The American Spectator

p> BIG DEAL br> It appears that Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has reached some sort of agreement with the White House on political appointments confirmable by his side of Congress. Some appointees who had been awaiting confirmation hearings have been told they won’t need hearings because their names will be sent directly to the full Senate for a vote before the July 4th recess. /p>

“We’re not talking judges here,” says a White House legislative affairs staffer. “But we are talking about 40 or so appointments that have been held up for more than six months.”

No word on what broke the stalemate, although the president’s seeming unwillingness to veto the bloated anti-terrorism legislation that was recently plopped on his desk might be an indication of what was part of the deal.

p> WATTS WRONG? br> Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts , chafing at what appears to be a dead-end leadership post as head of the House Republican Conference, is breaking ranks and annoying his leadership colleagues. Last week, as both House Republicans and Democrats pledged to meet a September 11 deadline to pass Department of Homeland Security legislation, Watts weighed in and said that would be impossible. “It’s not going to happen,” he declared. Immediately he was called on the carpet by Republican leaders Dennis Hastert and