memeorandum: Turmoil Overshadows First Day of Republican-Controlled Congress (New York Times)

7:35 AM ET, January 4, 2017

Top Items:

Turmoil Overshadows First Day of Republican-Controlled Congress — WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled Congress opened the turbulent Trump era in Washington on Tuesday, as the new Senate moved instantly to begin the repeal of President Obama's signature health care law while the House descended …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, Liberal Values, Raw Story, Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, neo-neocon, DCist and IJR

Dylan Matthews / Vox:

Senate Republicans just introduced an Obamacare repeal plan Democrats can't stop — The new Congress was sworn in on Tuesday, and the first thing it did was prepare to repeal Obamacare. — Senate Budget Committee Chair Michael Enzi (R-WY) introduced a budget resolution Tuesday that includes …

Discussion: Politico, National Review, enzi.senate.gov, The Guardian, Mother Jones, NPR, STAT, Business Insider, The Democratic Daily, Hullabaloo, Instapundit, Washington Free Beacon, FiveThirtyEight and Wall Street Journal

Health Affairs Blog:

The Problems With ‘Repeal And Delay’ — Republican leaders in Congress and the incoming Trump administration have said that they plan to move quickly to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the early weeks of 2017, with a delay in the date of when key aspects of the repeal would become effective until perhaps 2019 or 2020.

Discussion: NPR and Morning Consult

Bloomberg:
Hill Republicans Try to Temper the Hopes Trump Gave His Supporters

Discussion: Politico

Wall Street Journal:
Senate Moves to Dismantle Health Law

Discussion: The Week

Ricky Young / sandiegouniontribune.com:

Congressman spent campaign funds for rabbit air travel — Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife, Margaret, who is paid $3,000 a month in campaign funds to serve as his campaign manager. (AP file/Alex Brandon) — Rep. Duncan Hunter used campaign funds to pay for $600 of airline fees to fly a family rabbit …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

David Nakamura / Washington Post:

Trump takes aim at House Republicans, and they run for cover — The Trump effect has landed forcefully on Capitol Hill. — Less than two hours after President-elect Donald Trump criticized House Republicans — in a tweet, of course — for trying to gut an ethics investigative unit …

Discussion: Vox Popoli and The Last Tradition

Greg Sargent / Washington Post: Memo to the media: Stop giving Trump the headlines he wants (Part Two)

Associated Press:
Trump Questions US Intelligence as Governing Challenges Loom

Discussion: Politico, New York Times and Infowars

Simon Maloy / Salon:
The media's Trump ethics failure: Crediting the president-elect for an anti-corruption stand he didn't make

Discussion: BostonGlobe.com, Real Clear Politics, The Week, CNN and Common Dreams

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

Megyn Kelly's Departure Is a Big Clue About the Future of Fox News — Megyn Kelly's decision to jump from Fox News to NBC resolves one of the last unanswered questions of the Roger Ailes scandal: Would she stay or would she go when her contract ended? With her last show set to air on Friday …

Discussion: The Other McCain, NPR, Media Matters for America, Mediaite and Vocativ

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

Megyn Kelly Is Said to Be Leaving Fox News for NBC — Megyn Kelly, who arrived at Fox News 12 years ago as a television news neophyte but rose to become one of its two biggest stars, has decided to leave the network to take on a broad new role at NBC News for an undisclosed amount, people briefed on the negotiations said on Tuesday.

Megyn Kelly / Facebook:
Over a dozen years ago I started at Fox News in a job that would change my life.

Discussion: Politico, The Last Tradition, IJR, Hot Air, Full Feed, Raw Story, Gothamist, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, AOL, Mediaite and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, more at Mediagazer »

Los Angeles Times:

Mass murderer Charles Manson seriously ill, moved to hospital, sources say — Charles Manson and other members of his so-called family were convicted of killing actress Sharon Tate and six other people during a bloody rampage in the Los Angeles area during two August nights in 1969.

Discussion: Fox News, CBS Los Angeles, Telegraph, New York's PIX11, KTLA, WPMT FOX43, Associated Press and FOX6Now.com

TMZ.com:
Charles Manson — Temporarily Out of Prison Hospitalized

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Daily News and RedState

CNBC:

Omarosa Manigault joining Trump's White House staff to focus on public engagement: AP — Omarosa Manigault is getting hired. — A memorable contestant in the first season of “The Apprentice,” Manigault is expected to join President-elect Donald Trump's White House staff, according to two people familiar with the decision.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, IJR, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, TheBlaze, Fox News Insider, New York Magazine and Political Wire

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:

Schumer: Trump ‘really dumb’ for attacking intelligence agencies … New Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump — is “being really dumb” by taking on the Intelligence Community and its assessments on Russia's cyber activities.

