Photograph by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images

Israelis protest against President Barack Obama and call for the release of Jonathan Pollard, a Jewish American who was jailed in 1987 on charges of spying on the U.S., on March 21, 2013 in Jerusalem.

How tough is the U.S. on people who reveal classified information?

Twenty-seven years ago this month, intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard pleaded guilty to passing classified documents to Israel. Despite personal pleas by Israeli leaders for his release, Pollard remains in prison — for passing secrets to an ally.

National security officials today will brief U.S. House lawmakers about the classified programs that Edward Snowden, 29, publicly revealed after working at the CIA. Snowden is in Hong Kong but likely not for long. The Justice Dept is preparing criminal charges, ABC News reported. Lawmakers are demanding his extradition and Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said Snowden’s leak of classified information constitutes “treason.”

President Barack Obama makes remarks on the Senate immigration bill today at 10:20 a.m. before meeting with President Ollanta Humala of  Peru to discuss issues including a proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership at 11:10 a.m.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, Rep. Lee Terry, a Nebraska Republican, Rep. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, and Rep. Bill Owens, a New York Democrat, will participate in the Canadian American Business Council Spring Policy Forum on manufacturing in North America.

And the Senate Appropriations panel hears from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey on department leadership at 10 a.m.

Original post is Washington Daybook: The Price of Secrets by Political Capital.

Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Randal Milch, executive vice president and general counsel with Verizon Communications Inc., testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on March 21, 2012.

Attorney General Eric Holder may be defending more than his budget in his appearance before a Senate committee today. The revelation that the Obama administration is collecting the telephone records of millions of Verizon customers using a secret court order might come up too.

Lawmakers and college students will rally at the Capitol to urge Congress to prevent student loan rates from doubling next month.

And President Barack Obama travels to North Carolina to deliver speech on economy.

Also today, the Senate convenes for a cloture vote scheduled on the farm bill, the House meets with the Homeland Security appropriations bill on the agenda. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee holds a hearing on IRS conference spending. And House Speaker John Boehner holds his weekly news conference.

The Atlantic Council hosts Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen for a discussion on stability and reconstruction in that country. The Heritage Foundation and the U.S. Institute of Peace hold a forum on how to sustain gains for women in Afghanistan after the 2014 withdrawal, with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hears from Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on the agency’s activities. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., joins a Center for American Progress conference call briefing to preview the “National Clean Energy Summit 6.0: Energizing Tomorrow.”

The Senate Finance Committee votes on the re-nomination of Fred Hochberg to be president of the Ex-Im Bank and the “Natl Assn of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act of 2013.” Stanford University Economics Professor John Taylor delivers remarks on ‘Why Has the Recovery Been So Slow and Is Economic Policy To Blame?,” at a National Economists Club event.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee meets on labor conditions in Bangladesh. Acting Labor Secretary Seth Harris testifies at Senate Appropriations Committee Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on FY2014 budget request for Labor Dept. 124 Dirksen, The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission holds a briefing on China and the Middle East, focusing on energy security, trade and investment flows. The Senate Finance Committee hears from USTR nominee Michael Froman at his confirmation hearing.

Consumer and telecom industry representatives testify at a hearing before House Judiciary panel on Courts, IP and the Internet on H.R. 1123, a bill which would allow cell phone unlocking. Cyber hackers for China and Russia that target U.S. agencies and companies would be denied entry into the U.S. and have their bank accounts frozen under legislation to be unveiled today by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Acting Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson and JetBlue Airways Associate General Counsel Robert Land hold a news conference to announce “a new partnership to combat human trafficking.”

Also today, NFL Player Brendon Ayanbadejo and the Washington Blade hold a news conference on LGBT issues in pro sports. Choice Hotels CEO Steve Joyce and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., attend grand opening of company headquarters in Rockville, Md. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., speaks at Natl Archives on commemoration of 50th Anniversary of March on Washington and the 150th anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation.

And former Sen. John Glenn speaks on space travel at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

 With assistance from Laura Curtis, Chelsea Mes and Jim O’Connell

Original post is Washington Daybook: Can You Hear Me Now? by Political Capital.

Photograph by Lisa Krantz/San Antonio Express-News/AP Photo

A former female solder, who was sexually assaulted while serving in the U.S. Army, at her home in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Call it Accountability Day.

