memeorandum: Why the GOP Congress will be the most unproductive in 164 years (David Faris/The Week)

10:05 PM ET, July 18, 2017

Top Items:

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Trump calls on Senate to end filibuster after healthcare defeat — President Trump on Tuesday called on the Senate to end the legislative filibuster after the collapse of the Republican healthcare plan. — “The Senate must go to a 51 vote majority instead of current 60 votes.

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, Washington Post, Axios, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, Deadline, ThinkProgress, CNBC, Vox, NBC News, Politicus USA, Washington Times, Daily Wire, IJR, The Daily Gazette, The Week, Joe.My.God. and FOX News Radio

Washington Post:

'It's an insane process': How Trump and Republicans failed on their health-care bill — Vice President Pence arrived at the National Governors Association summer meeting with one mission: to revive support for the flagging Republican plan to rewrite the nation's health-care laws. — He failed.

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Trump to pitch GOP senators one last time to repeal Obamacare — President Donald Trump is trying to save the GOP's near-dead effort to repeal Obamacare. — The president has invited all 52 GOP senators to the White House for lunch on Wednesday to see if he can revive the GOP's moribund plans …

Discussion: Politicus USA, Business Insider, Daily Wire, IJR, Media Matters for America, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress and Axios

Thomas Kaplan / New York Times:

‘Plan C’ on Obamacare, Repeal Now and Replace Later, Has Collapsed — WASHINGTON — With their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in tatters, Senate leaders on Tuesday pushed to vote on a different measure that would repeal major parts of President Barack Obama's health law without …

Brad Reed / Raw Story:
Internet brutally mocks Trump's claim that failed GOP health bill was ‘impressive by any standard’

Discussion: New York Magazine

Stan Collender / Forbes:
The GOP's Arrogance Was Thinking That 52 Votes Is A Majority

Discussion: Mediaite, CNN, NPR and KQED News

Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Trump aides move on after health care loss

Discussion: USA Today and Raw Story

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
McConnell: Senate to try to repeal ObamaCare next week

Discussion: RedState, Axios, Political Wire and The Last Tradition

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Senators pushed Trump to the sidelines. He happily stayed there. Republicans are paying the price.

Discussion: Business Insider

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
A Republican Party at war with itself hits the wall on health care

Discussion: Politico and Liberal Values

Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story: WATCH: Mitch McConnell whines about people celebrating the defeat of his unpopular Trumpcare bill

Rebecca Harrington / Business Insider:
A Republican senator jumped subway tracks to try to get away from reporters asking about the healthcare bill

Discussion: USA Today, AOL, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and twitchy.com

Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Trump blindsided by implosion of GOP health care bill

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, Vox, Business Insider, Axios, The Root, Raw Story and New York Times

Caitlin Owens / Axios:
Senate health care attempt may not be dead yet

Discussion: ABC News, ThinkProgress and Business Insider

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:
Senate Republicans' effort to ‘repeal and replace’ Obamacare all but collapses

Discussion: CNN, Politico, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Vox, The Hill, NPR, The Guardian, Outside the Beltway and The Mahablog

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:
White House's Sanders slams Democrats, pledges health care action at off-camera briefing

Discussion: The Week, ABC News, Rewire, IJR and Axios

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:

Trump and Putin Held a Second, Undisclosed, Private Meeting — WASHINGTON — The White House acknowledged on Tuesday that President Trump had a second, previously undisclosed, private conversation with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia this month, raising new questions about their relationship …

Discussion: Business Insider, Mediaite and IJR

Washington Post:

Trump and Putin had a previously undisclosed hour-long meeting at the Group of 20 summit in Germany — The second meeting, unreported at the time, took place at a dinner for G20 leaders, a senior administration official said. Halfway through the meal, President Trump left his seat to occupy …

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Trump, Putin had second, undisclosed talk at G-20 — President Trump held a second, informal talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in Hamburg, Germany, earlier this month, according to Tuesday reports. — The White House confirmed with CNN …

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, Axios, The Guardian, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and Mother Jones

Washington Post:

Trump had undisclosed hour-long meeting with Putin at G-20 summit — After his much-publicized, two-and a quarter-hour meeting early this month with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Germany, President Trump met informally with the Russian leader for an additional hour later the same day.

Discussion: The Atlantic and ThinkProgress

NBC News:
Trump, Putin Had Second, Previously Undisclosed Meeting at G-20 Summit

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Political Wire, Business Insider, The Daily Caller and Joe.My.God.

