TUESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Mike Allen thinks all signs point to Gen. McChrystal’s ouster. Michael Scherer thinks all signs point to the opposite. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
* There is one report, from Joe Klein citing an anonymous source, that McChrystal has offered to resign.
* Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today that his top commander in Afghanistan “made a significant mistake and exercised poor judgment” in his remarks to Rolling Stone.
* Plenty of Republicans have been critical of McChrystal today, but as far as I can tell, only one has said publicly that the president probably ought to fire him.
* Ugh: “Sales of previously built homes dropped in May after huge gains the previous two months, a sign that the federal tax credit that helped energize sales at the start of the selling season has sputtered out sooner than expected.”
* OMB Director Peter Orszag will leave his post next month, becoming the first member of the president’s cabinet to depart. His 18 months on the job is actually a fairly lengthy run by contemporary standards.
* Good to see this on the radar again: “The Obama administration on Tuesday unveiled an ambitious plan that aspires to end homelessness among some of society’s most vulnerable groups within the next decade.”
* In a pleasant surprise, the Senate confirmed a whole bunch of pending administration nominees, and three district court judges, in one unanimous vote today. [Update: It turns out the three confirmed judges were actually confirmed unanimously on separate votes yesterday, not today. Apologies.]
* Five months after a devastating earthquake, all is not well in Haiti’s Port-au-Prince.
* Standing up for health care reform: “President Barack Obama unveiled a package of consumer benefits Tuesday to build support for his health care overhaul within a divided nation and warned Republicans about trying to repeal his landmark law. ‘We’re not going back,’ said a defiant president.”
* On a related note, Obama is pushing insurers not to use reform as an excuse to raise premiums.
* New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R)’s economic plan would increase taxes on some in the middle class, and cut taxes on millionaires. No wonder the right loves him.
* Will Congress pass a budget blueprint this year? Not so much.
* Good news out of the Wall Street reform conference committee on card-swipe fees.
* GAO to investigate for-profit colleges. Should be interesting.
* Big news in the media world: “CNN announced on Monday that it will no longer use content from the Associated Press, ending a business relationship that had been in place since the cable network’s inception.” CNN will be in a position to act as a permanent AP rival.
* Speaking of interesting media developments, Rolling Stone scored an incredible scoop with its McChrystal story, but handled it incredibly poorly.
* And in case anyone missed it, the major Rolling Stone story on McChrystal is, finally, online.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