Discussion: Politico, The Geller Report, NBC News, Political Wire and LifeNews.com

Jason Silverstein / New York Daily News:

NAACP occupies Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions' Mobile office, calls for him to withdraw U.S. Attorney General nomination — A protest is in Sessions. — More than a dozen NAACP members occupied the Mobile office of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions Tuesday, calling for him to turn down his controversial nomination …

Discussion: Power Line, Law News and Washington Monthly

Howard Koplowitz / al.com:
NAACP occupies Jeff Sessions' Mobile office in protest of AG nomination

Sari Horwitz / Washington Post:
More than 1,100 law school professors nationwide oppose Sessions's nomination as attorney general

Discussion: TalkLeft and The Week

Yashar Ali / New York Magazine:

Bill and Hillary Clinton Will Attend the Trump Inauguration — Bill and Hillary Clinton have decided to attend the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, according to two sources with knowledge of their plans. The Clintons will join former Presidents George W. Bush …

Discussion: New York Post, AOL, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, Politico, Mediaite, IJR, DCist, New York Times, The Times of Israel and The Daily Caller

CNN:
Bill, Hillary Clinton to attend Trump Inauguration

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Point, The Gateway Pundit, The Root, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week, TheBlaze and Talking Points Memo

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
George W. Bush to attend Trump's inauguration

Discussion: Politico, The Resurgent and RedState

Chris Sommerfeldt / New York Daily News:

SEE IT: Donald Trump appears alongside convicted felon with mobster ties at New Year's Eve party — President-elect Donald Trump rang in the new year together with Joseph “Joey No Socks” Cinque — a convicted felon with ties to notorious Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, a recently released video has revealed.

Discussion: The Week, Hullabaloo, Post On Politics, Mediaite, The Guardian and Political Wire

Brendan Gauthier / Salon:
Donald Trump spends New Year's Eve with convicted felon, Dubai billionaire: “The taxes are coming down”

Discussion: Post On Politics, Daily Kos and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Jen Juneau / People.com:

Janet Jackson Welcomes Son Eissa — It's a boy! — Janet Jackson and husband Wissam Al Mana welcomed their first child, a son, on Tuesday, Jan. 3, her rep confirms to PEOPLE exclusively. — “Janet Jackson and husband Wissam Al Mana are thrilled to welcome their new son Eissa Al Mana into the world …

Discussion: East Bay Times, ABC News, AOL, Mashable, The Week, The Huffington Post, TMZ.com, New York Magazine and theGrio

Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook:

Every year I take on a personal challenge to learn new things and grow outside of my work. In recent years, I've run 365 miles, built a simple AI for my home, read 25 books and learned Mandarin. — My personal challenge for 2017 is to have visited and met people in every state in the US by the end of the year.

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Guardian, The Next Web, Engadget, The Week, Mashable, Business Insider and New York Magazine

Marisa M. Kashino / Washingtonian:

Ivanka Trump Will Move into a House in Kalorama — Washington Fine Properties co-owner William F.X. Moody tells Washingtonian that Ivanka Trump has completed a deal for a house in DC. A team of Washington Fine Properties agents represented Trump. The firm also represented the house's owner in the transaction.

Discussion: BizPac Review, AOL, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Washington Post, Raw Story, DCist, IJR, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, TheBlaze, New York Magazine and The Week

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

U.S. Conservatives Outnumber Liberals by Narrowing Margin — PRINCETON, N.J. — Many more Americans have considered themselves politically conservative than liberal since the early 1990s. That remained the case in 2016, when an average of 36% of U.S. adults throughout the year identified themselves as conservative and 25% as liberal.

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post, Power Line, The Democratic Daily, Hot Air, The Week and Pew Research Center

Steven Shepard / Politico:

Voters want Trump to concentrate on jobs — Voters want President-elect Donald Trump to focus on bringing back manufacturing jobs from overseas and preventing more jobs from leaving the country when he takes office later this month. — A new POLITICO/Morning Consult survey reveals less enthusiasm …

Discussion: Morning Consult

KFTC-TV:

Family: Soldier attacked after Mummers Parade — PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - A soldier's mom is speaking out after a brutal attack on her son. The serviceman became a target for a violent group after the Mummers parade. He is now in the hospital with a long recovery ahead of him. — “He's such a good kid.

Discussion: Fox News

John Kopp / PhillyVoice:
Investigation continues into mob attack on local serviceman after Mummers Parade

Discussion: IJR

Kaitlin Menza / Marie Claire:

Rockette Management Tells Dancers to “Tolerate Intolerance” — In the wake of more inauguration backlash, Madison Square Garden executive chairman James Dolan calls a meeting with the Rockettes to make his stance clear. — There's been an unusual amount of turmoil behind the scenes at Radio City Music Hall this Christmas season.