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Democrats to give Trump Cabinet picks the Garland treatment — Senate Democrats are preparing to put Donald Trump's Cabinet picks through a grinding confirmation process, weighing delay tactics that could eat up weeks of the Senate calendar and hamper his first 100 days in office.
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McConnell won big by blocking Obama — Drumroll, please.... The winner of my 2016 award for the top member of Congress is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — (R-Ky.). — Yes, you read that right. — A Democrat feels compelled to honor McConnell. — Let me explain.


Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner plan move to DC — Kushner is expected to play a significant role in the new Trump administration, while Ivanka Trump may take a lead role in managing her father's sprawling business interests — (CNN)Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner …
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ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, RedState, AOL, Washingtonian, CNBC, The Week, The Daily Caller and Political Wire
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Donald Trump meets with Al Gore on climate change — Republicans are critical of the scientific consensus that human activities are exacerbating global climate change — Washington (CNN)President-elect Donald Trump met on Monday with Al Gore — one of the most vocal advocates of fighting climate change.
Discussion:
BBC, RedState, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, AOL, Hot Air, The Week, Mediaite, Mother Jones, TheBlaze and Washington Free Beacon


Ivanka Trump to meet with Al Gore — Ivanka Trump is meeting Monday with climate change activist and former vice president Al Gore — The President-elect's daughter, who reportedly wants to make global warming one of her signature issues, will meet with Gore at Trump Tower in Manhattan …
Discussion:
ABC News, alan.com, BizPac Review and Patterico's Pontifications

Al Gore has ‘extremely interesting’ meeting with Trump
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ABC News

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The Atlantic, ABC News, NPR, Washington Times, Political Wire, Daily Kos, Business Insider, TheBlaze and Diane Ravitch's blog
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Cooper extends lead over McCrory in recount … DURHAM, N.C. - Democratic challenger Roy Cooper's lead over incumbent Governor Pat McCrory has grown, according to partial recount results released by the Durham County Board of Elections. — After recounting 52,833 ballots …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo, governor.nc.gov and RedState

Pat McCrory Concedes In North Carolina Governor's Race
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money

Gov. Pat McCrory concedes defeat to Roy Cooper as Durham recount wraps up
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Associated Press

Trump's Threat to the Constitution — WASHINGTON — On July 7, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, met privately with House Republicans near the Capitol. I was present as chief policy director of the House Republican Conference.
Discussion:
neo-neocon, RedState, Raw Story, Politico and Patterico's Pontifications
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Trump's Agents of Idiocracy — Last week when Donald Trump began his so-called Thank You Tour in Cincinnati, he had yet another opportunity to be magnanimous and conciliatory, to step beyond the division and acrimony of his campaign and into the unity and healing necessary to be president of a strained nation.
Discussion:
Raw Story

Michael Flynn's tweet wasn't actually about #PizzaGate, but his son is now defending the baseless conspiracy theory — This post has been updated. — There are so many fake tales floating around about the 2016 election that they appear to be getting confused for one another.
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Incoming national security adviser's son, who peddles conspiracies, has a government transition email — (CNN)The son of incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn, who Sunday night peddled a false conspiracy theory about a DC pizzeria, has an official government transition email address.
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CNNMoney, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Foreign Policy, New York Times, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, Business Insider and Mediaite


Man Motivated by ‘Pizzagate’ Conspiracy Theory Arrested in Washington Gunfire
Discussion:
Mashable, The Daily Beast, Althouse, Raw Story, Washingtonian, The Hill and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »


Trump adviser on Taiwan call: 'If China doesn't like it, screw ‘em’ — President-elect Trump slams China on Twitter_00013714.jpg — (CNN)Stephen Moore, an economic adviser to Donald Trump, defended the President-elect's recent call with the president of Taiwan, saying in a local radio interview that he didn't care if it upset China.
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How Bad Was Trump's Taiwan Phone Call?
Discussion:
Hit & Run and reverbpress.com

Trump Chooses Ben Carson to Lead HUD — Ben Carson, who took Donald J. Trump on a tour of blighted neighborhoods in Detroit during the presidential campaign, including his boyhood home, has been chosen by Mr. Trump to oversee one of the government's main efforts to lift American cities …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Mother Jones, Common Dreams, AOL, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Rewire, TheBlaze and twitchy.com
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Ben Carson Lived in Public Housing, but Critics Worry Over How He Will Lead It
Discussion:
The Daily Signal and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Trump taps Ben Carson for HUD secretary
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, BizPac Review, NPR, The Root and Outside the Beltway

Trump picks Ben Carson to be HUD secretary
Discussion:
ABC News, neo-neocon, Right Wing Watch, Scared Monkeys and Business Insider


Judge orders immediate start of Michigan recount — UPDATE: Clerks scrambling to start Michigan recount by noon Monday — A federal judge early Monday morning ordered a recount of Michigan's presidential ballots to begin at noon on Monday, and for the state to “assemble necessary staff …
Discussion:
Common Dreams, Occupy Democrats, Associated Press and Hot Air
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In an anti-recount filing, Trump's lawyers say the election was ‘not tainted by fraud or mistake’ — Three leading Republicans were asked over the weekend whether or not they agreed with Donald Trump's tweeted assertion that millions of voters had cast illegal ballots (part of Trump's effort to rebut his popular vote loss).
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Gothamist, Politico, Mother Jones, Hot Air, Law News, CBS News and The Guardian
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GOP wagers Americans don't care about Trump's conflicts — Republicans see the same ethically challenged complications lurking in Donald Trump's business portfolio that Democrats are squawking about. They just think Americans don't care about these entanglements anymore.
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Magazine, Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo
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Top House Republican won't back Trump's tariff proposal
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo


Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners Respond to the Statement from the Department of the Army — DALLAS & NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ETP) and Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (NYSE: SXL) announced that the Administration's statement today …
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The Lesson from Standing Rock: Organizing and Resistance Can Win
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ABC News, The Daily Caller and AOL

Rogue electors brief Clinton camp on anti-Trump plan — Advocates of the long-shot bid to turn the Electoral College against Donald Trump have been in contact with close allies of Hillary Clinton, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions, but the Clinton camp …
Discussion:
Political Wire