memeorandum: The ObamaCare Cleanup Begins (Wall Street Journal)

11:30 AM ET, February 8, 2017

Top Items:

Republicans vote to rebuke Elizabeth Warren, saying she impugned Sessions's character — Senate Republicans passed a party-line rebuke Tuesday night of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for a speech opposing attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions, striking down her words for impugning the Alabama senator's character.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run, The Week, TheBlaze, MSNBC, No More Mister Nice Blog, Power Line, New York Magazine, NBC News, Mediaite, Mashable and Gothamist

Eric Bradner / CNN:

Silencing Elizabeth Warren backfires on Senate GOP — Washington (CNN)The Senate has silenced Elizabeth Warren. — And by doing so, majority Republicans just handed the liberal firebrand a megaphone — further elevating President Donald Trump's fiercest and most prominent critic in the Senate and turning her into a Democratic hero.

Discussion: The Hill, Politicus USA, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, The Slot, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New York Times, Washington Post, Vox, Political Insider blog, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.

During the debate on whether to make:

During the debate on whether to make Jeff Sessions the next Attorney General, I tried to read a letter from Coretta Scott King on the floor of the Senate. The letter, from 30 years ago, urged the Senate to reject the nomination of Jeff Sessions to a federal judgeship.

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, The Guardian, The Week and Mashable

Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:

Republican Senators Vote to Formally Silence Elizabeth Warren — WASHINGTON — Republican senators voted on Tuesday to formally silence a Democratic colleague for impugning a peer, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, by condemning his nomination for attorney general while reading a letter from Coretta Scott King.

Discussion: American Prospect, Common Dreams, Taylor Marsh, Business Insider, The Week, The American Mirror, The Last Tradition and Daily Wire

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

Mitch McConnell Sees ‘High Level of Satisfaction’ With Trump Administration — WASHINGTON — Although there is plenty of anxiety in Washington about the shaky early performance of the Trump administration, don't count Senator Mitch McConnell among the hand wringers.

Discussion: Axios and Hot Air

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

McConnell: Warren's blistering Sessions speech broke Senate rules — (D-Mass.) of breaking the Senate's rules with a blistering floor speech against Sen. Jeff Sessions — 's attorney general nomination. — The Senate's top Republican interrupted Warren's speech to argue that she was violating …

Discussion: Vox, Raw Story, Politico, Oregonian, ABC News, alan.com and RedState

Marc Caputo / Politico:
Alabama governor leaning toward ‘Big Luther’ Strange to replace Sessions

Discussion: al.com, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

NBC News:
Warren Silenced For Reading Coretta Scott King Letter at Sessions Debate

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, AOL, NBC News, Politicus USA, Washington Free Beacon, Fox News Insider, Econbrowser, Informed Comment, Boing Boing, The Moderate Voice, Business Insider, Jamie Dupree and IJR

CNN:
The Coretta Scott King letter Elizabeth Warren was trying to read

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CBS New York, The Week and The Guardian

USA Today:
Why Elizabeth Warren was accused of ‘impugning’ Jeff Sessions

Discussion: Axios, Raw Story and Politicus USA

YouTube:
Sen. McConnell Refuses to Let Sen. Warren Speak About Attorney General Nominee Sessions

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Willamette Week, The Guardian, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, BostonGlobe.com, Daily Wire, Mother Jones, Mediaite, BizPac Review, Politico and Daily Kos

Derek Hawkins / Washington Post:
The silencing of Elizabeth Warren and an old Senate rule prompted by a fistfight

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Vox, CNN, NPR, The Week, TheBlaze, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite

Christina Wilkie / The Huffington Post:

Leaks Suggest Trump's Own Team Is Alarmed By His Conduct — White House leaks are common, but leakers suggesting the president might be unfit for office are not. — S.V. Date — Senior White House Correspondent, The Huffington Post — White House reporter, The Huffington Post

Discussion: The Week, Washington Post, Business Insider, New York Magazine, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mother Jones, Boing Boing, rubber hose, Daily Kos, AOL and Daily Wire

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Appeals Court Panel Appears Skeptical of Trump's Travel Ban — WASHINGTON — A three-judge federal appeals panel voiced skepticism Tuesday at the Justice Department's broad defense of President Trump's targeted travel ban during arguments over the president's power to impose immigration restrictions based on national security concerns.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Los Angeles Times, Fox News Insider, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Magazine, alan.com, Axios, Althouse and Boing Boing

Jordan Fabian / The Hill: Trump attacks judges weighing travel ban

Emily Shapiro / ABC News:
Trump Attacks Travel Ban Challengers, Says ‘Bad High School Student’ Would Understand Order

Discussion: Jamie Dupree

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Trump offers his own oral argument defending travel ban

Discussion: ABC News

CNN: Trump to judges: Even a ‘bad high school student’ would rule in my favor

Patricia Murphy / The Daily Beast:

Sean Spicer Makes Up Atlanta Islamist Terror Attack — Kellyanne Conway's “Bowling Green massacre” isn't the only case of a White House aide pointing to a terror attack that didn't happen to make the case for President Donald Trump's controversial executive order limiting travel from seven majority-Muslim countries.