The Gallup polling organization held a press conference to explain why its 2012 presidential polling was off.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will be asked to explain to a Senate Committee what he’s doing to halt what Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel calls the “huge problem” of sexual assaults in the military;

A House panel will continue beating up the IRS over targeted reviews and overspending, and the EPA may begin to explain why it paid $750,000 a year for a warehouse that an IG report found stored a lot of “unusable, inoperable and obsolete furniture and other items.”

And speaking of being held accountable, Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham will be released from prison today in Arizona after serving more than seven years for accepting $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors, AP reports.

Also today, the Brookings Institution holds a webcast with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde on the global economic outlook. It’s the second day of the OECD’s international tax conference with speakers including Treasury’s Mike McDonald. The Roosevelt Institute holds a conference on its political agenda and approaches to jobs with Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Fed Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin.

The National Council of La Raza holds a discussion on immigration overhaul and the financial benefits of citizenship for U.S. Latinos at the National Press Club.

President Barack  Obama nominates three candidates for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, then holds meetings with Chilean President Pinera, who will later give an address at the NPC.

The Senate resumes consideration of the farm policy bill. The House takes up H.R. 2216, a $73.3 billion spending measure to finance military construction projects and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and the Uniersity of Texas hold discussion on leveraging natural gas to reduce emissions. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute holds a briefing on clean energy innovations and federal-state partnerships, with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. The House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus holds a briefing on the Energy Department’s clean-up program at Idaho Natl Laboratory.

The FDIC meets to consider a rule on which non-banks would be subject to agency’s Orderly Resolution Authority in event of collapse. A House Energy & Commerce panel holdsa hearing on home builders, with Louisiana-Pacific CEO Curt Stevens. Insight American Financial Services holds a Policy Forum on Capitol Hill, with speakers including Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., and JPMorgan Vice Chairman Alphonso Jackson.

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers testifies before Senate Budget Committee on the fiscal and economic effects of austerity.

And the National Capital Planning Commission holds a public meeting on potential changes to height building limits in D.C.

 With assistance from Laura Curtis, Steve Geimann and Cary O’Reilly.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Accountability by Political Capital.

Photograph by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Christian Slayton, 12, prays while Ret. Marine SSG Tim Chambers salutes fallen soldiers during the Memorial Day Rolling Thunder ride in Washington, DC on May 27, 2012.

President Barack Obama speaks at the Naval Academy commencement today. Later, he’ll hold a bill-signing ceremony at the White House to posthumously award Congressional Gold Medals to victims of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, 50 years ago.

The National Transportation Safety Board will send a team to investigate the collapse of a major interstate highway bridge in Washington state yesterday which sent several cars and people into the Skagit River, north of Seattle. No one was killed.

The Internal Revenue Service has replaced Lois Lerner, the official at the center of the controversy over the agency’s scrutiny of small-government groups seeking tax-exempt status.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leads Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida 48 to 37 percent and Rand Paul of Kentucky 46 to 42 percent in a Quinnipiac University poll of Iowa voters out today.

The House and Senate meet in pro-forma sessions. The National Defense Industrial Association and the Reserve Officers Association hold a forum on nuclear and missile defense in China, while Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark A. Welsh III hold a a media briefing on “The State of the Air Force” at the Pentagon at 11am.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission holds a closed meeting on enforcement matters.

Transportation Security Administration head John Pistole and Customs and Border Protection’s Dan Baldwin participate in a conference on transportation and supply chain security at George Washington University.

And “Rolling Thunder” holds its 26th annual Memorial Day motorcycle procession at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall, ahead of the Memorial Day holiday on May 27.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Rolling Thunder by Political Capital.

Photograph by Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images

Supporters of Pakistani politician Imran Khan and chief of Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party, burn a replica drone as they shout slogans during protest rally in Islamabad on October 28, 2011 against the U.S. drone attacks in Pakistani tribal regions.

President Barack Obama will address the targeted killing of terrorists using drones a day after Attorney General Eric Holder said U.S. drone strikes killed four American citizens in Yemen and Pakistan in September 2011. Obama will also repeat his intention to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center in a speech at National Defense University, Bloomberg’s Margaret Talev and Phil Mattingly report.

Is the Senate a millionaires club? Most Senate leaders, including Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are millionaires, personal financial disclosure reports show.

A billionaire, Penny Pritzker, will appear before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on her nomination to be Commerce secretary. Republicans Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Dan Coats of Indiana have said they want to hear from her on the 2001 collapse of suburban Chicago’s Superior Bank of which Pritzker was chairman until 1994.

Looking ahead, NOAA releases a forecast for the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season and the American Petroleum Institute previews the summer driving season.

