memeorandum: Senate Republicans don't know what they're voting on next week (Caitlin Owens/Axios)

6:20 PM ET, July 19, 2017

Top Items:

CNN:

White House dispatches former campaign aides to help revive health care push — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)Senate Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare were quickly sinking on Tuesday after one-too-many Republican senators voiced their opposition to the legislation being pushed by GOP leaders.

Axios:

GOP health care holdouts to meet tonight to work it out — All of the Republican senators who oppose the Senate health care bill are meeting tonight to work out their differences — after being told by President Trump this afternoon that they need to work late into the night to get a deal.

Discussion: Political Wire and The Daily Caller

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Freedom Caucus to try to force vote on Obamacare repeal — House conservatives are launching a late effort to force their colleagues to vote on an outright repeal of Obamacare. — Leaders of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus on Wednesday evening will jump-start a process intended to force the measure …

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:
Key Senate Republicans to meet and try to revive health bill

Discussion: Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo and The Week

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump to GOP senators: Cancel your recess

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Daily Wire and Washington Post

Caitlin Owens / Axios: Senate Republicans don't know what they're voting on next week

Nicole Lafond / Talking Points Memo:
Lewandowski: The President Is Going To Close The Deal On O'care Repeal Today

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, First Draft, The Week and New York Times

Nico Hines / The Daily Beast:

GOP Lawmaker Got Direction From Moscow, Took It Back to D.C. … Members of the team of Russians who secured a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner also attempted to stage a show trial of anti-Putin campaigner Bill Browder on Capitol Hill.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, McClatchy Washington Bureau and The Atlantic

People.com:

Inside Trump Family's Turmoil Amid Russia Scandal: Don Jr. Is ‘Miserable’ and Wants ‘These Four Years to Be Over’ — Donald Trump taught his children to fight dirty and win, no matter the cost. Subscribe now for a look at how the ruthless family culture has shaped Don Jr., his siblings, and the Presidency - only in PEOPLE.

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story, Hullabaloo, AOL, Vox, The Slot, CBS Chicago, The Week, CBS Los Angeles, Political Wire and Joe.My.God.

Gabriel Schoenfeld / USA Today:

Donald Trump Jr. and the whiff of treason: Morally, he's in deep. — Treason is not just a legal term. It encompasses disloyalty to the country and betrayal of its basic principles and interests. — “This is moving into perjury, false statements and even into potentially treason,” …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Brad Reed / Raw Story: Bombshell report: Kremlin directed GOP congressman to stage pro-Putin ‘show trial’ on the House floor

CBO's Publications:

H.R. 1628, Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017 — CBO and JCT estimate that enacting this legislation would reduce federal deficits by $473 billion over the coming decade and increase the number of people who are uninsured by 32 million in 2026 relative to current law.

Discussion: Political Wire, Business Insider, Mediaite, Raw Story, Daily Kos, ACO Watch and The Week

CNBC:

CBO: Obamacare repeal bill would raise number of uninsured by 27 million by 2020 — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate would vote to begin debate on the repeal bill early next week. — President Donald Trump on Wednesday pushed Republican senators to reach an agreement on a measure before the August recess.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Deborah Kilroe / CBO's Publications:
CBO to issue estimate of Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act today

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:

Trump ends covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, a move sought by Moscow — President Trump has decided to end the CIA's covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad, a move long sought by Russia, according to U.S. officials.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Axios, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Political Wire, Business Insider, The Daily Caller and IJR

Mike Hayes / BuzzFeed:

This Shocking Video Appears To Show Baltimore Police Planting Drugs At A Crime Scene — The defendant charged in the case involving the drugs shown in the video was scheduled to go to trial this week. The case has been dropped. — Shocking footage from a Baltimore police officer's body …

Discussion: theGrio

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Trump can't make a health care deal because he doesn't understand health care — Trump is uninformed, underprepared, and unclear — and this is is the result. — The blame in the Senate's health care omnishambles is attaching to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and understandably so …

Discussion: Axios, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Washington Times, Joe.My.God., Mother Jones, IJR, The Hill and Sacramento Bee

Sarah Kliff / Vox:
Trump hates Obamacare. He's also in charge of running it.

