WASHINGTON -- In the first flash of partisan dissent to President Bush's homeland-security plan, Democrats on Thursday assailed a provision that could allow leaders of the proposed new Cabinet agency to bypass federal personnel rules that protect civil servants. The Democratic criticism emerged as Tom Ridge, Bush's point man on homeland security, appeared before House and Senate committees to give his first formal testimony to Congress since he came to Washington last fall to help improve domestic defenses against terrorism. Ridge, a former congressman and governor of Pennsylvania, received a warm reception. So did most of the administration's plan to...