memeorandum: Battle over jobless benefits will consume start of 2014 (Alexander Bolton/The Hill)

5:20 PM ET, January 6, 2014

Top Items:

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:

Court stops Utah gay marriages (UPDATED) — UPDATE 1:16 p.m. State officials said on Monday that they are evaluating the legal fate of Utah same-sex couples who already have been married. A total of 950 marriage licenses have been issued in the state to gay and lesbian couples …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Power Line, National Review, Law Blog, The Week, Washington Post, ABC News, Advocate, Towleroad News #gay, Mediaite, NationalJournal.com, Taylor Marsh, The Right Scoop, The Volokh Conspiracy and Althouse

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Justices Block Gay Marriage in Utah During Appeal of Case — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday blocked further same-sex marriages in Utah while state officials appeal a decision allowing such unions. — The terse order, from the full court, issued a stay “pending final disposition” …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, AMERICAblog News, Outside the Beltway, BillMoyers.com, Liberaland, The Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Rick Hasen / Election Law Blog:

No Surprise: Supreme Court Stays Utah Gay Marriage Ruling: What It Means — As I've been predicting, the Supreme Court unanimously put the Utah same sex marriage ruling on hold this morning, pending disposition of the issue in the Tenth Circuit. — This is no surprise.

Discussion: ABC News, Law Blog and BuzzFeed

Irin Carmon / msnbc.com:
Court reviews Texas abortion restrictions

Discussion: Al Jazeera America and Daily Kos

Floyd Abrams / Wall Street Journal:
Abortion Rights as a Free-Speech Flashpoint

Discussion: National Review, Law Blog and The Volokh Conspiracy

Eliana Johnson / National Review:

Rachel's Show — MSNBC, the left-leaning cable-news network, has settled on one solution to its recent problems. It now has an executive reviewing scripts before they go on the air. The role, which has fallen to Rich Stockwell, a former executive producer of The Ed Show and Countdown …

Discussion: NewsBusters, PoliticusUSA, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Mediaite, Ed Driscoll, LifeNews.com, Weasel Zippers, TVNewser, Taylor Marsh, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Washington Free Beacon, TheBlaze.com and alicublog, more at Mediagazer »

Eliana Johnson / National Review:

Rachel's Show — Maddow herself is the highest-paid and highest-rated talent at MSNBC, but beyond her own program, her quest to fill the network with her protégés may be dragging down ratings. Being an intellectual and a true believer is not, it seems, a good thing if you're in the ratings business.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller and Weasel Zippers

CNN:

First on CNN: Liz Cheney to abandon Senate bid — New York (CNN) — Liz Cheney, whose upstart bid to unseat Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi sparked a round of warfare in the Republican Party and even within her own family, is dropping out of the Senate primary, sources told CNN late Sunday.

Politico:

Liz Cheney: ‘I have decided to discontinue my campaign’ — Liz Cheney is ending her campaign for Senate in Wyoming, the Republican announced in a statement early Monday morning. — Citing health concerns in her family, Cheney said the issues arising prompted her to end her GOP primary challenge to Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.).

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, Esquire, Washington Monthly, American Prospect, Outside the Beltway, Washington Wire, The Raw Story, CNN, Casper Star-Tribune and Balloon Juice

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Liz Cheney Quits Wyoming Senate Race

Discussion: Advocate, Politico, Daily Kos, OpenSecrets.org, The Week and First Read

Fox News:
Liz Cheney dropping out of Wyoming Senate race

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, PennLive.com, Taylor Marsh and Sister Toldjah

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:

The Agony of Frank Luntz — Frank Luntz does not want the buffet. We are on the top floor of the Capitol Hill Club, the members-only Republican hangout a block from the Capitol, where a meaty smell is emanating from steam trays. Today's main course is ham, and Luntz shakes his head.

Discussion: ABC News, neo-neocon, Booman Tribune, Washington Monthly, Mediaite, TheBlaze.com, Talking Points Memo, The Impolitic and Roger Ailes

Brittany Foster / PoliticsPA:

Breaking: Rep. Gerlach Will Not Seek Reelection — PA-6 Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-Chester) will not seek reelection in 2014. — “Nearing the end of my sixth term in the House and following 12 years of public service in the Pennsylvania House and Senate, it is simply time for me to move …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Taegan Goddard's … and NBCNews

Shira T. Center / Roll Call:
Jim Gerlach Won't Seek Re-Election (Updated)

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
GOP's Jim Gerlach not running in 2014

Discussion: CNN

Eric Holthaus / Quartz:

How global warming can make cold snaps even worse — The cold air pushing toward America's heartland is of a duration and magnitude rarely seen since record-keeping began in the 1870s. In Minneapolis, forecasters warned that all-time wind chill records could be broken, with a stunning -65ºF predicted for Monday morning.

