memeorandum: Can Democrats stop Jeff Sessions — or any Trump nominee? It would be almost unprecedented. (Aaron Blake/Washington Post)

3:45 PM ET, November 18, 2016

Top Items:

Donald Trump Selects Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General — WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump has selected Senator Jeff Sessions, a conservative from Alabama who became a close adviser after endorsing him early in his campaign, to be the attorney general of the United States …

New York Times:

Michael Flynn, Anti-Islamist Ex-General, Offered Security Post, Trump Aide Says — WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump has offered the post of national security adviser to Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, potentially putting a retired intelligence officer who believes Islamist militancy poses …

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Donald Trump Building Team of Racists — Donald Trump's presidential campaign bludgeoned modern norms about the acceptability of racism. The candidate proposed a religious test for immigrants, and called a federal judge unfit on the grounds of his heritage.

Discussion: Liberty Blitzkrieg, No More Mister Nice Blog, neo-neocon, RedState and Breitbart

Elise Viebeck / Washington Post:

Trump chooses Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Rep. Mike Pompeo for CIA director — President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that he plans to nominate Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as attorney general and Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) as CIA director, the first selections to his Cabinet …

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, Power Line, CNN, Gothamist, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and New York Magazine

Amber Phillips / Washington Post:

10 things to know about Sen. Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump's pick for attorney general — In Donald Trump's world, most roads, it seems, lead back to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), President-elect Trump's pick for attorney general. — After Sessions became one of the first members of Congress …

Discussion: New Republic, RedState, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Mashable, Rewire, Boing Boing and Common Dreams

James Hohmann / Washington Post:

The Daily 202: Trump poised to learn the Pottery Barn rule of governing — THE BIG IDEA: — A more apt reference, especially after Trump's inauguration, might be the Pottery Barn Rule. Colin Powell popularized this doctrine in the foreign policy context.

Bloomberg:

Jeff Sessions Said to Be Trump's Pick for Attorney General — Alabama lawmaker was an early and ardent Trump supporter — Sessions was also under consideration for Defense secretary — President-elect Donald Trump has settled on Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, Washington Monthly, RedState, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, The Week and The Geller Report

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Can Democrats stop Jeff Sessions — or any Trump nominee? It would be almost unprecedented. — President-elect Donald Trump has nominated one of his most loyal and earliest backers, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), to be his attorney general. And Democrats and left-leaning groups are incensed …

Discussion: RT and Independent Journal Review

Michael Isikoff / Yahoo:

Michael Flynn, Trump's reported pick for national security adviser, sat in on intel briefings — while advising foreign clients — Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who has reportedly been offered the role of national security adviser in Donald Trump's White House, began receiving classified …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, The Intercept, The Daily Caller, CNN, Politico, Business Insider, The Last Refuge, Washington Free Beacon and Daily Kos

New York Times:
Mike Pompeo Is Trump's Choice as C.I.A. Director

Discussion: Gizmodo, The Daily Signal, ABC News, The Week, The Nation and Common Dreams

Ari Berman / The Nation:
Jeff Sessions, Trump's Pick for Attorney General, Is a Fierce Opponent of Civil Rights

Discussion: New York Magazine, Vox, Florida Politics, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Media Matters for America, New York Times, Law News, electionlawblog.org, The Hayride and Right Wing Watch

CBS News:
Donald Trump offers Jeff Sessions attorney general post

Discussion: National Review, Media Matters for America, CBS New York and CBS Miami

CNN:
Sessions dogged by old allegations of racism

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Law News, Occupy Democrats, Mediaite, Hot Air, The Week, Vox and Joe.My.God.

Esme Cribb / Talking Points Memo:
Trump Team Dodges On Anti-Muslim, Racist Comments From Flynn, Sessions

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post and The Week

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Trump taps Sessions for attorney general, Pompeo for CIA

Discussion: NBC News, Reuters, Guardian, ABC News, twitchy.com, Just Security and Talking Points Memo

Ryan J. Reilly / The Huffington Post:
Jeff Sessions Was Deemed Too Racist To Be A Federal Judge. He Might Become Trump's Attorney General.