Discussion: Gothamist, Political Insider blog, CNN, Mediaite, The Week, Mashable, No More Mister Nice Blog, ThinkProgress, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Washington Post and The Concourse

Jim Acosta / CNN:
White House ramping up search for communications director after Spicer's rocky start

Discussion: RedState, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Mediaite, Hot Air, New York Magazine, Axios, Political Wire and TVNewser

New York Times:

Yemen Withdraws Permission for U.S. Antiterror Ground Missions — WASHINGTON — Angry at the civilian casualties incurred last month in the first commando raid authorized by President Trump, Yemen has withdrawn permission for the United States to run Special Operations ground missions …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, CNN, Political Wire, Defense One, Washington Post, Hot Air, alan.com, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, The Week, Mother Jones and Balloon Juice

Jake Sherman / Politico:

Poll: Democrats want leaders to block Trump — Democratic voters are sending a clear message to their elected officials in Washington: Stop Donald Trump at all costs. — A new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows that just 34 percent of Democratic voters want their party's elected officials …

Discussion: RedState, Morning Consult, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, Political Wire and The Week

Laura Litvan / Bloomberg: Schumer Says Gorsuch Avoided His Questions ‘Like the Plague’

Ryan Browne / CNN:

First on CNN: US military to rent space in Trump Tower — Washington (CNN)The US military is looking to lease space in Trump Tower. — “In order to meet official mission requirements, the Department of Defense is working through appropriate channels and in accordance with all applicable legal requirements …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Daily Kos and The Week

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Department of Defense looks to rent space in Trump Tower

Discussion: twitchy.com

The Huffington Post:

GOP Senator On Obamacare Replacement: 'There's Not Any Real Discussion Taking Place Right Now' — Republicans are finding it much harder to craft health care reform replacement than it was to campaign on repeal. — Washington bureau chief for The Huffington Post

Discussion: The Atlantic, TheBlaze, The Week, Politico and New York Times

Wall Street Journal: The ObamaCare Cleanup Begins

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Tapper a GOP target after grilling Conway — A source with direct knowledge tells Axios that Republican operatives were urging at least one conservative-friendly website to write Jake Tapper hit pieces yesterday after his hard-hitting interview with Kellyanne Conway.

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite, BizPac Review, New York Magazine, Mashable, RedState and Talking Points Memo, more at Mediagazer »

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story: ‘What a president says is more important than a candidate’: Jake Tapper goes off on Trump for lying

Margaret Talev / Bloomberg:

Prominent Republicans Push Carbon Tax in White House Meeting — Former White House advisers, cabinet secretaries pressing tax — Environmental regulations would be dropped in exchange — A group of prominent Republicans and business leaders, including former Treasury Secretaries Hank Paulson …

Discussion: Axios

John Schwartz / New York Times:
‘A Conservative Climate Solution’: Republican Group Calls for Carbon Tax

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Climate Home, Washington Post and Grist

Julian Zelizer / Washington Post:

Protests didn't hurt Reagan, and they're not going to stop Trump — Low approval ratings and public outcry can work in favor of outsider politicians. … Demonstrators march against President Trump's executive order fast-tracking the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

CBS News:

A note from Charlie Rose — Almost 15 years ago skilled surgeons replaced my aorta valve with a new replacement valve. It has served me well enabling me to live the vigorous, full, complete life you are all so familiar with. No one loves life more than I do.

Discussion: Washington Post and WHNT-TV

NorthJersey.com:

Secaucus transgender boy returns to Scouting — MAPLEWOOD — In a moment of historic significance, Joe Maldonado put on a Cub Scout uniform on Tuesday night as he became a member of Pack 20 in Essex County while his mother held back tears — one week after the Boy Scouts of America changed …

Discussion: Associated Press

Mike Allen / Axios:

Trump's secrets — President Trump has begun reaching out to veterans of earlier White Houses for advice, as he seeks to bring more order and stability to a chaotic internal power structure that relies on competing and sometimes conflicting centers of gravity.

NEllingsen / Lawfare:

It's Not Foreigners Who are Plotting Here: What the Data Really Show — Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson meets with Minneapolis Muslim Community / Department of Homeland Security — A little more than a week ago, Benjamin Wittes posted a piece about the malevolence …

Alison Griswold / Quartz:

Pittsburgh has finally realized it's in a toxic relationship with Uber — The honeymoon is over for Uber and Pittsburgh. After bending over backward to accommodate the ride-sharing company's driverless car ambitions, city officials are tired of being taken for granted.