Steve Holland / Reuters:
Trump to nominate Huntsman as Russia ambassador: White House

Discussion: Political Wire

Elizabeth Preza / Raw Story: REVEALED: Trump and Putin engaged in second private meeting at G-20 summit

CNN:
Trump, Putin met for nearly an hour in second G20 meeting

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Cristiano Lima / Politico:
Trump to nominate Huntsman as Russian ambassador

Discussion: Axios

Steve Holland / Reuters:
Trump, Putin held a second, undisclosed meeting at G20 summit

Discussion: Vox

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Eighth person in Trump Tower meeting is identified — An American-based employee of a Russian real estate company took part in a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between a Russian lawyer and Donald Trump Jr., bringing to eight the number of known participants at the session that has emerged …

The Daily Beast:

Donald Trump Jr. Met Russian Accused of Laundering $1.4 Billion … An accused Russian money launderer representing a Kremlin-friendly oligarch has been reportedly identified as the eighth person at a meeting with Donald Trump Jr. last June. — Irakly Kaveladze was a guest …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, ThinkProgress, The Guardian, The Week, Business Insider, Daily Kos, RedState, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and CNN

Pamela Brown / CNN:

First on CNN: Special Counsel investigators seeking info from ‘eighth man’ at Trump Tower meeting — Washington (CNN)Special counsel investigators are seeking information from the still-publicly unidentified eighth person who attended the June 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, USA Today, Politico, CANNONFIRE, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, TheStreet, Vox, RedState, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, IJR, Joe.My.God. and Little Green Footballs

Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times: The Master of ‘Kompromat’ Believed to Be Behind Trump Jr.'s Meeting

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Health Care a Mine Field for Republicans; Many Trump Voters in Denial on Russia — PPP's newest national poll continues to find that health care is a mine field for the GOP, while most Trump voters are just choosing not to acknowledge the Russia story. — Only 20% of voters support …

Discussion: AOL and AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …

Mark Murray / NBC News:

NBC News/WSJ Poll: Just 12% in Key Trump Counties Back GOP Health Care Effort — Just 12 percent of Americans living in the counties that fueled Donald Trump's win in the 2016 presidential election support the Republican Party's efforts on health care, according to results …

Discussion: Axios

James Kirchick / Politico:
How the GOP Became the Party of Putin

Discussion: Shareblue, Vox, Newsweek, Washington Post, The Daily Signal, CBS New York, ThinkProgress, RedState, IJR, Fox News Insider, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, Deadline, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

David Faris / The Week:

Why the GOP Congress will be the most unproductive in 164 years — Our free email newsletters … Just six months ago, it looked like the Republican Party was about to go on a legislative blitzkrieg, shredding law after law passed by the Obama administration.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Daily Wire

Tarini Parti / BuzzFeed:
Trump Is Showing The World What A Weak American Presidency Looks Like

Discussion: CNN

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

Fox News' Sean Hannity calls colleague Shep Smith ‘so anti-Trump’ — Is the chief news anchor at Fox News anti-Trump? Sean Hannity thinks so. — Speaking on his radio show Monday afternoon with White House official Sebastian Gorka, Hannity said Shepard Smith was “a friend,” but someone who was no fan of President Donald Trump.

Discussion: Raw Story, TheBlaze, Washington Free Beacon, TVNewser, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Justin Baragona / Mediaite:
Shep Drops ‘Journalist’ Card in Response to Hannity: ‘Sometimes Facts Are Displeasing’

Discussion: @politifact and Raw Story

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Sanders, Fox reporter exchange jabs over off-camera briefings

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite, Deadline, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon and TVNewser

KHQ-TV:

17-year-old Spokane girl pulls gun on home intruder on the run from Spokane County deputies — A 17-year-old north Spokane County girl protected herself and her home with her dad's gun when a suspected car thief on the run from Spokane County deputies came into her house Monday morning.

Discussion: TheBlaze, Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Bearing Arms, The Daily Caller and The Federalist

John McCormick / Bloomberg:

Finally, a Poll Trump Will Like: Clinton Is Even More Unpopular — Views on Democratic nominee harden since exit from spotlight — Obama now as popular as he was in first year in White House — For a president with historically low poll numbers, Donald Trump can at least find solace in this: Hillary Clinton is doing worse.