memeorandum: Musk's SpaceX Joins the Military (Justin Bachman/Bloomberg)

6:45 PM ET, June 12, 2017

Top Items:

Caitlin Owens / Axios:

Senate GOP won't release draft health care bill — Senate Republicans are on track to finish writing their draft health care bill this evening, but have no plans to publicly release the bill, according to two senior Senate GOP aides. — “We aren't stupid,” said one of the aides.

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Plurality Of Voters Think Trump Obstructed Justice — PPP's newest national poll finds a variety of bad news for Donald Trump in the wake of James Comey's testimony to Congress last week. 49% of voters say that they think Trump committed obstruction of justice, to just 41% who don't think he did.

Discussion: Political Wire and Business Insider

Sarah Kliff / Vox:

Obamacare is in real danger — The Affordable Care Act is in deep trouble — in Washington and large swaths of the country. — Senate Republicans began to coalesce around the framework of a plan to repeal and replace the law last week. Their plan would, like the bill the House passed in May …

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Magazine, neo-neocon, Mother Jones and Viking Pundit

Sarah Kliff / Vox:
Want to see the Senate's draft health care bill? Good luck.

Discussion: Axios, Business Insider and The Week

John Harwood / CNBC:

Trump makes bizarre claims at press event as Cabinet members take turns praising him — Trump said that few presidents have passed more legislation than he has, though Congress has passed no major legislation since he has been president — Since taking office in January …

Discussion: Vox

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

Donald Trump just held the weirdest Cabinet meeting ever — (CNN)Leave it to Donald Trump to reinvent the Cabinet meeting. — The public portion of these gatherings of all of the president's top advisers are usually staid affairs. Photographers are let in to take pictures.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Political Wire, Fox News Insider, The Week, Mediaite and twitchy.com

CNN:

Cabinet members give Trump unusual tribute — Washington (CNN)The first meeting of President Donald Trump's full Cabinet evolved into an unusual tribute session Monday as heads of his executive branch agencies hailed the opening five months of Trump's administration while the President himself listened on closely.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Laura Jarrett / CNN:
9th Circuit deals Trump travel ban another defeat

Discussion: Bloomberg, American Greatness, The Washington Journal, Little Green Footballs, Mediaite, Daily Kos, KTLA and Political Wire

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Praise for the chief: Trump's Cabinet tells him it's an ‘honor’ and ‘blessing’ to serve

Discussion: ABC News

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Trump touts ‘amazing’ progress, basks in praise of his Cabinet

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:
Trump Boasts of ‘Record-Setting’ Pace of Activity

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Louise Radnofsky / Wall Street Journal:

Secret Service Has No Audio or Transcripts of Any Tapes Made in Trump White House — The U.S. Secret Service has no audio copies or transcripts of any tapes recorded within President Donald Trump's White House, the agency said Monday.

Discussion: The Hill, The Atlantic, Axios, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Politico, Death and Taxes, Business Insider, Common Dreams, The Washington Journal, AOL, CNBC, IJR, Daily Kos, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
My Lawyers Got Trump to Admit 30 Lies Under Oath

Discussion: RedState, Shakesville, The Guardian, Techdirt, Hit & Run, Lawfare and Washington Free Beacon

Brandon Carter / The Hill:
Secret Service: We don't have any Trump White House tapes

Discussion: RedState

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Gingrich: Congress ‘should abolish’ special counsel after Comey testimony — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) slammed former FBI Director James Comey on Sunday, accusing him of manipulating the investigation into Russian election meddling and calling for Congress to dismiss the special counsel entirely.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, Daily Wire, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, Mother Jones, RedState, RealClearPolitics, Business Insider, Vox, Media Matters for America, Shareblue, TheBlaze, Washington Post, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Liberty Unyielding

Manu Raju / CNN:
Source: Sessions' plans to testify surprised Senate intelligence panel members

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, Axios, Talking Points Memo and Washington Free Beacon

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: 40 questions for Jeff Sessions

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, New York Times and Vox

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Spicer: ‘Premature’ to discuss executive privilege ahead of Sessions testimony

Discussion: Axios and Associated Press

Cody Derespina / Fox News:
Ivanka Trump surprised by ‘viciousness,’ ‘ferocity’ of father's critics

Discussion: Daily Mail and Mediaite

Liam Stack / New York Times:

Delta Air Lines and Bank of America Won't Back Trump-Like ‘Julius Caesar’ — New York's Public Theater lost support from two high-profile corporate donors, Delta Air Lines and Bank of America, on Sunday amid intense criticism of its production of Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar,” …

