• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• President Barack Obama today is sending Congress his 2014 budget, an effort to achieve an elusive “grand bargain” to tame runaway deficits that have soared above $1 trillion for each of the past four years.

• Sen. Mitch McConnell was prepared to go after Ashley Judd as “emotionally unbalanced,” according to secret audio tapes of the GOP-er’s strategy session, but the release of those tapes have prompted an FBI investigation into who may have bugged the senator’s office.

• A bipartisan deal seems imminent on expanding background checks to more gun buyers, an agreement that could build support for President Barack Obama’s drive to curb firearms violence. The Senate has set a roll call vote for tomorrow on starting consideration of the firearms legislation.

• If North Korea decides to launch a missile, the United States is ready to respond and is capable of intercepting it, the Commander of US Pacific Command told Congress on Tuesday.

• Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan says her upcoming court-ordered trip to rehab is “a blessing.” The actress discussed her planned rehab Tuesday night during an appearance on “The Late Show With David Letterman.”