Cheney's in charge during Bush colonoscopy

WASHINGTON — President Bush will have a colonoscopy today and temporarily hand presidential powers to Vice President Dick Cheney, the White House said.

White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters Friday that Bush will have the procedure that looks for signs of cancer at his Camp David, Md., mountaintop retreat.

He last had a colorectal-cancer check on June 29, 2002.

Two polyps were discovered in 1998 and 1999, while Bush was governor of Texas. That made Bush a prime candidate for regular examinations. Because the president will be under the effects of anesthesia, Bush has elected to implement Section 3 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, making Cheney acting president until Bush is prepared to reassume his authority.

In 2002, Bush transferred presidential powers to Cheney for more than two hours.

Trailers blamed for illness reused

A day after hearing testimony about health problems from Hurricane Katrina victims who had lived in government-supplied trailers, members of Congress on Friday questioned why a federal agency was auctioning many of those trailers.

"I understand the need to not lose money, but if the trailers are going to make people sick, maybe we should consider cutting our losses," said Rep. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn.

"A sale is out of the question," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. "These trailers should be taken out of commission until we can guarantee their safety — and the information we have received so far provides no certainty that the health risks associated with these trailers has been addressed."

The government acquired tens of thousands of trailers to house Katrina victims after the 2005 hurricane. The General Services Administration, in charge of auctioning used government equipment, has been auctioning more than 17,000 this year and almost 40,000 since it began in April 2006.

On Thursday, a House committee released documents showing that top officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency knew about possible health problems but did not test in occupied trailers. Three former trailer residents testified that they had suffered health effects from formaldehyde, a common component of building materials that can cause respiratory and other problems.

Partisan spat wiped from record

A brawl over presidential pardons punctured the normally courtly ambiance of the Senate on Thursday night, but Republicans and Democrats agreed to bury the hatchet and erase the evidence.

In the heat of a partisan spat, Democrats forced a vote on a nonbinding measure to instruct President Bush not to pardon former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. But there's no record of the 47-49 vote. That's because senators agreed less than an hour later to undo their vote and pretend it didn't happen.

Also

Department of Homeland Security officials Friday clarified the construction timetable for a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying work on the Texas segment isn't scheduled to start until the 2008 fiscal year. Department officials have encountered stiff opposition to a fence from Texas border towns and cities.

Seattle Times news services