Sunday Breakfast Menu, June 30

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

With the exact whereabouts of Edward J. Snowden unknown, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, will join ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday to discuss how his antisecrecy group has helped Mr. Snowden in the wake of his disclosures about the National Security Agency.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decisions on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8, the Sunday shows will feature figures on both sides of the debate over same-sex marriage. On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Theodore B. Olson, the conservative lawyer who challenged Propositio 8, and Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council and an opponent of same-sex marriage, will discuss the outcomes. Mr. Olson’s co-counsel, David Boies, will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” to weigh in on the case.

In addition to Mr. Assange, ABC will have interviews with Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, and Brian S. Brown, the president of the National Organization for Marriage. And Representative Tim Huelskamp, the Kansas Republican who says he will introduce a constitutional amendment to restore the Defense of Marriage Act, will be on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Last week also saw the Senate a! pprove a significant overhaul of the nation’s immigration system. As lawmakers look ahead to the challenge of getting the legislation through the House, “Fox News Sunday” will talk to Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who helped usher the bill through the Senate. Also on the program will be Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, chairman of an immigration subcommittee, and Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, Republican of Florida and a member of the House group working on immigration reform.

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, will join NBC to discuss the bill’s prospects in the House, as well as the Supreme Court’s decisions on same-sex marriage.

Representative Robert W. Goodlatte of Virginia, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois ad chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s task force on immigration, are scheduled to appear on CNN to talk about immigration.

Mr. Goodlatte will also join Bloomberg’s “Capitol Gains” at noon Eastern.

State Senator Wendy Davis of Texas, who made headlines last week for staging an 11-hour filibuster to fight a bill restricting abortion rights, will tour the shows on Sunday, visiting the programs on ABC, CBS and NBC.

Also on CBS: Gen. Michael V. Hayden, who served as director of the N.S.A. under George W. Bush.

Telemundo’s “Enfoque,” which airs at noon Eastern, will have a packed program on immigration with Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida and a key player in getting the bill through the Senate; Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey and another member of the group that worked on immigration; Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtin! en, R! epublican of Florida and chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Mr. Gutierrez; and Cecilia Muñoz, President Obama’s chief domestic policy adviser.

Mr. Menendez will also appear on Univision’s “Al Punto” at 10 a.m. Eastern.

In addition to Fox, Mr. Diaz-Balart appeared on Bloomberg’s “Political Capital” on Friday along with Ms. Muñoz. Repeats of the program air throughout the weekend.

Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, will join C-Span’s “Newsmakers” to talk about topics including border security and the N.S.A.

The Weekend Word: Covered

In Today’s Times

• The Obama administration is moving forward with a rule requiring most employers to provide free insurance coverage for women’s contraceptives, in spite of strong resistance from religious groups, Robert Pear writes. The decision has touched off a legal and political battle that figured prominently in last year’s elections and is likely to rage for another year.

• While supporters of an immigration overhaul are hardly confident, they say House Republicans will discover a crucial difference this year from failed immigration efforts of the past: The coalition behind the bill is far more energized and committed than in previous fights. The movement’s diversity gives advocates a variety of pressure points for aproaching reluctant House Republicans, Julia Preston reports.

• Whether at the White House or the grand presidential palace in Senegal, President Obama has made a point in recent weeks of reassuring Americans that he is not spying on them, Peter Baker writes. His statements reflect the sensitivity of a president elected after assailing counterterrorism policies that he ultimately adopted in some form after taking office.

• Thousands of couples, married in one state but living in another, are caught in a confusing web of laws and regulations when moving from one part of the country to another, Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports. The Obama administration is now trying to grapple with how to extend federal rights and benefits to same-sex cou! ples when states, not the federal government, dictate who is married.

Weekly Address

• President Obama used this week’s address to talk about his latest plan to combat climate change and the string of severe weather events that battered parts of the country. “The cost of these events can be measured in lost lives and livelihoods, lost homes and businesses, and hundreds of billions of dollars in emergency services and disaster relief,” he said. “The question is not whether we need to act. The question is whether we will have the courage to act before it’s too late.” He discussed a plan that would cut carbon pollution, provide more resilient infrastructure for homes and businesses, and enable the country to lead global efforts to use cleaner energy sources. “This is the fight America can and will lead in the 21st century,” he said. “But it will require all of us, as citizens, to do our art.”

Happenings in Washington

• Teams from each branch of the military will compete in “Grill of Honor,” a Fourth of July grilling contest judged by the celebrity guests Carson Daly and Brooklyn Decker.

The Weekend Word: Covered

In Today’s Times

• The Obama administration is moving forward with a rule requiring most employers to provide free insurance coverage for women’s contraceptives, in spite of strong resistance from religious groups, Robert Pear writes. The decision has touched off a legal and political battle that figured prominently in last year’s elections and is likely to rage for another year.

• While supporters of an immigration overhaul are hardly confident, they say House Republicans will discover a crucial difference this year from failed immigration efforts of the past: The coalition behind the bill is far more energized and committed than in previous fights. The movement’s diversity gives advocates a variety of pressure points for aproaching reluctant House Republicans, Julia Preston reports.