The Senate considers amendments to the farm policy bill, while the House debates a student-loan measure.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Targeted Killings by Political Capital.

Photograph by John Stillwell - Pool /Getty Images

Prince Harry talks to staff Sergeant Timothy Payne, right, during his visit to the Military Advanced Training Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center treating wounded soldiers undergoing physical therapy on May 10, 2013 in Bethesda, Maryland.

With nice weather comes the visitors. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron follows Prince Harry in town today. Cameron meets with President Barack Obama at the White House. Later, Obama heads to New York where he’ll headline a $32,400-a-person evening fundraiser for the DNC at the home of movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

Police officers from around the country are in Washington for events including a candlelight vigil tonight for those killed in the line of duty.

Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank is doing some traveling of her own: heading out on a South American trip that takes her to Brazil today.

The Senate returns today, with no roll call votes scheduled. The House has a pro forma session.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates supported the Obama administration’s handling of the Benghazi affair, telling CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he wouldn’t have sent a small force into Libya if he was heading the Pentagon at the time of the 2012 attack.

Today is the deadline for sending public comment to the State Department about Enbridge’s request to double the volume of oil it ships through a pipeline from Alberta to Wisconsin. The pipeline would carry even more oil than TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a forum on natural gas, including pipeline infrastructure and the use of gas in transportation sector, with General Electric’s Water & Process Technologies BVBA CEO Steve Bolze and Northwest Natural CEO Gregg hKantor among participants.

Rep. Scott Garrett, a New Jersey Republican, hosts Equity Market Structure Roundtable on history of statutes, regulations governing America’s equity markets. Wall Street’s biggest bond dealers see the U.S. Treasury reducing the size of its debt auctions in coming months for the first time in three years as government revenue soars after the CBO estimated the smallest budget deficit since 2008, Bloomberg reported.

Alliance for Health Reform holds briefing on Medicare-Medicaid coordination for dual eligibles.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Coming and Going by Political Capital.

Photograph by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Prince Harry with first lady Michelle Obama during an event to honor military families at the White House on May 9, 2013 in Washington, DC.

Prince Harry was the subject of so many photographs by young, female Capitol Hill staffers during his visit yesterday that London’s Daily Telegraph diagnosed Washington with a case of “Harrymania.” The doctors, nurses and veterans at the Walter Reed Military Medical Center may want to charge up their cameras, as the Harrymania tour continues today with a trip to the hospital. He’ll also visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Other celebrities in Washington today in include NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who attends a celebration of nation’s oldest reading program at Amidon-Bowen Elementary. MLB Washington Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo and Center Fielder Denard Span discuss the impact of Jackie Robinson on civil rights, followed by screening of film “42″ at Regal Gallery Place Stadium cinema. And Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin discusses his book “Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration” at the National Press Club.

Meanwhile, business as usual continues in Washington, and by that we mean more gridlock. The Republican-led House plans a vote next week to repeal the 2010 health-care law. Today President Barack Obama will likely explain why he wouldn’t put his signature on legislation to trash the measure that will likely be the most significant achievement of his administration.

With the Postal Service on pace to almost run out of cash in October, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe may have to decide whether to make unilateral changes without congressional consent, an adviser on the service’s turnaround plan said.

The agency will report quarterly financial results today.

Some good news on budgets: Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew says a payment from Fannie Mae means the U.S. debt ceiling won’t be reached until September.

“The one-time payment that Fannie Mae has announced makes it very clear that we’re not going to hit the effective deadline until at least Labor Day,” Lew said in an interview on CNBC Television in London today. “The statutory debt limit will be reached in just a few days” and “because of the extraordinary measures that are available and cash flows that we now can predict it will not be until at least after Labor Day,” which falls on Sept. 2 this year.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce holds its annual economic briefing today. ADP holds a news conference with Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi, to announce report on regional and state private sector employment trends. The Treasury Department issues its monthly budget statement.

The House returns for legislative business Tuesday. The Senate returns Monday.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Harrymania by Political Capital.

Photograph by Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Prince Harry learns sign language from deaf children during at visit to the Kananelo Centre for the deaf, a project supported by his charity Sentebale, on February 27, 2013 in Maseru, Lesotho.

Swedish King Gustaf and Queen Silvia join Prince Harry of Great Britain among the throngs of tourists visiting the U.S. capital today. Gustaf fills his day in Washington with seven events including a ceremony in conjunction with the Raoul Wallenberg Congressional Gold Medal at Treasury, while Harry’s schedule has two appearances including, of course, a party.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis is also visiting Washington. He’ll testify to a House panel today on the bombings in his city last month.