Discussion: Wonkblog, Weasel Zippers, Pirate's Cove, Real Science and Climate Depot

ThinkProgress:

Everything You Wanted To Know About The ‘Polar Vortex’ — A person struggles to cross a street in blowing and falling snow Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014, in St. Louis. — CREDIT: AP Photo/Jeff Roberson — On Sunday night, a reporter for The Weather Channel stood in a Minnesota snowstorm …

Discussion: Minneapolis Star Tribune, NBCNews and Fox News

Ron Johnson / Wall Street Journal:

I'm Suing Over ObamaCare Exemptions for Congress — If the president wants to change the health-care law, he must ask Congress to do it. — On Monday, Jan. 6, I am filing suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to make Congress live by the letter of the health-care law it imposed on the rest of America.

Discussion: The Plum Line, The World's Greatest …, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Liberaland, Business Insider, thenorthwestern.com, Right Wing News, Sister Toldjah, Betsy's Page, The PJ Tatler, CBS DC, National Review, American Spectator, The Volokh Conspiracy and VodkaPundit

Sam Baker / NationalJournal.com: Obamacare Can't Fail ... ... because the White House …

Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner:
PRESS RELEASES AND STATEMENTS

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Senate poised for close vote on jobless benefits — The fate of a bill to restore expired unemployment benefits hung in the balance on Monday as Senate Democrats desperately sought Republican votes ahead of an evening roll call. — Senate Democrats believe their entire 55-member caucus …

Discussion: CNN

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Battle over jobless benefits will consume start of 2014

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Plum Line

Ed O'Keefe / Post Politics:
Unemployment insurance extension lacks GOP support

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, GovBeat, Mediaite, Daily Kos and Hot Air

Max Boot / Wall Street Journal:

How Al Qaeda Terrorized Its Way Back in Iraq — As the country edges closer to civil war, much of the blame goes to Prime Minister Maliki—and the White House.

Discussion: Instapundit

Daniel Byman / Lawfare:
The Foreign Policy Essay: “2013 - The Year We Lost Iraq?”

Discussion: The Dish

United States Senator John McCain:
McCAIN & GRAHAM ON REPORTED AL-QAEDA TAKEOVER IN FALLUJAH, IRAQ

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Lawfare and First Read

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:

How Obamacare Actually Paves the Way Toward Single Payer — Last week the liberal documentary-maker Michael Moore prompted indigestion across the progressive wonk community by pronouncing Obamacare “awful.” In a New York Times op-ed, he bemoaned the way the president's law preserved …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hit & Run, Hot Air, National Review, Questions and Observations and Maggie's Farm

BBC:

Afghanistan girl, 8, wearing suicide vest detained — An eight-year-old Afghan girl wearing a suicide vest has been detained by police in southern Afghanistan. — She was held on Sunday night in Helmand province, as she tried to carry out an attack against border police wearing a suicide jacket …

Discussion: Jihad Watch, Weasel Zippers and Atlas Shrugs

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:

Senate candidate suggests moving federal capital from Washington — One of the men seeking the GOP nomination for Nebraska's open Senate seat is proposing moving the capital from Washington to his home state, saying it would be an effective way to cut out the lobbyists and special interests …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider and The Raw Story

Michael Wolff / USA Today:

The unbeatable Roger Ailes — The Fox News chief continues to crush his cable news competitors. — Why would you work in the cable news business? Does anybody look their best in cable news? The people in front of the camera look extreme, demented, desperate or vapid.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Business Insider, TVNewser, Capital New York and TheBlaze.com, more at Mediagazer »

James M. Odato / Albany Times Union:

Ready ... aim ... point ... talk — Handgun used as laser pointer by state official reportedly rattles foreign delegates — Jerome M. Hauer, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's director of homeland security, took out his handgun and used the laser sighting device attached to the barrel as a pointer …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Gothamist, The Raw Story and Gawker