• Whether at the White House or the grand presidential palace in Senegal, President Obama has made a point in recent weeks of reassuring Americans that he is not spying on them, Peter Baker writes. His statements reflect the sensitivity of a president elected after assailing counterterrorism policies that he ultimately adopted in some form after taking office.

• Thousands of couples, married in one state but living in another, are caught in a confusing web of laws and regulations when moving from one part of the country to another, Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports. The Obama administration is now trying to grapple with how to extend federal rights and benefits to same-sex cou! ples when states, not the federal government, dictate who is married.

Weekly Address

• President Obama used this week’s address to talk about his latest plan to combat climate change and the string of severe weather events that battered parts of the country. “The cost of these events can be measured in lost lives and livelihoods, lost homes and businesses, and hundreds of billions of dollars in emergency services and disaster relief,” he said. “The question is not whether we need to act. The question is whether we will have the courage to act before it’s too late.” He discussed a plan that would cut carbon pollution, provide more resilient infrastructure for homes and businesses, and enable the country to lead global efforts to use cleaner energy sources. “This is the fight America can and will lead in the 21st century,” he said. “But it will require all of us, as citizens, to do our art.”

Happenings in Washington

• Teams from each branch of the military will compete in “Grill of Honor,” a Fourth of July grilling contest judged by the celebrity guests Carson Daly and Brooklyn Decker.

On Nuclear Waste Bill, Senators Look to Public for Help

After the Obama administration abandoned plans in 2009 to bury nuclear waste at a repository in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain, a spot chosen by leading senators more than 20 years earlier, a study commission recommended that a new location be picked through “a consent-based process.”

On Thursday, a group of senators introduced a bill, the Nuclear Waste Administration Act, that would establish such a process, based in part on public comments solicited online by the bill’s sponsors â€" a practice generally reserved for rules proposed by federal agencies. Call it consent-based legislation.

“The Senate did something highly unusual,” said Per F. Peterson, a professor of nuclear engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and a public policy expert. He said the way the legislation was developed reembled the process used by the study commission, which held hearings around the country. Taking public comment “establishes a strong foundation for the legislation to be successful if passed by the Senate and then by the House,’’ he said.

Others are not so optimistic. In the House, there is still strong support for trying to revive the Yucca plan, first proposed in 1987. That effort would depend on the outcome of a lawsuit heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in May 2012. The three judges have not yet ruled.

But the Congressional process thus far has been stunning compared with the process in 1987. At that time, senators from other states that had potential sites, including Texas, Louisiana and Washington, cut a deal to choose Nevada, which was unable to fight it off. After Senator Harry Reid of Nev! ada became the Democratic leader, though, he cut off funding and the consensus fell apart.

Under the new bill, a new federal agency would be empowered to cut a deal with a state and local governments, subject to approval by Congress. It does not define the elements of such a deal, but the expectation is that the government would offer what amounted to a handsome dowry for an ugly bride: money for roads, universities or other goodies.

In the interim, the bill would allow above-ground storage of nuclear waste in a central location, a temporary resolution to a problem that has arisen as reactors retire and the waste is orphaned.

The bill was introduced by Senators Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and chairwoman of the Appropriations Subcommttee on Energy and Water Development; Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the subcommittee’s ranking Republican; Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking Republican member.

Congress leaves town for the Fourth of July recess on Friday, but the Senate could take up the measure later this year.

On Nuclear Waste Bill, Senators Look to Public for Help

After the Obama administration abandoned plans in 2009 to bury nuclear waste at a repository in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain, a spot chosen by leading senators more than 20 years earlier, a study commission recommended that a new location be picked through “a consent-based process.”

On Thursday, a group of senators introduced a bill, the Nuclear Waste Administration Act, that would establish such a process, based in part on public comments solicited online by the bill’s sponsors â€" a practice generally reserved for rules proposed by federal agencies. Call it consent-based legislation.

“The Senate did something highly unusual,” said Per F. Peterson, a professor of nuclear engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and a public policy expert. He said the way the legislation was developed reembled the process used by the study commission, which held hearings around the country. Taking public comment “establishes a strong foundation for the legislation to be successful if passed by the Senate and then by the House,’’ he said.

Others are not so optimistic. In the House, there is still strong support for trying to revive the Yucca plan, first proposed in 1987. That effort would depend on the outcome of a lawsuit heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in May 2012. The three judges have not yet ruled.

But the Congressional process thus far has been stunning compared with the process in 1987. At that time, senators from other states that had potential sites, including Texas, Louisiana and Washington, cut a deal to choose Nevada, which was unable to fight it off. After Senator Harry Reid of Nev! ada became the Democratic leader, though, he cut off funding and the consensus fell apart.

Under the new bill, a new federal agency would be empowered to cut a deal with a state and local governments, subject to approval by Congress. It does not define the elements of such a deal, but the expectation is that the government would offer what amounted to a handsome dowry for an ugly bride: money for roads, universities or other goodies.

In the interim, the bill would allow above-ground storage of nuclear waste in a central location, a temporary resolution to a problem that has arisen as reactors retire and the waste is orphaned.

The bill was introduced by Senators Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and chairwoman of the Appropriations Subcommttee on Energy and Water Development; Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the subcommittee’s ranking Republican; Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking Republican member.

Congress leaves town for the Fourth of July recess on Friday, but the Senate could take up the measure later this year.