memeorandum: Dems escalate anti-Trump offensive (Byron York/Washington Examiner)

4:30 AM ET, February 1, 2017

Top Items:

Neal K. Katyal / New York Times:

Why Liberals Should Back Neil Gorsuch — I am hard-pressed to think of one thing President Trump has done right in the last 11 days since his inauguration. Until Tuesday, when he nominated an extraordinary judge and man, Neil Gorsuch, to be a justice on the Supreme Court.

Discussion: BostonGlobe.com, RedState, VDARE, twitchy.com, Power Line and Axios

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Trump picks Colo. appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court — President Trump selected Colorado federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch as his Supreme Court nominee on Tuesday, opting in the most important decision of his young presidency for a highly credentialed favorite …

Discussion: NPR, Politico, Patterico's Pontifications, The Stranger … and The Week

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Who is Neil Gorsuch? — What you need to know about Trump's extraordinarily conservative nominee for the Supreme Court. — Judge Neil Gorsuch is Republican nobility—the son of Anne Gorsuch Burford, who spent her brief tenure as President Reagan's EPA administrator cutting staff …

Discussion: New York Times, The Atlantic, LifeNews.com, Mother Jones, Los Angeles Times, Politico, Washington Post, USA Today, STAT, Boing Boing, SCOTUSblog, DCist, Vox, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Guardian and NBC News

Ramesh Ponnuru / National Review:

Neil Gorsuch: A Worthy Heir to Scalia — Judge Neil Gorsuch (Federalist Society/YouTube) — Donald Trump will nominate a textualist and an originalist Supreme Court justice in the vein of Antonin Scalia. — President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court will be Neil Gorsuch …

Discussion: Slate, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, NPR, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg, Fox News, Economist, USA Today, Vox, SCOTUSblog, Politico, Axios, TheBlaze, Raw Story, BuzzFeed, Above the Law, Reuters, New York's PIX11 and Hot Air

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Ayotte to lead White House team shepherding Supreme Court nominee — The White House has assembled a team of political veterans with deep experience navigating the Senate to help shepherd President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court. — Leading the effort will be former senator Kelly Ayotte …

Discussion: Political Wire

Eric Bradner / CNN:

Pelosi on Gorsuch: ‘A very hostile appointment’ — Pelosi says Gorsuch is a ‘hostile appointment’ — (CNN)House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi blasted President Donald Trump's newly named Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch as “a very hostile appointment” and “a very bad decision …

Discussion: Mediaite and twitchy.com

CNN:

First on CNN: Trump bringing Supreme Court favorites to Washington — (CNN)The two judges who have been considered the top finalists to be President Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court — Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman — are being brought to Washington ahead of tonight's White House announcement, sources tell CNN.

Discussion: Denver Post, Business Insider, New York Magazine, Mediaite, The Atlantic, Raw Story, IJR, The Verge, Engadget, Heat Street, The Guardian, Hot Air, WAVY-TV, Vox, Discourse.net, The Week, RedState, The Daily Caller, Instapundit, Political Wire and Axios

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
In Judge Neil Gorsuch, an Echo of Scalia in Philosophy and Style

Discussion: The Nation, The Week, Forbes, The Daily Signal, LGBTQ Nation, Mediaite, Business Insider, Washington Post and New Urban Legends

Matt Vespa / Townhall.com:
War: Senate Democrats Prepare To Filibuster Trump's SCOTUS Pick No Matter What

Discussion: Politico, Slate, New York Times and Fox News Insider

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
A Jarring New Level of Confrontation and Conflict Hits Washington

Discussion: American Power

New York Times:
It's ‘The Apprentice, Supreme Court Edition,’ as Trump Summons Finalists to White House

Ariane de Vogue / CNN:
President Trump nominates Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court

Discussion: Washington Post, TheBlaze, USA Today, IJR and alan.com

New York Times:
Trump Nominates Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, The Federalist, Hit & Run, electionlawblog.org, The American Conservative, Mediaite, Raw Story, VDARE and Political Wire

David Weigel / Washington Post:
Progressives cheer Democratic obstruction — and aim at Supreme Court

Discussion: Business Insider, New York Times, Mediaite, Cincinnati.com and The Atlantic

Benny Johnson / IJR:
Exclusive: President Trump's Supreme Court Pick, Confirmed by Two High-Ranking Officials

Discussion: Townhall.com, Above the Law, Business Insider, Hot Air, RedState, KTLA, Power Line and Vox Popoli

Brent Kendall / Wall Street Journal: Judge Neil Gorsuch Backs Scalia's ‘Originalist’ Approach

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Neil Gorsuch is Trump's SCOTUS nominee. Background, bio, facts and political views

Discussion: Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, ABC News, TheBlaze and Axios

Amy Lange / WJBK-TV:

Detroit family caught in Iraq travel ban, mom dies waiting to come home — DETROIT (WJBK) - A local business owner flies to Iraq to bring his mother back home to the US for medical treatment. But under President Trump's ban on immigration and travel from seven predominately Muslim nations, he was forced to leave his family behind.

