Top Items:


Health Care Overhaul Collapses as Two Republican Senators Defect — WASHINGTON — Two more Republican senators declared on Monday night that they would oppose the Senate Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, killing, for now, a seven-year-old promise to overturn President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement.
RELATED:


Two more GOP senators defect on healthcare bill — (Utah) announced on Monday night they will not support taking up a bill repealing and replacing ObamaCare, effectively blocking the legislation. — “This closed-door process has yielded the [bill], which fails to repeal the Affordable Care Act or address healthcare's rising costs.
Discussion:
Politicus USA, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, FOX31 Denver and TheBlaze


GOP health care bill collapses — President Donald Trump's top legislative priority was dealt a potentially fatal blow Monday night as two more Republican senators announced their opposition to the party's health care overhaul. — Trump quickly called on Republicans to simply repeal Obamacare …


After O'Care Plan Falters, McConnell Says He'll Push For Vote On Repeal Only — Not long after the defections of two more Senate Republicans made the GOP Obamacare replacement bill dead in the water, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced Monday night he would let members vote for a …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Axios, CNBC, Political Wire, CNN, FiveThirtyEight and First Draft


Sen. Mike Lee to Vote No on Senate Health Bill — WASHINGTON - Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Monday regarding the Better Care Reconciliation Act: — “After conferring with trusted experts regarding the latest version of the Consumer Freedom Amendment …
Discussion:
Fox News, The Atlantic, Vox, Refinery29, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, TheBlaze, ABC News, twitchy.com and IJR

Two more Senate Republicans oppose health-care bill, leaving it without enough votes to pass
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Weekly Standard


BCRA is dead but Obamacare repeal is still alive
Discussion:
The Texas Observer

NY attorney general threatens suit over ObamaCare repeal
Discussion:
Politico and The Daily Caller

Two GOP senators break ranks on health care, sinking bill for now
Discussion:
The Hill and The Gateway Pundit


The Trumps and the Truth — The best defense against future revelations is radical transparency. — Even Donald Trump might agree that a major reason he won the 2016 election is because voters couldn't abide Hillary Clinton's legacy of scandal, deception and stonewalling.
Discussion:
Raw Story
RELATED:


Trump Jr. attorney offers details about 8th person at meeting — Trump shifts focus from Russia investigation — (CNN)Donald Trump Jr.'s attorney, Alan Futerfas, has told CNN he has spoken by phone to the eighth person in the room during the meeting at Trump Tower in June 2016.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs and The Daily Caller


Who was the 8th person in Trump Jr.'s meeting with Russians?
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon

Christie on Trump Jr. meeting: 'None of it's positive'
Discussion:
ABC News, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, Mediaite and Axios

What Did Trump Know About His Son's Meeting, and When Did He Know It?
Discussion:
Raw Story, NPR and Talking Points Memo

Trump climbs into firetruck at ‘Made in America’ event
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite, TMZ.com, HuffPost and Wall Street Journal

Spicer insists Trump Jr. meeting was only about adoption
Discussion:
ABC News, The Resurgent, Axios, AOL, Vox, Talking Points Memo and New York Magazine

During Made in America Week, White House defends imported Trump products
Discussion:
Politico


Trump's Campaign Conceded in a Memo That Comey Was Having Major Impact … Donald Trump's presidential campaign acknowledged in an internal memo that former FBI Director James Comey's 11th hour decision to reopen an inquiry into Hillary Clinton's use of private email helped shift the results.
Discussion:
Mother Jones
RELATED:


Let's outline Trump's achievements during his first six months in office — President Donald Trump's first six months have been defined by his often angry and tasteless tweets, his ham-handed efforts to denigrate and undercut the multiple investigations into Russian influence in the 2016 election …
Discussion:
Raw Story


EXCLUSIVE: Trump the foul-mouthed germophobe fired Chris Christie because New Jersey governor arranged for Obama to call his phone NOT The Donald's on election night — A new book reveals how Trump fell out with his then transition boss Chris Christie over whose cellphone to use on election night
Discussion:
Raw Story, Axios, Mediaite, Hullabaloo and Business Insider