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, ThinkProgress, The Atlantic, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Mediaite, Common Dreams, Boing Boing, ImmigrationProf Blog, Above the Law, The New Civil Rights Movement, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Independent Journal Review

greatagain.gov:
President-Elect Donald J. Trump Selects U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Law News and The Daily Caller

McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo, an Army veteran, will become Trump's CIA director

Discussion: Guardian, The Week, New York Magazine, Daily Kos and RT

Ken Dilanian / NBC News:
Trump National Security Adviser Pick Michael Flynn Has Medals — and Baggage

Discussion: ThinkProgress, RT, Washington Post, CNBC, Daily Kos, Media Matters for America, Right Wing Watch, NBC News and The Week

Michael Wolff / Hollywood Reporter:

Ringside With Steve Bannon at Trump Tower as the President-Elect's Strategist Plots “An Entirely New Political Movement” (Exclusive) — “I'm not a white nationalist, I'm a nationalist. I'm an economic nationalist,” Bannon tells THR media columnist Michael Wolff as the controversial Breitbart …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Washington Post, Politico, CNBC, Business Insider, Raw Story, Towleroad, Mediaite and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Mother Jones:
Here's Evidence Steve Bannon Joined a Facebook Group That Posts Racist Rants and Obama Death Threats

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement

Kenneth Lovett / New York Daily News:

President-elect Donald Trump nearing settlement in Trump University fraud case — ALBANY — In a complete turnaround from his previous position, President-elect Donald Trump is nearing a settlement of the fraud cases brought in New York and California involving his now defunct for-profit Trump University, the Daily News has learned.

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, Mother Jones, RedState, The New Civil Rights Movement, TheBlaze, Law News, Jezebel and Raw Story

Karen Freifeld / Reuters:
President-elect Trump nears settlement in Trump University lawsuit

Discussion: Hot Air

Wall Street Journal:
Donald Trump Is in Advanced Talks to Settle Trump University Fraud Allegations

Discussion: Gothamist and Political Wire

Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:

Cruz doesn't close door on Supreme Court seat — (R-Texas) is not ruling out the possibility of filling the Supreme Court's open seat. — Asked Friday at a National Lawyers Convention event whether he'd accept a high court nomination, Cruz responded, “What I will say is that history is long and can take unexpected paths.”

Discussion: RedState

Burgess Everett / Politico:

GOP could nuke filibuster for Supreme Court nominees — Top Senate Republicans are drawing a hard line on the Supreme Court, guaranteeing that no matter what tactics Democrats deploy, they will be forced to swallow Donald Trump's imminent nominee to the high court.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, The Progressive Pulse and The Week

Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:

Obama Suggests Meeting With Trump Wasn't All It Was Cracked Up To Be — President Barack Obama acknowledged in a New Yorker profile published online Thursday that his first meeting with Donald Trump may not have actually lived up to its sunny official description.

Discussion: RedState, Guardian, Daily Kos, New Century Times and Business Insider

Walter Russell Mead / The American Interest:
Obama's Never-Ending Lecture Tour

Discussion: New York Times

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:

Donald Trump Takes Credit for Helping to Save a Ford Plant That Wasn't Closing — WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump claimed credit on Thursday night for persuading Ford to keep an automaking plant in Kentucky rather than moving it to Mexico. The only wrinkle: Ford was not actually planning to move the plant.

Discussion: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, NBC News, Reuters, Courier-Journal, Associated Press, Gothamist, CNBC, NPR, Vox, Mediaite, Hot Air, Politicus USA, Media Matters for America, Boing Boing, Daily Wire and The New Civil Rights Movement

Jim Tankersley / Washington Post:
Trump just took credit for stopping Ford from moving a plant to Mexico. But it wasn't planning to.

Mark Lilla / New York Times:

The End of Identity Liberalism — It is a truism that America has become a more diverse country. It is also a beautiful thing to watch. Visitors from other countries, particularly those having trouble incorporating different ethnic groups and faiths, are amazed that we manage to pull it off.