President Barack Obama is taking a tour of Texas, speaking on jobs and the economy at a high school in Manor and a factory in Austin today.

Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Rome for meetings with Italian leaders as well as Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni.

Perhaps concerned about tourists who overstay their welcome, the Senate Judiciary Committee is to begin rewriting U.S. immigration policy in much-anticipated and debated legislation.

Also today, the Committee for Economic Development holds Spring Policy Conference with speakers including Senators Bob Corker, Saxby Chambliss,and Mark Warne, as well as National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling.

The House is scheduled to vote today on a bill that would exempt federal payments to creditors from a borrowing-limit cap. The bill has almost no chance of advancing in the Senate and faces a veto threat from President Obama if passed, yet signals the start of a “protracted debate” over the nation’s borrowing authority, Bloomberg reports.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivers remarks on U.S. defense policy in the Middle East at the Washington Institute for Near East Peace’s Soref Symposium. The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure meets to mark up H.R. 3, the Keystone pipeline approval bill.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosts its “IP Champions” conference, with speakers including John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Rick Cotton, chairman of the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy and general counsel at NBC Universal.

And the Federal Communication Commission holds an open meeting to consider rules to improve broadband access on airplanes and access to spectrum for commercial space launch operators

Original post is Washington Daybook: Tourists by Political Capital.

Photograph by Brian Harkin/Getty Images

Bill Gates, co-chair and trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, talks with former President Bill Clinton, right, during the closing plenary session of the annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) on September 23, 2010 in New York City.

Former President Bill Clinton and Microsoft’s Bill Gates discuss America’s future at the annual Peterson Foundation Fiscal Summit. They’ll be followed by speakers including Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Gene Sperling.

U.S. regulators face renewed pressure from Congress to ease Dodd-Frank Act derivatives rules amid mounting criticism from Wall Street and overseas that they overreach, Bloomberg News reports. The House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to vote on nine measures that would allow more swaps to be traded in units of banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. that hold government-insured deposits.

President Barack Obama meets with South Korean President Park Geun-Hey at the White House today to discuss issues including security, one day after Park said her country would “make them pay” if North Korea were to mount a similar attack to the 2010 sinking of a warship, Bloomberg News reports. Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama gives a lecture on peace at the University of Maryland.

Also today, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter speaks at the National Press Club on the impact of budget uncertainty on the military. Pentagon contracts tumbled 52 percent in April from a month earlier as federal budget cuts took hold, Bloomberg News reported.

A special election being held today for the vacant House seat in South Carolina pits former Republican Gov. Mark Sanford against Democratic nominee Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister of political satirist Stephen Colbert. Polls close at 7 p.m.

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, appears on Bloomberg TV. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew discusses state of U.S. economy at City Club of Cleveland. A House Appropriations panel hears from Chairman Mary Jo White on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed budget.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, former Sen. Jim DeMint and Forbes CEO Steve Forbes participate in a Heritage Foundation event to honor the late Margaret Thatcher. Later, Majority Leader Eric Cantor and other House Republicans hold a roundtable discussion with private sector employees and working parents followed by a media briefing.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit hears arguments in Texas challenge over federal takeover of the state’s carbon-emission rules. A House Science, Space and Technology panel holds a hearing on Keystone pipeline. A House Energy and Commerce panel holds a hearing on prospects for exports of U.S. energy including liquefied natural gas.

Secretary of State John Kerry visits Moscow to meet with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other Russian officials. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hears from Deborah Kay Jones, nominated to become ambassador to Libya, at her confirmation hearing. UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos participates in discussion of international response to Syria, hosted by Middle East Institute.

And tennis legend Chris Evert discusses her charity work at the National Press Club.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Bill and Bill’s American Adventure by Political Capital.

Photograph by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Retailers advertise Cyber Monday deals on their websites.

The Senate is ready to vote on controversial legislation that would let states collect and use sales taxes from out-of-state sellers for purchases made over the Internet and through catalogs.

The House is scheduled to take up a bill that would give priority to bondholders and to the Social Security trust fund if there’s no agreement on raising the debt limit.

Action also is planned in Congress on a bill that would allow private-sector employers to provide comp time to hourly employees instead of overtime pay.

Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, speaks at New America Foundation summit on drones.

And NASA Administrator Charles Bolden delivers the keynote address at Explore Mars Inc.’s “Humans 2 Mars Summit” at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Taxing the Internet by Political Capital.