Today's Details

-Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) will shake up his campaign staff if he loses Tuesday’s Democratic primary to challenger Ned Lamont. Lieberman supporters have watched with growing dismay since the spring as the three term senator’s campaign has gone from oblivious to defensive. They expect to reap a bitter harvest in 6 days. DETAILS

-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he essentially was too busy to testify at a public hearing on the Iraq war, raising a new furor on Capitol Hill over the three-year-old conflict.Speaking to Pentagon reporters Wednesday, Rumsfeld said he thought it was enough for him to attend a private briefing with the entire Senate on Thursday. Citing his crowded calendar, he declined the Senate Armed Services Committee's request to testify publicly on Thursday morning. (This guy works for US. He may serve at the pleasure of the President, but he works for US. The appropriate response to this arrogant bastard would be "clear your calendar and be here or you will be compelled to be here with a subpoena.") DETAILS

-Rep. Charles Rangel, a powerful senior Democrat in Congress and the dean of New York's congressional delegation, said Wednesday that he'll quit Congress if the Democrats don't retake control of the House this year. DETAILS

-A GOP challenger to Rep. Alan Mohollan (D-WV) has come under scrutiny after accusations he falsely claimed to be a veteran of the first Gulf war. Republican candidate Chris Wakim (right) has also been questioned about the type of graduate degree he received from Harvard University, ROLL CALL is reporting today. (The Republican Party - "We only cheat when we have to.") DETAILS

-The only opportunity this year to increase the minimum wage and renew popular tax breaks will be linked to a reduction in the estate tax, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Tuesday. The Republican leader said he would schedule a Friday vote to see whether a bill combining the three items, already passed by the House, can win the support of 60 senators. Without that backing, the bill slides off the Senate's agenda. (The U.S. Senate - "Working hard for 1% of the population.") DETAILS

-Conservative Republicans who approved classroom standards that called evolution into question lost control of the state Board of Education in Tuesday's primary election. (Hallelujah! Common sense has prevailed!) DETAILS

-President Jalal Talabani predicted Wednesday that Iraqi troops will assume security duties for the whole country by the end of the year, even as more U.S. soldiers headed to the capital to bolster local forces struggling to contain violence. DETAILS

-Israel pressed the first full day of a massive new ground attack, sending 8,000 troops into southern Lebanon on Wednesday and seizing five people it said were Hezbollah fighters in a dramatic airborne raid on a northeastern town. Hezbollah retaliated with its deepest strikes yet into Israel, firing a record number of more than 160 rockets. DETAILS

-The U.S. government won an appeal on Tuesday allowing it to seek phone records of New York Times reporters investigating government probes into Islamic charities shortly before the September 11 attacks. DETAILS

-The Senate voted Tuesday to open 8.3 million acres of federal waters in the central Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling, setting up a confrontation with the House which wants even more drilling waters now off-limits. (The U.S. Senate - "Preserving the earth and its natural resources for future generations!") DETAILS

-U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris received a grand jury subpoena from federal investigators but kept it from her top campaign advisers, leading to the latest round of staff departures last month, a former aide said. DETAILS

-Evidence collected on the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Haditha supports accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot the civilians, including unarmed women and children, a Pentagon official said Wednesday. DETAILS