The American Spectator

p> WAR OF THE BRANCHES br> House Majority Whip Tom DeLay has asked the White House to replace its chief Capitol Hill liaison, Nicholas Calio , after weeks of what he called “failures and embarrassments,” according to a White House domestic policy staffer. /p>

DeLay, in line to succeed House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who is retiring this year, was angered by what he believes were breakdowns in communications between the White House and Congressional Republicans. “The White House doesn’t brief us on anything. We hear about the war on terrorism from the news, Bush’s plans to sign campaign finance reform from the news, his environmental policy plans from the news,” says a senior House leadership aide. “That’s Calio’s job, to coordinate and let us in on what the White House plans to do before it actually does it. If he isn’t doing that, then something has to give.”

One problem: Calio is doing the job Karl Rove wants him to do. “Nick isn’t telling Republicans on the Hill anything because we don’t want them to know anything,” says another domestic policy staffer in the White House. “Those guys up there get their briefings and then leak it to their supposed friends in the media, and we get burned. You saw it happen all the time with Clinton’s people. We’re not going to make the same mistake.”

House and Senate Republicans are generally given briefings from the White House the morning of major policy or political announcements. The staffer explains: “We give them a couple of hours to prepare for any media queries. That’s all they need. Besides, on most issues, they have a pretty good idea where our president is coming from. If they haven’t figured that out yet, they aren’t as smart as they claim they are.”

p> FRIST SHALL BE LOTT br> Sen. Bill Frist