Earlier this month, a federal district court ruled that former Rep. Tom DeLay’s name must stay on the ballot in Texas even though he withdrew from the race and moved to Virginia. Recently, the media has reported that DeLay is planning an “aggressive campaign to retake the House seat” should the ruling be upheld on appeal.

Today on Fox, DeLay was asked by Neil Cavuto if he still had a chance to win the election. DeLay said, “I cannot run for office [in Texas]” because “I’m ineligible.” Watch it:

DeLay also trashed the federal district court decision as “a policy statement instead of a ruling” and expressed confidence that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals would “turn it around.” Election Law blog explains that the ruling is on soild constitutional ground and argues that “there is good chance this opinion is upheld on appeal.”

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Sen. Pat Roberts is expected to announce new deadlines that will delay the completion of Phase II of the investigation into the manipulation of pre-war intelligence. CQ reports that the investigation is unlikely to be completed prior to the fall elections. Click HERE to track Roberts’ repeated efforts to stonewall the investigation.

that the Voting Rights Act unfairly targets the South because of its past: “Do we treat the British any differently because of the Stamp Act? If we’re going to do that, then let’s go back to the Indians and say they butchered Custer.”

After the media reported last month on the financial tracking program, Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey claimed the administration had “briefed appropriate members of Congress and their staffs on this program.” Yesterday, Financial Services Oversight Subcommittee Chairwoman Sue Kelly (R-NY) corrected the spin.

Lawmakers “complained bitterly” that the administration had kept them “in the dark” about the program until the media broke the story. Here’s what Kelly had to say:

Many people in Congress who should have been briefed by this administration were not. And while I appreciated the visit last week from Undersecretary Levey – after the program’s existence was reported in the media – our oversight obligations are far from fulfilled. … We must insure that an environment of accountability is provided for all government.

Watch it:

Kelly isn’t the only conservative upset over the administration’s secrecy. She joins House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra (R-NY), who recently told Bush the “U.S. Congress should not have to play Twenty Questions to get information that it deserves under the U.S. Constitution.”

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“The White House is concerned enough about President Bush’s job rating…that word of reduction in vacation time at Crawford next month is being put about,” the Houston Chronicle reports. “Bush may be so desperate to look engaged that, even if he’s not in Washington, aides say he will spend more August nights on the road away from his Prairie Chapel Ranch.”

Last night, Bill O’Reilly and radio host Laura Ingraham tag teamed to slam the New York Times for publishing a picture of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s vacation home. O’Reilly repeatedly called the publication of the picture “awful.” O’Reilly didn’t mention that the pictures were taken with Rumsfeld’s permission and the Secret Service said the photo did not constitute a security threat. Watch it:

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Yesterday, the White House released its FY2007 mid-session budget review with great fanfare, celebrating its projection that the deficit will be nearly $300 billion this year.

Buried within the mid-session review, the White House reveals that it will ask Congress for another $110 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan early next year. From the document:

In 2007, to fund the anticipated additional costs of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, this Mid-Session Review assumes an additional $60 billion in budget authority will be needed later in the fiscal year, for a total allowance of $110 billion. This update also provides a $50 billion allowance for a portion of additional costs anticipated in 2008 for the Global War on Terror.

So far, the U.S. government has allocated $311 billion total to support U.S. stabilization and reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

If you add together the amounts already allocated, plus the appropriations expected to be approved this year ($116 billion) and next year, the total spending for Iraq will soon exceed $400 billion.

In an address to the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference yesterday, Karl Rove “drew scattered boos when he highlighted Bush’s recent approval of $1.9 billion in funding for more border security, including deployment of National Guard troops, and was disrupted twice by hecklers who unfurled antiwar and anti-Bush banners.”