Today's edition of quick hits:
* A breakthrough day: "President Barack Obama nominated Janet Yellen on Wednesday as the next head of the Federal Reserve, positioning her to become the first woman to head the central bank in its 100-year history."
* The House vote was 425 to 0: "The federal government scrambled Wednesday to restore a benefit that helps families of fallen soldiers plan funerals and meet their loved ones' bodies -- a snag of the government shutdown that drew outrage across the country."
* I bet that was an interesting chat: "Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) met privately with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in his Capitol office suite Wednesday. The meeting came hours before Pelosi, Hoyer and the rest of the House Democratic caucus was scheduled to meet with President Obama in the White House."
* Syria: "The head of the international watchdog overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal said Wednesday that a team of 15 inspectors had begun to visit sites and that the Syrian authorities had been 'quite constructive' and 'cooperative.'"
* Egypt: "Egypt's military-backed government forged ahead with a sweeping political crackdown against Islamists on Wednesday, even as the United States prepared to curtail some of the nonessential military aid it gives to the Arab world's largest state."
* Libya: "The Libyan government in recent weeks tacitly approved two American commando operations in its country, according to senior American officials, one to capture a senior militant from Al Qaeda and another to seize a militia leader suspected of carrying out the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the United States diplomatic mission in Benghazi."
* Iran is reportedly "preparing a package of proposals to halt production of near-weapons-grade nuclear fuel, a key demand of the U.S. and other global powers."
* A lively hearing on Capitol Hill: "Republicans may think Obamacare is akin to hell. But that doesn't mean the Internal Revenue Service is consorting with the devil. Sarah Hall Ingram, an IRS official in charge of implementing parts of Obamacare, insisted during an unusual line of questioning that she hasn't been dealing with the devil."
* Gun violence in West Virginia: "A man who allegedly fired multiple shots into the federal courthouse in Wheeling has been shot and killed by police."
* I lacked the emotional energy needed to write about House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-Va.) painfully dishonest and insultingWashington Post op-ed today. Just read Sargent's take.
* And why was yesterday's Supreme Court hearing on campaign finance so important? Dahlia Lithwick knows.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
