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Declaring herself a "pro-life, pro-gun, pro-small business" conservative, former Fox News Channel contributor Angela McGlowan (R) Monday launched her campaign to unseat Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.).

"In Massachusetts, the people rose up and reclaimed their seat in the U.S. Senate in an election that's been compared to 'the shot heard around the world,'" McGlowan said in a statement. "But that was just the beginning, let the rebellion in the House of Representatives start right here in Mississippi."

Childers beat Southaven Mayor Greg Davis (R) by 10 points in 2008.

McGlowan, an Oxford, Miss., native, had declared in spring 2008 that she intended to run for Childers' seat. She now faces state Sen. Alan Nunnelee and former Eupora Mayor Henry Ross in the June 1 Republican primary. Nunnelee recently reached "contender" status in the National Republican Congressional Committee's Young Guns program.

15 senators were missing in action for today's nomination votes.

Four Democrats, one independent who caucuses with Democrats, and 10 Republicans were no-shows for two votes in the Senate.

Senators voted to confirm Joseph Greenaway to a federal circuit court judgeship, 84-0 (with 16 not voting), while a vote to invoke cloture on National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) nominee Craig Becker fell short, 52-33.

It's not clear what kept the senators from voting on the two nominations this afternoon.

The absent senators were Sens. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), John Ensign (R-Nev.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and David Vitter (R-La.).

Another major snowstorm has begun bearing down on D.C., which has affected a number of House and Senate lawmakers' plans this week. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) canceled votes the rest of this week.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) signaled Tuesday that Senate votes are unlikely on Wednesday, in the aftermath of the latest storm. He still pressed ahead with today's votes, though the federal government and many D.C. offices remained closed.

But it's not clear whether senators, if they were kept out of town due to weather, will be able to return later this week -- or if they would even bother, with the prospect of next week's President's Day recess on the horizon.

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) got caught in a tongue-twister today while trying to pronounce the name of Rod Blagojevich.

In a floor speech opposing the nomination of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board, Enzi attempted to tie Becker to the corruption during Blagojevich's term, but had a bit of trouble finishing the sentence.

"Finally there are concerns about Mr. Becker's role as SEIU Associate General Coucnsel and the SEIU's involvment with the scandals surrounding ACORN and former Illinois Governor Rod......" and it's all downhill from there.

Video:

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) cast his first major vote today, helping Republicans maintain a filibuster against President Obama's nominee to the National Labor Relations Board.

Brown opposed ending debate on the nomination of Craig Becker, a former lawyer for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) who has received stiff opposition from business groups and Republicans.

The final vote was 52-33, falling short of the 60 needed to end debate and move to a final vote.

President Obama has blasted Republicans for filibustering nominees like Becker. The vote suggests Brown will stick with his caucus on controversial party-line votes.

Many suspect that Brown asked to be sworn-in last week--earlier than originally planned--so he could be present to add a crucial vote against Becker, whose nomination has been pending since the summer.

Republicans have argued that Becker will help the NLRB circumvent Congress to impose "card-check" provisions, which would make it easier for unions to form new chapters. Labor groups have so far tried unsuccessfully to push the proposal through the legislative process.

Becker assured Senators he would operate within the boundaries of the law.

In the end, the timing of Brown's swearing-in may not have mattered, since Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) announced yesterday that he would join Republicans in opposing Becker.

Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) called on Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan's resignation on Tuesday.

Bond said Brennan, with whom he's tangled publicly over the Obama administration's handling of the attempted bombing of a flight on Christmas, to resign.

Brennan "needs to go," Bond said in an interview with National Review Online, a stance that was confirmed later by a spokeswoman.

“A drastic change in policy is needed,” Bond said. “Our problem now is that we have to wonder whether we can trust [Brennan] after he has been a mouthpiece for the political arm that I thought only came out of the White House press office.”

Bond, the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has clashed openly with Brennan and the Obama administration in regards to the handling of suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's alleged attempted bombing of a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day.

Republicans have complained that the administration was too quick to treat Abdulmutallab as a criminal suspect and read him his Miranda rights. Bond, along with his House counterpart, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), have also raised questions about the White House's revelation of certain facts about the investigation.

