memeorandum: Obama dares GOP to block three nominations to critical court (Justin Sink/The Hill)

1:25 PM ET, June 4, 2013

Top Items:

Emails of top Obama appointees remain a mystery — WASHINGTON (AP) - Some of President Barack Obama's political appointees, including the Cabinet secretary for the Health and Human Services Department, are using secret government email accounts they say are necessary to prevent their inboxes …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Weekly Standard, White House Dossier, Jammie Wearing Fools, Coloradoan Online, National Review, Michelle Malkin, The Verge, Power Line, Wake up America, americanthinker.com, The PJ Tatler, Washington Free Beacon and Washington Times

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:
Bush Administration Appointees Also Used ‘Secret E-mail Addresses’

Discussion: Hit & Run and The Raw Story

Zack Colman / E2-Wire:
Report: Obama appointees using secret email accounts

Discussion: Hot Air, Politico and Outside the Beltway

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Bob Woodward criticizes IRS ‘fiction’ — The Washington Post's Bob Woodward says the Obama administration has explaining to do on the IRS scandal and needs to answer questions about who knew what, when. — “This fiction that somehow [The IRS is] totally an independent agency is absurd,” …

Discussion: Yahoo! News and No More Mister Nice Blog

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Accuse first and ask questions later — A third House committee joined the stampede to examine the IRS on Monday, and its chairman did exactly what you would expect somebody to do before launching a fair and impartial investigation: He went on Fox News Channel and implicated the White House.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Taylor Marsh, Right Wing News, Taegan Goddard's …, The Hill and The Huffington Post

Associated Press:
IRS victims testify as new agency scandal emerges

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Wake up America

Josh Barro / Business Insider:

Erick Erickson Shows Everything That's Wrong With The GOP — Conservative pundit Erick Erickson doesn't like me. This morning he wrote 900 words about why. — But the main thing his post reveals is what's wrong with Erickson - and with a Republican party that is built to appeal to people like Erickson.

Discussion: The Plum Line, Paul Krugman and Brad DeLong

Erick Erickson / RedState:
On Conservative Reformers — There is a lot of back and forth chatter …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Other McCain and The Daily Caller

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Obama Names 3 to Top Appeals Court in Challenge to Republicans — WASHINGTON — President Obama set a confrontation with Senate Republicans in motion on Tuesday morning by naming a slate of judges to a top appeals court and daring his rivals to block their confirmations.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Caucus, Yahoo! News, The Stranger …, New Republic, The Maddow Blog, The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Hinterland Gazette and A plain blog about politics

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Obama dares GOP to block three nominations to critical court — President Obama on Tuesday made three nominations to a top appeals court and all but dared the Senate GOP to filibuster them. — Obama tapped U.S. District Court judge Robert Leon Wilkins, Georgetown Law Professor Cornelia Pillard …

Discussion: Politico

New York Times:
Death of Senator Places Christie in Difficult Spot

Discussion: Weekly Standard, msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's … and WJLA-TV

The Atlantic Wire:

The Latest Navy SEAL Book Could Impact the Military's Transgender Rules — In every Navy SEAL is a memoir, it seems lately. Retired SEAL Kristin Beck's new memoir, published on Tuesday and titled Warrior Princess, is a bit different, though. In it, Beck describes how …

Discussion: AMERICAblog, Outside the Beltway, Towleroad News #gay, Shakesville and Hullabaloo

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
SEAL Team 6 Vet Comes Out As Transgender In New Memoir

Discussion: ABCNEWS and The Raw Story

Brandon Webb / SOFREP:
Breaking: Meet The First Female Navy SEAL, Kristin Beck

Discussion: Business Insider and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Dr. Keith Ablow / Fox News:

Is Obama waging psychological warfare on Americans? — I believe that the Obama administration is conducting psychological warfare on conservative Americans. Not only that but it is also waging this war on all Americans who previously viewed themselves, their country …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Outside the Beltway and Shakesville