Alan Henry / Broadway World:
Delta Sponsored 2012 Guthrie Theater Season Which Featured Obama Inspired Julius Caesar

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, Mashable, Mediaite, arts.gov, Longreads and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Piers Morgan / Daily Mail: Hate-filled liberals seem to think Trump is such a joke that anything goes. …

Congressman Mike Quigley:

Quigley Introduces the COVFEFE Act — Legislation Expands Presidential Records Act Preservation to Include Social Media — WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Transparency Caucus, introduced the Communications …

Discussion: Vox, NPR, The Verge, Nextgov, Business Insider, AOL, Death and Taxes and The Daily Caller

Joe Uchill / The Hill:
COVFEFE Act would make social media a presidential record

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Engadget, IJR and Washington Free Beacon

Fredreka Schouten / USA Today:

Exclusive: In latest job, Jim DeMint wants to give Tea Party ‘ a new mission’ — WASHINGTON - Former South Carolina senator Jim DeMint, ousted last month as head of the Heritage Foundation think tank, is joining a fast-growing, conservative movement that is pushing states to seek …

Discussion: Axios, Political Wire, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Washington Free Beacon

Aaron C. Davis / Washington Post:

D.C. and Maryland to sue President Trump, alleging breach of constitutional oath — Attorneys general for the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland say they will sue President Trump on Monday, alleging that he has violated anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution by accepting millions …

Damian Paletta / Washington Post:

The government only has enough money to pay its bills through September, Trump administration says — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for the first time Monday said the Treasury Department only has enough money to fund the government through early September, a much earlier timeline than many analysts had projected.

Discussion: Political Wire and Raw Story

Marc Fisher / Washington Post:

When a liberal power lawyer represents the Trump family, things can get ugly — Four decades ago, soon after a president of the United States interfered in an investigation of his actions, a young lawyer named Jamie Gorelick was assigned her first big case.

Discussion: The Week, Power Line, Althouse and Political Wire

Ben Jacobs / The Guardian:

‘This needs to stop’: Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs' statement to court — Full text read to Montana court calls for end to rancorous and vile discourse, and stressed the vital role of the free press — On 24 May 2017, I was doing my job. I am a reporter.

Discussion: Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, The Washington Journal, NPR, Mediaite and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
Gianforte pleads guilty to assault in incident with reporter

Discussion: RedState, TheBlaze and IJR

New York Times:

U.S. Cyberweapons, Used Against Iran and North Korea, Are a Disappointment Against ISIS — WASHINGTON — America's fast-growing ranks of secret cyberwarriors have in recent years blown up nuclear centrifuges in Iran and turned to computer code and electronic warfare to sabotage North Korea's missile launches, with mixed results.

Discussion: Slate, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Mashable and AOL

Kelefa Sanneh / New Yorker:

The Persistence of Prog Rock — Critics think that the genre was an embarrassing dead end. So why do fans and musicians still love it? — In April, 1971, Rolling Stone reviewed the début album by a band with a name better suited to a law firm: Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

Discussion: Power Line and Althouse

Associated Press:

Gorsuch has unanimous first opinion for Supreme Court — A measure of melodic phrasing. A rigorous reading of the law at issue. A nod to the proper role of the courts. — Justice Neil Gorsuch's first Supreme Court opinion Monday stayed true to what Gorsuch promised in his nomination hearing …

Discussion: Washington Post and Politico

mypalmbeachpost:

NEW: Trump finally gets wall — to shield Air Force One at PBIA — President Donald Trump may be getting a wall. — The barrier line of yellow school buses is gone from Palm Beach International Airport, and plans are in motion to have something more permanent in place ahead of Trump's next visit to his Mar-a-Lago Club.

Discussion: Raw Story

Mike Allen / Axios:

Trump “on an island, all alone” — The spotlight has been on President Trump's legal jeopardy. But inside the small circle of top Republicans who advise this White House, there's increasing concern that future political problems are stacking up. — One of the oldest (and most trusted) …

Discussion: Raw Story

CNN:

ICE arrests in metro Detroit terrify Iraqi Christians — Iraqi Christians detained by ICE in Detroit — (CNN)A family Sunday at the beach turned out to be a nightmare for the Barash family and for metro Detroit's Chaldean population — Catholics who hail from Iraq.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Raw Story

Katie Mettler / Washington Post:

A year ago, 49 people died at Pulse nightclub. Today, Orlando remembers. — For the first time since the massacre last June, when Orlando's Pulse nightclub went from patrons' haven to nightmare in a matter of seconds, owner Barbara Poma turned on the building's outside lights Sunday …