Discussion: The Week, Engadget and Daily Kos

Chris Kahn / Reuters:

Exclusive: Only a third of Americans think Trump's travel ban will make them safer — Imposing a temporary travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim countries, President Donald Trump said the move would help protect the United States from terrorism. But less than one-third of Americans believe …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Hit & Run, Mediaite, The Week, Political Wire, Axios and Rasmussen Reports

Neil Munro / Breitbart:
Left Protests While Trump Junks Obama's Global Immigration Plan

Discussion: VDARE

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:

Trump trip canceled; Harley Davidson wasn't comfortable with likely protests — US President Donald Trump speaks to the staff at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, DC, on January 25, 2017. Trump vowed to restore “control” of US frontiers as he moved Wednesday to fulfil his pledge to …

Discussion: twitchy.com, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Boing Boing, Politicus USA, Talking Points Memo, The Week, TheBlaze, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

Hadas Gold / Politico:

White House ices out CNN — The White House has refused to send its spokespeople or surrogates onto CNN shows, effectively icing out the network from on-air administration voices. — “We're sending surrogates to places where we think it makes sense to promote our agenda,” …

Discussion: Business Insider, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, Raw Story and Political Wire

KFYR-TV:

Hoeven, Cramer say Acting Secretary of the Army has directed Corps to issue final easement for DAPL — WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator John Hoeven issued the following statement after speaking today with Vice President Pence and Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer:

Discussion: Congressman Kevin Cramer, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Stranger …, Politico and NPR

Terray Sylvester / Reuters:
Clean-up begins at Dakota pipeline protest camp

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Power Line

Wall Street Journal:

Prosecutors Weigh Child-Pornography Charges Against Anthony Weiner — Former congressman is being investigated for sexually explicit exchanges he allegedly had with a 15-year-old girl — Federal prosecutors are weighing bringing child-pornography charges against former Rep. Anthony Weiner …

Discussion: AOL, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Heat Street and Washington Times

Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Prosecutors mull child porn charges for Weiner: report

Discussion: RedState

Abigail Hauslohner / Washington Post:

Trump administration circulates more draft immigration restrictions, focusing on protecting U.S. jobs — The Trump administration is considering a plan to weed out would-be immigrants who are likely to require public assistance, as well as to deport — when possible — immigrants already living …

Discussion: Vox, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story, The Week and Hullabaloo

Sarah Kliff / Vox:

Today in Obamacare: Trump quickly changed his mind on drug prices. Expect the same on Obamacare. — If Trump's pharma comments are any clue, we have no idea what he wants on Obamacare — President Trump has apparently done some rethinking on his views of American drug pricing policy …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Business Insider, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, Axios and Raw Story

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
After meeting with pharma lobbyists, Trump drops promise to negotiate drug prices

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Washington Post

Jennifer Calfas / The Hill:

Jake Tapper airs footage of Spicer calling Trump order a ‘ban’ … CNN's Jake Tapper played footage Tuesday afternoon of White House press secretary Sean Spicer describing President Trump's executive order on immigration as a “ban” on multiple occasions. — Earlier Tuesday …

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Politicus USA, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, TheBlaze, Common Dreams, The Daily Caller, RedState, Hot Air, ThinkProgress, Fox News Insider, The Week, Coffee House, CNN and New York Magazine

Dara Lind / Vox:
Sean Spicer says Trump's immigration order isn't banning people. That's a lie.

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Hill, ABC News, Washington Post and Politico

Valerie Strauss / Washington Post:

Two Republican senators says they aren't committed to voting for Betsy DeVos on Senate floor — Two Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — said Tuesday they are not yet committed to voting for Michigan billionaire Betsy DeVos for U.S. education secretary on the Senate floor.

Discussion: Mother Jones and Vox