Tara Bahrampour / Washington Post:

Baby boomers are killing themselves at an alarming rate, raising question: Why? — Last spring, Frank Turkaly tried to kill himself. A retiree in a Pittsburgh suburb living on disability checks, he was estranged from friends and family, mired in credit card debt and taking medication for depression …

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Clayton Cramer's Blog

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Democrats' 2014 strategy: Own Obamacare — Scarred by years of Republican attacks over Obamacare, with more in store next year, Democrats have settled on an unlikely strategy for the 2014 midterms: Bring it on. — Party strategists believe that embracing the polarizing law …

Discussion: Sister Toldjah, Via Meadia, americanthinker.com, National Review and CNBC

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Rubio: Senate immigration reform bill lacks 60 votes — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Tuesday said the Senate's immigration bill does not have 60 votes, contradicting Democrats who say it would pass the chamber in its current form. — Asked by FOX News if the bill approved …

Discussion: Politico

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:
Immigration bill lacks the 60 Senate votes needed to pass

Discussion: Mediaite, Hot Air, The Plum Line and ABCNEWS

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:

Treasury IG official compares IRS scandal to Nixon — The Treasury Inspector General who uncovered the improper targeting of Tea Party groups by the Internal Revenue Service said Monday he was stunned by what his investigation uncovered. — Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General …

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools, The Other McCain and Weasel Zippers

Bernie Becker / The Hill:
Six conservative groups to appear before Ways and Means on Tuesday

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, americanthinker.com and Towleroad News #gay

Valerie Strauss / The Answer Sheet:

Mississippi governor: Educational troubles began when ‘mom got in the workplace’ — VIDEO — Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) said Tuesday that America's educational troubles began when women began working outside the home in large numbers. — Bryant was participating …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, The Maddow Blog, Post Politics and The Hinterland Gazette

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

How Christie Can Maximize the G.O.P.'s Chances in New Jersey — The death of Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey, creates a confusing electoral situation in the state. There are conflicting interpretations of exactly what New Jersey's law requires — whether a special election …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Wonkblog, americanthinker.com, Daily Kos, Real Clear Politics, DownWithTyranny!, The Plum Line, The PJ Tatler and The Reaction

Jarrett Renshaw / New Jersey Online:
Top Democrat to Christie: Hold senate election in November for Lautenberg's seat

Discussion: The Week, Post Politics, First Read and Rothenblog

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

House Republicans broken into fighting factions — On New Year's Day, in a cramped room in the Capitol basement, House Republican leaders faced an angry caucus. Democrats had negotiated them into a corner — virtually every American would be hit with a massive tax increase unless …

Discussion: American Prospect, Yahoo! News, msnbc.com, PostPartisan, Taegan Goddard's …, Booman Tribune and Daily Kos

Nicole Flatow / ThinkProgress:

Citing Stand Your Ground, Jury Acquits Man Who Killed Wife's Lover — As trial approaches for the man who generated national controversy over Stand Your Ground laws when he shot dead 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on a Florida street, a jury has acquitted another man under Florida's controversial law …

Phil Mattingly / Bloomberg:

Holder Said to Tell Aides He's Fine as Leak Rules Review Starts — Under pressure from lawmakers and the news media, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder gathered his top aides last week to deliver a message: He was fine, and they all needed to stay focused and get their work done.

Discussion: theGrio

Noah Feldman / Bloomberg:

Court's DNA Ruling Brings U.S. a Step Closer to ‘Gattaca’ — The day that DNA cheek swabs officially became the new fingerprints deserves to be marked and remembered — and not just because of the inevitable march of technology. — No, the Supreme Court's 5-4 holding today in Maryland v. King …

Discussion: SCOTUSblog and Althouse

Sheera Frenkel / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

U.S. publishes details of missile base Israel wanted kept secret — TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel's military fumed Monday over the discovery that the U.S. government had revealed details of a top-secret Israeli military installation in published bid requests. — The Obama administration …

Discussion: Israel Matzav