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After a wild week, political news settles down into a dull roar, amidst shifting assessments of Scandalmania “behind the headlines.”

1. The first day of the House Ways & Means Committee hearing on IRS scrutiny of tax-exempt applicants indicates Republicans will expand scope to examine other instances of alleged IRS “politicization,” particularly if they can’t find evidence White House involved in “targeting” decisions. Get out your fishing poles.

2. A semi-public tussle between House GOP backbenchers and leadership seems to be breaking out over how to handle scandal investigations, as the latter fret about “overreaching” and the 1998 precedent while the former react to pressure from “the base.”

3. Polling from Gallup indicates “below-average” public interest in the Benghazi and IRS “scandals.” Interestingly enough, the two subjects register about the same interest levels, even though the Benghazi “scandal” has been in the news off-and-on for eight months and the IRS “scandal” is brand new and ill-defined.

4. In non-scandal news, the House “Gang of Eight” announces “agreement in principle” on immigration reform, just a day after rumors of a deadlock spread. It appears, however, the agreement has several major holes where competing provisions will be voted on in committee, particularly as related to health coverage of newly legalized immigrants, and the size of the proposed “guest worker” program.  All in all, it looks like an effort to “move the process along” rather than a breakthrough.

President Obama responds to the three-headed hydra of “Scandalmania 2013″ on all fronts, and is awarded a “win” of the news cycle by Politico.  Figuring out what it means and what we are missing requires a peek “behind the headlines.”

1. Within a 24-hour period, the White House signaled support for “reporter news shield” legislation, released a large batch of emails from the period leading up to the Benghazi “talking points,” and fired the acting IRS director. There are also rumors surfacing that Obama is considering Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (a former Assistant Attorney General) as a possible replacement for Attorney General Eric Holder if that particular kitchen gets too hot.  None of these actual or prospective steps is likely cool off Republican efforts to pursue all three “scandals” aggressively, but it is clear the White House isn’t buying the “damage control” strategy of refusing to “validate” complaints.

2. There’s now a minority opinion within and outside the GOP holding that the Scandal Offensive will or should lose momentum before long. The Editors of National Review have warned Republicans not to put all their eggs in this basket, citing 1998 (a midterm election when Republicans lost House seats–a very rare occurrence for the party not holding the White House–after seeking Bill Clinton’s impeachment) as a precedent.  And Ezra Klein summarizes the holes appearing in all three “scandals,” particularly in terms of presidential involvement.

3. An interesting and little-noted straw in the wind on the IRS/non-profits front: Franklin Graham complains directly to the president about IRS “targeting” of two 501(c)(3) organizations he controls, raising the possibility of the debate over tax-exempts being extended from “social welfare organizations” to the much larger universe of churches, charities and think tanks.

4. Meanwhile, back in the world of more conventional partisan warfare, the Senate HELP Committee has approved the nomination of Thomas Perez as Secretary of Labor on a party-line vote.  This could set up a dual showdown on the Senate floor, where Harry Reid has already hinted he’ll re-open filibuster reform if Republicans block a pending vote on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray.  If this actually happens, the stakes could be a lot bigger than any one or two nominations.

With the sudden ferocious emergence of the story about the Justice Department’s seizure of AP phone records, we now have the BenAP501 “scandal” to deal with, which is less confusing and more interesting if you look “behind the headlines.”

1.The perpetual struggle between government security agents trying to stop and punish “leaks” and news organizations trolling for them has blown up again in the AP “scandal,” which because of the timing is getting far more attention that it would otherwise command.  Merits aside, the case gives news media more of a natural stake in the meta-story of “Obama scandals;” note political scientist Brendan Nyhan’s research suggesting big presidential scandals are generally a “co-production” between the opposition party and “elite political media.”

2. The details coming out about the IRS’ selective scrutiny of applications for 501(c)(4) status paint a picture of  mid-level tax officials overwhelmed with an explosion of applications going into the last two electoral cycles, utilizing a logical but politically disastrous “screen.” Ironically, the large 501(c)(4)s that have played so large a role in recent politics (e.g., American Crossroads GPS and Americans For Prosperity on the right, Priorities USA on the left) escaped scrutiny altogether, though that could change if Congress goes beyond investigations and looks into clarifying the laws under which the IRS operates.

3. In terms of the overall impact of this “triple play,” as Stu Rothenberg is calling it: Emory University’s Alan Abramowitz thinks the media are vastly overplaying it as having a certain or decisive impact on the 2014 midterm elections.

The electorate is deeply divided along party lines. These partisan divisions are very deep because they now coincide with other divisions such as race, values and ideology. Therefore, events such as these are very unlikely to cause any large or long-term shift in evaluations of the president let alone party identification or voting intentions.

4. On the intraprogressive front, watch for congressional Democrats to begin distancing themselves from the administration on the IRS and possibly the AP issues; the president himself, of course, has harshly criticized the IRS, but may not be able to disclaim ultimate responsibility.

The political chatter today is almost all about the Benghazi hearings, but there are a few things beyond reflexive partisan reactions that can be divined “behind the headlines.”

1. It is not entirely clear where congressional Republicans want to go with the Benghazi issue at this point, though the most likely gambit is to demand more testimony from Hillary Clinton, who is now squarely in the bullseye on this subject even more than the president.  Some Republicans, however, continue to talk about impeaching the president (that worked out for them so well last time around), and others are linking Benghazi to the Boston bombings to demand a general refocusing of national security efforts onto radical Muslims.  At the same time, some voices on the Right are calling Innocence of Muslims film-maker Nakoula Basseley Nakula a “patsy” or even a “political prisoner.”

2. Refusal by Mitch McConnell and John Boehner to nominate members for the Independent Payment Advisory Board charged under the Affordable Care Act with identifying cost savings in Medicare almost certainly means Republicans will filibuster any presidential appointments. This could become a very big deal, since IPAB  is what Sarah Palin famously labeled a “death panel,” and Medicare savings not involving a premium support system are universally attacked by Republicans as “Obama’s Medicare Cuts.”

3. Believe it or not, the 2016 presidential election cycle will get underway tonight with Rand Paul’s speech at the Iowa GOP’s annual fundraiser, after he participates in an influential Christian Right conclave.

4. In intraprogressive news, there’s considerable buzz over a presentation by former Clinton White House political director Doug Sosnik, who warns the “Obama coalition” of voters not reliably attached to the Democratic Party.

It’s a cats-and-dogs sort of political news day so far (probably the most-discussed story is Chris Christie’s lap-band surgery), but there are some more interesting things to think about “behind the headlines.”

1. House committee signals slowdown of Senate-passed internet sales tax bill; this could be a rehearsal for the House’s handling of immigration reform.

2. Louisiana Supreme Court declares Gov. Bobby Jindal’s school voucher program, among the nation’s most ambitious (and least accountable), an unconstitutional diversion of public funds.  Jindal is having a very tough year.

3. Entire Republican Party and conservative commentariat gets ready for tomorrow’s House Oversight Committee hearings to question Benghazi “whistle-blowers,” though there’s little or no indication that much of anyone else is paying attention. It appears latest round of hearings will aim at intensifying scrutiny of Hillary Clinton’s role in the saga.

4. Big Washington Monthly feature on Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley highlights his devotion to data-driven government accountability initiatives, and his potential role in a post-Obama debate on future of progressivism.