Capitol Hill

By JOHN DICKERSON/WASHINGTON

It's one thing to seat speaker NEWT GINGRICH at the back of Air Force One, but it's quite another for the President to come to his House and steal his good seats. That's what Republicans are claiming happened last week at the State of the Union when White House aides nabbed the front seats on the G.O.P. side of the aisle. A number of Republican Senators and Congressmen were forced to stand for the 72-min. speech. Some went back to their offices. The White House denies that it packed the seats to assist the President's image. Republicans vow they'll get to the bottom of it all. "It was a serious breach of protocol," said a Republican leadership aide.

--By John Dickerson/Washington