Running late because I got suckered into paying attention to the painfully slow House Speaker election. Here’s some slightly tardy mid-day news bites:

* Obama signs defense reauthorization bill despite earlier veto threats over language restricting power to close Gitmo.

* HRC reiterates intention to testify on Benghazi pseudo-scandal.

* Paul Broun and Louie Gohmert both vote for former Member Allen West for Speaker. Bohner re-elected, but not in a joyful manner.

* TAP’s Abby Rapoport looks ahead to state actions on same-sex marriage in 2013.

* Biggest hangup in action on filibuster reform is resistance among some Senate Dems to imposing it via the “constitutional option” rather than a deal with Republicans.

And in non-political news:

* Study shows 1 in 24 American adults admit they recently fell asleep at the wheel. Drive defensively, folks.

Back in a few.

Ed Kilgore

Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.