Liberals can win again if they stop being so annoying and fix their ‘hamburger problem’ — I've been haunted by a claim my KCRW colleague Rich Lowry made on our radio show a few weeks ago: Democrats keep coming up short in elections because they won't give any ground on “cultural issues” …


GOP Seeks to Close Federal Election Agency — House Republicans are pressing to defund the sole federal agency that exclusively works to ensure the voting process is secure — WASHINGTON—House Republicans are seeking to defund the U.S. Election Assistance Commission …
Discussion:
electionlawblog.org


Coast Guard wants to kick boats off Potomac River when president is golfing — The Trump family has offended many sectors of establishment Washington since their arrival in the nation's capital, from Langley's spymasters to mansion-dwellers in the District's Kalorama neighborhood.
Discussion:
Shareblue


Trump Says He Has Signed More Bills Than Any President, Ever. He Hasn't. — WASHINGTON — To hear President Trump tell it, his first six months in the White House should be judged in part by the legislation he has signed into law. — At rallies, in speeches and on Twitter …
Discussion:
Politicus USA


How Trump Is Transforming Rural America — In Colorado, the President's tone has started rubbing off on residents. — When Karen Kulp was a child, she believed that the United States of America as she knew it was going to end on June 6, 1966. Her parents were from the South …
Discussion:
Hot Air and Hullabaloo


Trump Recertifies Iran Nuclear Deal, but Only Reluctantly — WASHINGTON — President Trump agreed on Monday to certify again that Iran is complying with an international nuclear agreement that he has strongly criticized, but only after hours of arguing with his top national security advisers …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, National Review, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Power Line, The National Interest, Instapundit and The Hill

Vice chair of Trump's voter fraud commission wants to change federal law to add new requirements for voting, email shows — The day after Donald Trump was elected president, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, now the vice-chair of Donald Trump's commission on voter fraud …
Discussion:
Common Dreams, Talking Points Memo and Politicus USA
RELATED:


Tillerson to Shutter State Department War Crimes Office — Critics charge top U.S. diplomat with giving the green light to perpetrators of mass atrocities. — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is downgrading the U.S. campaign against mass atrocities, shuttering the Foggy Bottom office …
Discussion:
Just Security


As Paperwork Goes Missing, Private Student Loan Debts May Be Wiped Away — Tens of thousands of people who took out private loans to pay for college but have not been able to keep up payments may get their debts wiped away because critical paperwork is missing.


Why I Am Voting No on BCRA 2.0 — When Professor William Graham Sumner first coined the term “The Forgotten Man” in 1890, he wrote: … In the health care debate today we see not merely Forgotten Men but a Forgotten Class: Millions of middle-class families are being forced to pay billions …
Discussion:
Mother Jones


Megyn Kelly ratings hit new low, down to half of debut — Megyn Kelly's Sunday news magazine this week registered its lowest ratings since its debut on June 4, according to Nielsen Research. — “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” drew 3.1 million viewers on Sunday, or half of the 6.2 million viewers …
Discussion:
IJR


Apple previews new emoji coming later this year — In celebration of World Emoji Day, Apple is sharing some of the new emoji coming to iOS, macOS and watchOS later this year. — The new emoji make it easier for users to express themselves with greater diversity, additional animals and creatures, new smiley faces and more.
Discussion:
CNNMoney, New York Times, KTLA, Engadget, Refinery29, The Daily Caller, Hyperallergic, The Verge and AOL


An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of USC med school dean — In USC's lecture halls, labs and executive offices, Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito was a towering figure. The dean of the Keck School of Medicine was a renowned eye surgeon whose skill in the operating room …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, The Ticker, East Bay Times and Instapundit

Monmouth University Polling Institute — Trump Rating Holds Steady Despite Campaign's 2016 Russia Meeting — 4-in-10 support impeachment, higher than for Nixon at start of Watergate — West Long Branch, NJ - Donald Trump's approval rating has held fairly steady since …
Discussion:
The Hill, CNBC, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Axios, Politicus USA, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, Bloomberg and The Gateway Pundit