memeorandum: New Republican-led Congress lays groundwork for Trump era (Richard Cowan/Reuters)

8:45 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 Hill, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Common Dreams, theGrio, The Resurgent, 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, RedState and Raw Story

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, Politicus USA and Balloon Juice

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

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, The Daily Caller and Hot Air

Richard Cowan / Reuters:

New Republican-led Congress lays groundwork for Trump era — The Republican-led Congress begins a new session on Tuesday where it will start laying plans for enacting President-elect Donald Trump's agenda of tax cuts, repeal of Obamacare and the rollback of financial and environmental regulations.

Discussion: The Geller Report

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, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite

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 …

New York Times:

To Stop Trump, Democrats Can Learn From the Tea Party — Today is the first day of the 115th United States Congress. In less than three weeks, this Congress will join with President-elect Donald J. Trump to claim a mandate they do not have for policies that most Americans do not support.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Melanie Zanona / The Hill:
Pelosi: Ball in GOP court on ObamaCare replacement

Discussion: TheBlaze and LifeNews.com

Benjamin Siegel / ABC News:
Congress Prepares to Battle Over Obamacare

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

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

Peter Hasson / The Daily Caller:
Journalists Exposed By WikiLeaks Will Now Cover Trump White House

Discussion: The Geller Report

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

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

Steve Antony / The Hill:

Why Tillerson and Perry may fuel the uranium, nuclear sectors — In a world anxious about notable political shakeups, but hopeful about new paths for public policies both here at home and abroad, the U.S. nuclear sector may be reenergized under President-Elect Trump through his nomination of Rex Tillerson …

Discussion: Instapundit

Julia Edwards Ainsley / Reuters:

Exclusive: Trump team seeks agency records on border barriers, surveillance — In a wide-ranging request for documents and analysis, President-elect Donald Trump's transition team asked the Department of Homeland Security last month to assess all assets available for border wall and barrier construction.

Discussion: The Week

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).

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight