memeorandum: The Confederate flag largely disappeared after the Civil War. The fight against civil rights brought it back. (Washington Post)

4:40 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.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Death and Taxes, Common Dreams, New York Magazine, Raw Story, Business Insider, The Week, Daily Kos, Shareblue, Politicus USA, Political Wire, New York Times, ACASignups.net and twitchy.com

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

Ryan Cooper / The Week: Republicans are closer to killing ObamaCare than you think

Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:
Cruz Goes From ‘Lucifer’ to Dealmaker in Health-Care Overhaul

Discussion: Vox

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 and Business Insider

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: Washington Post, Political Wire, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Week, Fox News Insider and Mediaite

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

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

Manu Raju / CNN:

Source: Sessions' plans to testify surprised Senate intelligence panel members — (CNN)Attorney General Jeff Sessions' letter on Saturday offering to testify before the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday caught members of the panel by surprise, and senators are concerned he's trying …

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

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

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Mail and Mediaite

Tom LoBianco / CNN:
Russia cloud settles in over Trump's White House

Discussion: Politico, Telegraph, Washington Post, IJR, Daily Wire, The Root and Talking Points Memo

Associated Press:
Sessions' testimony to Congress Tuesday to be open to public

Discussion: Politico

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Sessions to testify in open hearing before Senate Intelligence Committee

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine and IJR

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: Axios, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Political Wire, CNBC, Mediaite, Daily Kos, IJR and Washington Free Beacon

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, 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: Engadget, IJR and Washington Free Beacon

The Guardian:

Greg Gianforte sentenced to community service for assaulting Guardian reporter — Montana Republican fined $385 and spared jail after pleading guilty to assaulting Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs on the eve of Gianforte's election — Congressman-elect Greg Gianforte was sentenced to community service …

Discussion: The Washington Journal, Mediaite, Mother Jones and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, more at Mediagazer »

Ben Jacobs / The Guardian:
‘This needs to stop’: Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs' statement to court

Discussion: NPR

CNN:
Gianforte pleads guilty to assault in incident with reporter

Discussion: RedState and IJR

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,” …

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

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Trump Loses Travel Ban Ruling in Appeals Court — WASHINGTON — A second federal appeals court on Monday ruled against President Trump's revised travel ban. The decision, from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, was the latest in a string …

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway and Fast Company

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

Discussion: Bloomberg, Little Green Footballs, Political Wire, Mediaite, Daily Kos and KTLA

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 …

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, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon

Stuart Rothenberg / Inside Elections:

Almost a Must-Win for Democrats in Georgia 6 — Democratic strategists may hate the idea that they must win the June 20 special election in Georgia's 6th District, but that doesn't make it any less true. — Jon Ossoff's defeat would not tell us what will happen seventeen months …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog and New York Times

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight: Democrats Have A Slight Edge In The Georgia 6 Runoff

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, Althouse, Power Line and Political Wire

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

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:

My Lawyers Got Trump to Admit 30 Lies Under Oath — Trump sued me, then had to acknowledge 30 times during a deposition that he had lied over the years about a wide range of issues. — Donald Trump closed out last week by rumbling back into his battle against James Comey, who was FBI director until POTUS fired him.

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

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

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: Talking Points Memo, Mashable and Business Insider

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

JTA / Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

San Antonio elects progressive mayor who celebrates Jewish heritage — WASHINGTON — San Antonio elected Ron Nirenberg, an insurgent progressive and the son of a Jewish father, as mayor. — Nirenberg, a councilman, defeated Ivy Taylor, the incumbent mayor, 55-45 percent in voting in the south-central Texas city on Saturday.

Kwegyirba Croffie / CNN:

New Jersey high school under fire for erasing Trump slogans from yearbook — New Jersey parents are complaining their kids' support for Donald Trump was erased from a high school yearbook — School superintendent: “There is nothing in our student dress code that would prevent a student from expressing his or her political views”