Brennan shot back at Republican critics in an op-ed for USA Today on Tuesday, accusing them of undermining national security in their criticism.

A draft version of the Senate jobs bill began circulating around Washington, offering a glimpse of the package of spending items and tax cuts Senate Democrats envision as the basis for legislation Majority Reid Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wants to begin debating within days.

After a meeting between President Barack Obama and the bipartisan congressional leadership of the House and Senate, Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made clear that the jobs bill remains a work in progress so the document does not represent the final package. Reid had hoped to unveil the legislation Tuesday but ongoing discussions between Democrats and Republicans -- along with inclement weather that has kept senators away from the capital -- could push back the time frame for the debate.

The 362-page draft bill touches on a vast array of areas, including extensions for unemployment benefits and COBRA health insurance premiums, tax incentives designed to spur hiring, spending programs on transportation initiatives, low-income housing credits, energy programs, disaster relief, an extension of Patriot Act provisions, extensions of Medicare payment programs, and tax proposal aiming to raise revenue from foreign-held assets and trusts.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs poked fun at Sarah Palin today, pretending to look to notes on his hand for a reminder during his daily briefing.

The gesture was a not-so-subtle shot at Palin, whom reporters spotted using a crib sheet on her hand during a speech this weekend at the National Tea Party convention.

See video of Gibbs below:

There's still hope for the Senate to craft a financial regulation reform bill that can win bipartisan support, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) asserted Tuesday.

Corker, a freshman senator who's emerged as a key member of the Senate Banking Committee, predicted that senators would be able to craft a bill despite a breakdown in talks late last week.

"My guess is that and the end of the day, we're going to end up with a solid bill," Corker said during an appearance on CNBC. "And if we end up with a solid bill, I'm plan on supporting it."

The chairman of the Banking committee, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), said that talks on the financial reform bill with the top Republican member, Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.), largely over concerns over the proposed consumer financial protection agency.

Corker said, though, that he sensed there was still enough time for lawmakers to strike a deal on consumer protection and the bill as a whole.

"My sense is that there's enough room there for something reasonable to happen," he said of the Dodd-Shelby impasse. "Hopefully reason will rule the day, and we'll move forward with something that will stand the test of time."

"The Dodd-Shelby breakdown that occurred on Thursday night was disappointing," Corker added, though cautioning: "I think we still have some time. The mark-up for the bill probably will not occur until late February -- maybe early March, because of the snow."

The notion that an upcoming healthcare summit would be little more than "political theater" was rejected by President Barack Obama Tuesday.

Obama said he's hoping to make some substantive progress at a Feb. 25, televised meeting with House and Senate leaders in both parties on healthcare.

"My hope is that this doesn't end up being political theater, as some of your have phrased it," Obama said during a surprise appearance at the White House daily press briefing. "I want a substantive discussion."

The highly-anticipated meeting, which Obama announced during an interview on Sunday, has been the subject of some Republican skepticism.

The top two House Republicans, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Eric Cantor (R-Va.), wrote in a letter to the White House that if the president were sincere about bipartisan outreach, it would scrap the current health bill before Congress and start over.

Obama said he would "start from scratch" by being open to Republican ideas, but refused to ditch the health bill, expressing concerns that it could drag out the reform process even longer.

"So I am going to be starting from scratch in the sense that I will be open to any ideas that help promote these goals," he said. "What I will not do, what I don't think makes sense and I don't think the American people want to see, would be another year of partisan wrangling around these issues, another six months or eight months or nine months worth of hearings in every single committee in the House and the Senate in which there's a lot of posturing."

Still, Obama agreed that the public has "soured" on the drawn-out process on healthcare, an attitude which the president acknowledged had carried over to the bill as a whole.

But the president also said that he and Democrats would be willing to give up some -- but not all -- of its desired parts of health reform if it were to help reach consensus.

"I'm willing to move off some of the preferences of my party in order to meet them halfway," he said. "But there's got to be some give on their side, too."

President Obama left the door open for Iranian leaders to avoid new U.N. sanctions, but said that was the "next step" to counter its nuclear ambitions.

The president's words come as international pressure has ramped up on Iran after it announced it would enrich uranium to 20 percent purity, bringing it closer to weapons-grade.

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