memeorandum: Biden: Republican Party is leaderless (Molly K. Hooper/Ballot Box)

5:40 PM ET, March 23, 2013

Top Items:

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

Senate passes first budget in four years — The Senate early Saturday passed its first budget in four years by a vote of 50 to 49. — The close vote was a big victory for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who had to overcome …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, The Hill, The Lonely Conservative, The Gateway Pundit and The Reaction

David Lawder / NBCNews.com:

Senate passes budget with $1 trillion tax hike — WASHINGTON — The Senate on Saturday narrowly passed its first federal budget in four years, a move that will usher in a relative lull in Washington's fiscal wars until an anticipated summer showdown over raising the debt ceiling.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Senate Budget ‘Has Zero Real Deficit Reduction ... Never Balances’ — In a statement released at 5 a.m. today, Senator Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, blasts the budget the Senate passed very early this morning. Sessions's main concern is that the budget …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Senate Passes $3.7 Trillion Budget, Its First in 4 Years

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Talking Points Memo and Outside the Beltway

Ginger Gibson / Politico: Senate passes budget — first for four years

Jordy Yager / The Hill:
Obama presses Congress to vote on assault weapons ban

Discussion: CNN

Erik Wasson / The Hill:
Senate on record opposing use of chained CPI

Discussion: CNN and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Zack Colman / E2-Wire:
Keystone XL picks up Senate backing

Discussion: The Hill, Daily Kos, Booman Tribune, Yahoo! News, Politico and The Agonist

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

On third anniversary, Obama touts health law's benefits — President Obama on Saturday touted his landmark healthcare reform law on its third anniversary, but cautioned that there was “more work to do to implement” its provisions. — “Three years ago today, I signed into law the principle …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, The Hill and The Lonely Conservative

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
Ted Cruz Amendment To Repeal Obamacare Fails

Discussion: ThinkProgress

New York Times:

Walking While Black in New York — The New York City Police Department has a long history of violating constitutional rights by stopping, questioning or frisking people on the streets without legal justification. The city has steadfastly denied that the detentions — made under …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Gothamist and Capital New York

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:
New York City Cop Testifies That He Was Told To Target Young Black Men

Discussion: NY Daily News, Prairie Weather and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Al Baker / New York Times:

Girls Outnumbered in New York's Elite Public Schools — In the United States, girls have outshined boys in high school for years, amassing more A's, earning more diplomas and gliding more readily into college, where they rack up more degrees — whether at the bachelor's, master's or doctoral levels.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Gothamist and Unfogged

Michael Powell / New York Times:

Man Freed From Prison Has a Heart Attack — On his second day of freedom after serving 23 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, David Ranta suffered a serious heart attack Friday night, his lawyer said. — Mr. Ranta was taken to a New York hospital — his family did not wish …

Discussion: Gothamist and ABCNEWS

Victoria Taylor / NY Daily News:

Going rouge: Sarah Palin proudly wears a red Chick-fil-A shirt to Phoenix Suns game — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin continued to show her support for the controversial chicken sandwich chain by donning a Chick-fil-A shirt at an NBA game in Phoenix on Friday.

Molly K. Hooper / Ballot Box:

Biden: Republican Party is leaderless — Vice President Joe Biden attacked the GOP as a leaderless party on Saturday afternoon at the third-annual House Democratic Issues Conference in New York City. — “There is no leadership,” Biden told a roomful of donors, prospective candidates …

Discussion: CNN

WPSD Local 6:

Actress hints at Senate run in speech — CINCINNATI (AP) - Actress and Kentucky native Ashley Judd made a rare public reference to her possible run for the seat held by Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. — WXIX-TV says Judd gave the keynote speech Friday …

Discussion: The Reaction

Joe Nocera / New York Times:

Saving Children From Guns — For nearly two months, my assistant, Jennifer Mascia, and I have been publishing a daily blog in which we aggregate articles about shootings from the previous day. Of all the stories we link to, the ones I find hardest to read are those about young children …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Prairie Weather

Sharyl Attkisson / CBS News:

Taxpayer money finances IRS “Star Trek” parody — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO … Thus begins a six-minute “Star Trek” parody starring IRS employees and paid for with your tax dollars. It's not likely to go over well with some Americans and members of Congress, especially since federal agencies …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative, Twitchy and The Daily Caller