She is a member of the Board of Visitors for Wayne State University Law School, where she once served as an adjunct faculty member. Gleicher earned her law degree from Wayne State University and got her bachelor's degree from Carleton College in Minnesota. Her term will expire Jan. 1, 2009.

Beckering, 42, most recently served as an attorney with Buchanan & Beckering, PLLC law firm and as a mediator for the Kent County Circuit Court. She earned her law degree from the University of Wisconsin and received her bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan.

Last year, Beckering ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic nominee in the Michigan Supreme Court election. Her term will expire Jan. 1, 2009.

Granholm, a Democrat, has appointed five judges to the appeals bench since taking office in 2003.

Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Clifford Taylor has said within recent months that four of the 28 appeals judgeships can be cut to save money during the state's budget crisis. But Granholm was unlikely to agree to limit her ability to replace vacancies on the appeals court, which former Republican Gov. John Engler filled with conservative-leaning appointees.

Deputy Solicitor General Gregory Garre, representing the government, argued that letting the case go to trial, "would reveal the sources, methods and operational details" of government intelligence activities. The alleged monitoring is part of more rigorous surveillance practices put in motion after the terrorist attacks of 11 September, 2001.

After a two-and-a-half hour hearing, the US Court of Appeals for the 9th District, in San Francisco, said it will consider the dismissal motion as well as a one in a second lawsuit also challenging the NSA programme.

But Appeals Court judges Michael Daly Hawkins, Margaret McKeown and Harry Pregerson, peppered Garre with questions, challenging his argument that the state secrets privilege trumps the right of the plaintiffs to have their case heard.

Pregerson asked Garre how a court is to decide whether something the executive branch claims is a state secret is a secret, if the executive branch won't reveal what it claims is a secret.

"Who decides what's a state secret? Are we just a rubber stamp? We're just supposed to take the word of the executive?" Pregerson asked.

Garre responded that the court should give "the utmost deference" to the executive branch's claim that something is a state secret, but acknowledged that it is not an "absolute deference".

The EFF says that AT&T, at one of its offices in San Francisco, diverted internet traffic, including emails and Voice over IP (VoIP) phone calls, to a separate room in which NSA-authorised people monitored the network traffic. Robert Fram the attorney for EFF, said that just the act of diverting that traffic into a room controlled by the NSA proved their case against AT&T and that they would not have to try to risk violating the state secrets privilege by trying to disclose what was done with the information.

But Garre, in rebuttal, argued that if the surveillance done in that room was approved by a warrant, then there is no violation by the government or AT&T in diverting internet traffic to that surveillance room.

The second case is that of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation versus President George W. Bush, which claims the government engaged in warrantless surveillance of their organisation, in violation of its constitutional rights.

The appeals judges gave no indication when they might rule on the motion to dismiss. Lee Tien, an EFF staff attorney, said given the notoriety of the case, the judges could render a decision soon, but at the same time, given the gravity of the issues, they might take more time.

Retirement speculation has circulated since he forfeited the powerful speaker's post when Republicans lost control of the House in last year's elections. Hastert, 65, declined to run for minority leader, taking on a role as elder statesman among Republicans.

In his release, Hastert said his accomplishments as a congressman for his northern Illinois district and as House speaker weren't his own doing, but happened because of support from constituents, friends and colleagues.

"We worked together to pass legislation to provide a service or to meet the need or those we served," he said. "We fought for our beliefs and worked to improve our communities, our district and our country."

Hastert's retirement has local Democrats starting to boast they can win another congressional seat, even as the GOP vows it won't easily give up a seat it has held for two decades. Hastert was considered by many to be unbeatable in his northern Illinois district.

"Any Democrat thinking of getting into this race does so at his or her own peril," said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain.

A Hastert vacancy is the second in Illinois that Republicans would have to contend with because retiring Rep. Ray LaHood is giving up a central Illinois congressional seat controlled by the GOP for nearly 90 years. LaHood will leave when his term ends in January 2009.

National Republicans "now have to defend another open seat in a blue state where the president is incredibly unpopular," said DCCC spokesman Doug Thornell.

Thornell said a race to replace Hastert would be a "a real opportunity" for Democrats in a "competitive district." The district stretches from Hastert's Plano home south of Chicago all the way to the Mississippi River.

Some local Democrats say they might snag Hastert's district away from Republicans because the populated areas are leaning more Democratic as people migrate there from the heavily Democratic city of Chicago in search of less expensive housing. They also point to last year's election, when two Democrats from Hastert's district won open seats in the Illinois Senate that had been held by Republicans.

"Times, they have a-changed," said state Sen. Michael Noland, one of those Democrats who now represents the Elgin area west of Chicago.

President Bush carried the district in 2004 with 55 percent of the vote.