate: ‘I am unfamiliar with the telephone call that Attorney General Mukasey cited in his appearance in San Francisco on March 27. The 9/11 Commission did not receive any information pertaining to its occurrence.'”
* The John Yoo Memos have not gone unnoticed on the Hill: “House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) announced plans to hold a May 6 hearing to examine a recently released torture memo and the issue of executive power as it relates to interrogation and war-making authority.”
* Hmm: “One curious element of the Bosnia story is that a female senator actually did land under fire in the former Yugoslavia – but it wasn’t Clinton. It was Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who landed in Sarajevo as part of a congressional delegation six months before Clinton’s foray to Tuzla.”
* Vice Presidents don’t usually need or get Secret Service protection after leaving office. Dick Cheney, however, appears to be a special case.
* Elizabeth Edwards is joining the Center for American Progress as a senior fellow, and will be a contributor to ThinkProgress. That’s very cool.
* Interesting: “CBS, the home of the most celebrated news division in broadcasting, has been in discussions with Time Warner about a deal to outsource some of its news-gathering operations to CNN, two executives briefed on the matter said Monday.”
* Karl Rove is reportedly willing to testify in the Siegelman case if subpoenaed.
* And Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) is so anxious to avoid new questions about his prostitution scandal, he’s getting into car accidents. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but Vitter’s deteriorating reputation will never be the same.
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.