Washington Whispers
Oh, the Indignities of a Judge's Paycheck
A job for life, generous bennies, the pick of tee times, and compliments from every lawyer in town can't make up for the reality of "low" pay on the federal bench. Making between $149,132 and $208,100 (on par with the vice president and House speaker) just doesn't cut it anymore for the black-robed class. Listen to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. "We are patronized when we meet judges from England, the European Union, or Malaysia, whose salaries double that of ours," he tells a House subcommittee. "They say, 'We're so sorry about your salaries.' You shouldn't put us in that position."
His dramatic complaints reveal that judicial pay has gone from a whine to a serious issue that Chief Justice John Roberts plans to raise with Congress. "The failure of the Congress to address the problem of judicial salary is assuming the proportion of a historic wrong," says Kennedy. Court reps say law school students shun the bench, judicial morale is low, and many are fleeing to wealthy firms. Kennedy says his law clerks win signing bonuses equal to his $199,200 salary when they leave, and the federal bench's top class-action judge quit because he didn't get a cost-of-living adjustment. The resulting higher workload even has older judges off the links and in the court full time. "They don't have to do that," says Kennedy. "They don't have to work at all."
Kerry Greases the Skids for 2008
If the path to the White House is paved with money and political favors, then 2004 Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry is on the fast track to repeat in 2008. We hear that his political action committee, Keeping America's Promise, will soon report raising $1.1 million from 11,000 donors in the past three months. And Kerry will reveal that he gave over 60 percent of that to Democratic congressional candidates. "He's become the fundraiser in chief, and it gets him back in the game to become commander in chief next time around," says an associate who's helping on Kerry's '08 campaign.
Teddy's Old-School Game Still Shines
At age 74 and after 43 years in the Senate, Teddy Kennedy can still turn on that famous youthful bluster. Just ask President Bush, whose policies are savaged in an upcoming Kennedy book, America Back on Track. But what Kennedy demonstrates, say his fans, is an old-school ability to play the attacker in public and friendly rival in private. Consider: His book raps Bush's education policies, but this week he's in India pushing globalization with Bush Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. "He's pretty close to her," says an aide.
It Is Rocket Science for WMD Snoop
Charles Duelfer has been playing with things that go boom ever since he built his first rocket when he was 11 years old. Now, after a long stint with the Bush administration and the United Nations, where he blew up weapons and looked for--but didn't find--weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, he's back to rocket science. "I wanted to build something rather than blow things up," he tells us of his latest project: nabbing a $500 million NASA contract to commercialize the space shuttle. He's the new boss of Transformational Space in Reston, Va., which plans to drastically cut costs by launching a space cargo carrier off the bottom of a high-flying 747. It parachutes to Earth after making a stop at the international space station. NASA's expected to pick winners for the development project in June. The author of the Duelfer Report, which told the world Saddam had no WMD, says his new job has an advantage over the old one: "There are fewer people shooting at you."
U.S. News's Walsh Gets a Fitzwater
Pardon us a moment to toot our own horn. Whispers regular Kenneth T. Walsh is set to be the third recipient of the Fitzwater Center Award for Leadership in Public Communication at New Hampshire's Franklin Pierce College. Yes, that Marlin Fitzwater, spokesman to former Presidents Reagan and Bush and adviser to the media and public affairs school. Why Ken? "His career encompasses almost all of the objectives of our center," says Fitzwater. Besides covering the White House for U.S. News, Walsh has written four books about the presidency and headed the White House Correspondents' Association. The prize? "You'll love this," snickers Fitzwater. "You get a bronze medallion with my picture on it! This is the greatest ego trip ever. The only thing better than getting it is that I get to give it."
The Schumer Diet: Steak, No Eggs
High-octane New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer isn't one to turn down a meal. But he was quick to brush off some scrambled eggs and bacon at a breakfast last week. The excitable chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was worried about flunking his cholesterol test. "I had almost a steak for two at Bobby Van's last night," he reveals. "It's going to raise my cholesterol ... how long does it stay in your blood?" he asks. Not to worry: He passed the test and was to celebrate with a huge cheese omelet.
Even NPR Trips on Lewis Libby
Say this fast 10 times: "I'm Libby Lewis covering Lewis Libby for NPR." In the weird-but-true category, Lewis really is covering the CIA spy leak story for National Public Radio. "People think it's really funny," she says. But it does cause confusion, even with NPR anchors. "There have been," Lewis says, "lots of mistakes on our air, about people getting the names mixed up."
Sen. George Allen Drives a Deere
We were halfway through lunch with likely 2008 GOP presidential candidate Sen. George Allen when he told us he cut his own grass. When challenged, he pleaded: "I cut my own grass, yes, yes." Allen gave credible details: He uses a John Deere 155 lawn tractor on his acre while listening to NASCAR with earphones. He said the 48-inch mower was overkill, but he needed it when he previously owned a 2-acre spread. "I can't get much for it," he says, "so I use it."
This story appears in the April 17, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.