**President Obama
*President Obama and Senate leaders will meet on Wednesday to discuss how long it will take to approve his Supreme Court nominee, a question that could delay the president's announcing his pick," The Hill reports. Dems Harry Reid and Pat Leahy, and GOPers Mitch McConnell and Jeff Sessions will meet with Obama tonight.

*White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that he couldn't say whether Obama would be "washing names" through the senators at Wednesday's meeting but that it would focus heavily on process. "Obama is intent on trying to keep the names of those he is considering private," AP reports.

*"Senate GOP leaders are urging their Conference to avoid making any early pronouncements -- and, more importantly, endorsements -- of President Barack Obama's pending Supreme Court pick," and Obama has tapped Senate Dems Claire McCaskill, Dick Durbin and Charles Schumer "to serve as informal advisers ... to help him vet and gauge Senate support for prospective nominees," Roll Call reports.

*Gallup: "64% of Americans say it doesn't matter to them whether Obama appoints a woman, with slightly higher percentages saying the same about the appointment of a black or Hispanic."

*Bloomberg on the Social Security and Medicare reports: "The Social Security trust fund will run out of assets in 2037, four years sooner than previously forecast, the trustees said yesterday. Medicare's hospital fund will be exhausted by 2017, two years earlier than predicted a year ago. ... The declining financial health of the two entitlement programs puts pressure on Congress and President Barack Obama to come up with ways to cut costs and boost revenue for both."

*The New York Times reports that three months after the stimulus program became law, "the federal government has paid out less than 6 percent of the money, largely in the form of social service payments to states. Although administration officials say the program is right on schedule, they have actually spent relatively little so far."

*Republicans pounced Tuesday on a White House document that said regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act "is likely to have serious economic consequences for regulated entities throughout the U.S. economy, including small businesses and small communities."

*WSJ also reports that the idea of taxing health care benefits "is gaining strength in Congress," which needs to find a way to pay for President Obama's health care plan. Problematic for Obama, though, "because on the campaign trail he opposed it, while his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, made it a key plank of his health-care proposals."

*The GOP is voting unanimously to block an Obama nominee to run the Interior Department, Politico reports. Opposition to David Hayes' nomination "is being spearheaded by Utah Republican Robert Bennet, who is trying to pressure the administration to reconsider the cancellation of oil and gas leases in his home state."

*The Arizona Republic estimates that 71,000 will be on hand for the president's visit to ASU today. He won't get a degree, though. "The president is expected to 'discuss the amazing opportunity that graduates have, the challenging world that they enter into,' said Robert Gibbs."

**Congress
*"House Democrats said last night that they would scale back some of the most aggressive provisions of a bill to cut greenhouse gas emissions, a compromise designed to win the votes of fellow Democrats whose states rely on coal or heavy industry," WaPo reports. "Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), one of the bill's architects, said that the compromise should ensure rapid passage in the House Energy and Commerce Committee."

*"With the "what did she know and when did she know it" questions more or less resolved -- Pelosi learned that the Bush administration was waterboarding detainees no later than February 2003 -- Republicans are now directing their attacks on the muted, indirect way in which she responded," Politico reports.

*"The fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition likely holds the key to enacting a universal health care plan this year, but so far the Democratic bloc feels like it's being cast aside," Roll Call reports.

**Murtha Alert: "The Republican who challenged Rep. John Murtha in 2008 says a top aide to the embattled Pennsylvania Democrat threatened to have him recalled to active duty in the U.S. Army so he could be court-martialed for engaging in politics while serving in the armed forces," Politico reports.

**Republicans
*First Read has the highlights of Dick Cheney's latest interview, where he talks about torture, prosecutions of Bush officials, and this answer on Jeb Bush: "I'd probably support him for president."

*AP: "Cheney, widely remembered for heading to undisclosed secure locations at times of national crisis and for working invisibly behind the scenes, has done just the opposite" of President Bush since leaving office - the former president "slipped intentionally into anonymity and honored protocol by staying silent about his successor."

*The RGA is planning a "Tea Party 2.0" ABC reports. A national conference call will "drive home the message that 'out of control spending is both a federal and state issue,' according to RGA spokesman Mike Schrimpf.

**Crist For Senate
*Crist unbeatable? "Don't assume anything in this volatile political and economic climate," St. Pete Times' Adam C. Smith writes.

*Crist's Senate candidacy "is being cast by Republicans as a sign that their political fortunes are turning for the better with the emergence of a new crop of moderate voices lining up for 2010 races," WaPo reports.

*"It is a heated debate in the struggling Republican Party: whether to broaden its ideology or follow the advice of Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh and others who argue against deviating from core conservative principles. Now, the GOP has a chance to see whether a moderate can become a model for Republican resurgence," L.A. Times reports.

*Crist was asked if Floridians are better off now than they were when he took office. This Miami Herald video shows his answer: "I certainly hope so."

*The Herald also senses some dissatisfaction among Hispanics over the fact that the NRSC endorsed Crist so quickly over a Hispanic candidate. GOP fundraiser Ana Navarro: "They have paid all this lip service to how desperately Republicans need to build bridges with the Hispanic community and young people, but a 37-year-old Hispanic running for statewide office gets the door slammed in his face. They might as well have put up a sign that said, 'Hispanics need not apply.'"

*Former House Speaker Alan Bense takes himself out of the running for governor or Senate. State Sen. Dan Gelber (D) says he's still running for Senate, but won't shut the door on switching to the Attorney General race. Rep. Ron Klein (D) also says he's still in the mix, though it's considered unlikely.

**Other Campaign Stuff
*The Republican candidates for governor in New Jersey had their first debate last night. The Star-Ledger: "Lonegan and Christie fought over who is the true 'conservative' and why the other guy is not the best to challenge Corzine and take over the most powerful governor's office in the nation. There were repeated references to the late congressman Jack Kemp and former President Ronald Reagan, two icons of the GOP's conservative revival in the 1980s. At one point, Lonegan remarked 'you know, Chris keeps talking about Ronald Reagan,' adding that the late president would disagree with Christie's views on taxes."

*GA Gov: Former Gov. Roy Barnes "said Tuesday that he has yet to decide whether to run again in 2010, but said he believes the Democratic field is lacking," the AJC reports. He said his wife has given support for him to run. "Do I have a pleasant life? I do. I enjoy going home every night. At the same time, I love this state." He plans to make an announcement either way by June 1.

--Mike Memoli and Kyle Trygstad