THE WEEK: SEPTEMBER 10-16

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NATION

THE G.O.P.'S RX FOR MEDICARE

House Republicans formally unveiled their long-awaited and politically risky proposal to overhaul Medicare--a sketchy blueprint full of wiggle room that provides few details of where the G.O.P.'s $270 billion in desired savings will be realized. The proposal would allow seniors to opt for HMOS and private insurance plans (with the government footing the presumably cheaper bill) or to stay with the traditional fee-for-service program and face increasing premiums (including even bigger increases for affluent seniors). The unveiling of the proposal didn't stop Democrats from renewing some familiar criticisms--namely that the Medicare cuts are intended to fund a G.O.P. tax cut for the wealthy--nor the President from brandishing a veto threat for the plan.

SENATE REFORMS WELFARE

Amid scattered flurries of harsh rhetoric and pre-campaign posturing, the Senate spent the week hammering out the details of a sweeping overhaul of the nation's welfare system and stood poised to pass the bill this coming week. The historic measure would convert existing entitlement programs into capped block grants to the states with virtually no strings attached. The legislation, which its authors hope will save $70 billion over seven years, also contains a five-year limit on benefits, as well as work requirements. Democrats and moderate Republicans succeeded in increasing child-care funding and stripping provisions that would have denied cash benefits to unwed teenage mothers. Conservative Republicans won a provision that financially rewards states that reduce out-of-wedlock births. The final bill will have to be reconciled with a similar but harsher House measure.

THE RUBY RIDGE PROBE

FBI marksmen told a skeptical Senate panel that the 1992 fatal shooting of white separatist Randy Weaver's wife by an FBI colleague was justified. Reason? The gun-toting Weavers, caught in a standoff with agents, posed a threat to a circling FBI helicopter. Federal marshals involved in the shootout that precipitated the siege testified that they believe Weaver accidentally killed his son--and not they, as Weaver has charged.

MORE BAD NEWS FOR THE FBI

Though the FBI said its internal review has uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing, the Justice Department announced it was looking into allegations made by FBI scientist Frederic Whitehurst that personnel at the agency's storied crime lab may have provided misleading or fabricated evidence in a number of major cases. One set of defense attorneys--O.J. Simpson's--wasted no time in saying they would seek to call Whitehurst as a witness in their case to undermine FBI tests and testimony introduced by prosecutors.

THE SIMPSON TRIAL