memeorandum: Remittances to Mexico jump by most in 10 years after Trump win (Alexandra Alper/Reuters)

8:00 AM ET, January 3, 2017

Top Items:

With No Warning, House Republicans Vote to Hobble Independent Ethics Office — House Republicans, defying their top leaders, voted Monday to significantly curtail the power of an independent ethics office set up in 2008 in the aftermath of corruption scandals that sent three members of Congress to jail.

Discussion: The Resurgent, Mediaite, The Democratic Daily and Unqualified Offerings

John Bresnahan / Politico:

House Republicans gut their own oversight — In one of their first moves of the new Congress, House Republicans have voted to gut their own independent ethics watchdog — a huge blow to cheerleaders of congressional oversight and one that dismantles major reforms adopted after the Jack Abramoff scandal.

Discussion: ABC News, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Vox and RedState

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:

House Republicans vote to rein in independent ethics office — Defying the wishes of their top leaders, House Republicans voted behind closed doors Monday night to rein the independent ethics office created eight years ago in the wake of a series of embarrassing congressional scandals.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Democratic Daily and The Week

CNN:

House GOP guts ethics panel — Washington (CNN)House Republicans voted Monday night in favor of a proposal that would weaken Congress' outside ethics watchdog and remove its independence. — Republican Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte's proposal would place the independent Office of Congressional Ethics …

Discussion: Raw Story and Balloon Juice

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

House Republicans Vote to Rein In Serious Investigation of Republicans — When Republicans control Congress and a Democrat is president, it's all investigation all the time. It doesn't matter if any of the stuff they're investigating is genuinely scandalous or not. They just keep at it, month after endless month.

Discussion: BuzzFeed and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Bloomberg:

House GOP Votes to Strip Ethics Office of Independent Status — Surprise move by Republicans comes day before new Congress — Pelosi says vote contradicts Trump's ‘drain the swamp’ pledge — House Republicans abruptly voted Monday night to effectively weaken the independent Office …

Discussion: Politico and The Daily Caller

Rachana Pradhan / Politico:

Dems, GOP get ready for showdown on Obamacare — The long-standing fight over Obamacare's repeal is about to become a battle over messaging. — Instead of doing a victory lap after they start dismantling the law in January, Republicans will not only have to rewrite a massive law …

Melanie Zanona / The Hill:

Pelosi: Ball in GOP court on ObamaCare replacement — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Monday that the ball is in the GOP's court when it comes to replacing ObamaCare, according to reports. — Pelosi didn't necessarily rule out working with the GOP on replacing President …

Discussion: TheBlaze and LifeNews.com

Benjamin Siegel / ABC News:

Congress Prepares to Battle Over Obamacare — The GOP-led House and Senate returns to Washington Tuesday to start dismantling President Obama's signature healthcare law. — Republicans, who vowed during the election to replace the Affordable Care Act, are planning early votes to repeal elements …

Discussion: Political Wire and TheBlaze

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Repeal and Delay Is Forever

Discussion: xpostfactoid, Balloon Juice and American Prospect

Wall Street Journal:

Robert Lighthizer Is Expected to Be Named U.S. Trade Representative — Donald Trump is also considering ways to bring his daughter and son-in-law into the administration — Donald Trump is expected to name Robert Lighthizer, a former trade official under President Ronald Reagan …

Discussion: Washington Post and RedState

ABC News:
Trump Expected to Name Lawyer Lighthizer as Top Trade Rep

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire and Associated Press

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:
Trump Said to Pick Lighthizer for U.S. Trade Representative

Discussion: The Week

Oren Liebermann / CNN:

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu questioned in corruption probe — Jerusalem (CNN)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was interrogated Monday night on suspicion of corruption in a criminal investigation authorized by the nation's attorney general. — Netanyahu is suspected …

Discussion: The Week

Neri Zilber / The Daily Beast:
Police Grill Benjamin Netanyahu on Corruption Charges

Discussion: The Resurgent

BBC:
Israeli police question PM Netanyahu in corruption probe

Discussion: RedState

Luke Baker / Reuters:
Investigators question Israel's Netanyahu over alleged receipt of gifts

Discussion: Law News, Associated Press and Oliver Willis

Melanie Zanona / The Hill:

Remittances to Mexico spike after November election — Remittances to Mexico saw the biggest spike in more than a decade during the month that President-elect Donald Trump — was elected, Reuters reported Monday. — Mexican citizens in the U.S. sent home nearly $2.4 billion in transfers in November …

Alexandra Alper / Reuters:
Remittances to Mexico jump by most in 10 years after Trump win

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Rebecca Morin / Politico:

Trump: North Korea will be stopped — President-elect Donald Trump tweeted Monday evening that North Korea won't reach the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon that will be able to hit the United States. — “North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing …

Discussion: ABC News and Political Wire

CNN:
Missile boast puts North Korea threat on Trump's front burner

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Andrew / Statistical Modeling …:
About that bogus claim that North Carolina is no longer a democracy . . .

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

CNN:

Adviser contradicts Trump: Russians hacked the US — Washington (CNN)A top adviser to President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he thinks the Russians were involved in election-related hacking of the US — a very different view than that held by the incoming administration.

Discussion: Post On Politics, alan.com and The Week

Mike Wehner / BGR:
CNN uses screenshot from ‘Fallout 4’ to show how Russians hack things

Discussion: Infowars and Raw Story

Alex Stedman / Variety:

Fox News' Sean Hannity Lands Interview With WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange — Sean Hannity has landed a sit-down interview with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that will air Tuesday on Fox News Channel, the network announced Monday. — According to a Fox News release …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Gateway Pundit

Ian Schwartz / RealClearPolitics:
Assange To Hannity: Source For WikiLeaks Was Not Russian Government

Discussion: The Last Tradition

Paul Dallison / Politico:

Nude Neptune sunk by Facebook's privacy controls — A statue of Neptune in the Italian city of Bologna has fallen foul of Facebook's privacy policies, which claim it is “explicitly sexual.” — According to the Telegraph, local writer Elisa Barbari chose the 16th-century statue …

Nick Squires / Telegraph:
Facebook ‘censors’ nude statue of sea god Neptune, a well-known Renaissance symbol of northern Italian city

Discussion: The Guardian, The Times of Israel and Raw Story

Timothy W. Martin / Wall Street Journal:

The Champions of the 401(k) Lament the Revolution They Started — The dominant vehicle for retirement savings has fallen short of its early backers' rosy expectations; longer life spans, high fees and stock-market declines — Herbert Whitehouse was one of the first in the U.S. to suggest workers use a 401(k).