Discussion: ABC News, The Atlantic and Politico

New York Times: White House Scaling Back Goals for Business Tax Cuts

The Intercept:

U.S. Lawmakers Seek to Criminally Outlaw Support for Boycott Campaign Against Israel — The criminalization of political speech and activism against Israel has become one of the gravest threats to free speech in the west. In France, activists have been arrested and prosecuted for wearing t-shirts advocating a boycott of Israel.

Discussion: ACLU, Gothamist, New York Magazine, Political Wire, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week, The American Conservative and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

New Jersey Online:

Criticize Trump at your peril, Republican candidates. Just ask Kim Guadagno. — Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. — NJ Advance Media for NJ.com — TRENTON — Already trailing badly in the polls, Republican New Jersey governor candidate Kim Guadagno has been hit with another devastating 1-2 punch …

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire and Shareblue

Joel Clement / Washington Post:

I'm a scientist. I'm blowing the whistle on the Trump administration. — Joel Clement was director of the Office of Policy Analysis at the U.S. Interior Department until last week. He is now a senior adviser at the department's Office of Natural Resources Revenue. — I am not a member of the deep state.

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

This poll should be a warning sign for Democrats — History suggests the 2018 election will almost surely be a bad one for Republicans. Midterms are generally considered a referendum on the president, and the results are almost always bad for said president.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Times and No More Mister Nice Blog

Sofi Sinozich / ABC News:
A midterm preference for Democrats, but without anti-Trump motivation (POLL)

Discussion: The Week

Brooke Singman / Fox News:

USPS broke law in allowing workers to boost Clinton campaign, watchdog says — The United States Postal Service violated federal law by letting employees do union-funded work for Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democratic candidates while on leave from the agency, according to an Office …

Discussion: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, TheBlaze, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Conservative News Today, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Free Beacon and IJR

Lisa Rein / Washington Post:
Postal Service broke law in pushing time off for workers to campaign for Clinton, investigation finds

Discussion: Political Wire

Indianapolis Star:

Carrier lays off first 300 employees on 6-month anniversary of Trump's presidency — President-elect Donald Trump gave one number on the amount of jobs that would be saved and a union president, another. So which is it? Nate Chute/IndyStar — CONNECT

Discussion: Shareblue and The Week

Susan Ferrechio / Washington Examiner:

HHS analysis finds Cruz amendment lowers premiums, boosts enrollment — Sen. Ted Cruz plans to unveil to Senators at a White House meeting on Wednesday an analysis from the Department of Health and Human Services showing his healthcare Consumer Freedom amendment would lower costs …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Axios, The Daily Caller and ACASignups.net

McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:

What Congressional Republicans Really Think About Trump and Russia — With each new revelation in the ongoing Trump-Russia saga, the same question inevitably gets asked: Will this be the moment Republicans in Congress finally turn on the president? — The answer, so far, has been an emphatic …

Discussion: New York Magazine and Raw Story

Martin Longman / Washington Monthly:
How Trump and the GOP Congress Failed in Just Six Months

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico and Daily Kos

Callum Borchers / Washington Post:

A reporter broke White House rules by streaming live audio of an off-camera briefing — It was only a matter of time. — At every White House news briefing since June 29 — and many before, too — President Trump's spokesmen have ordered a room full of smartphone-toting journalists …

Discussion: Deadline and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Supreme Court allows Trump travel ban enforcement, but says it must allow broader exemptions for relatives — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Trump administration to enforce its refugee ban for now, but said it must allow broader exemptions to the president's travel ban for family members, including grandparents.

Discussion: Axios, ThinkProgress, Geller Report, Politico, RedState and ImmigrationProf Blog

Daily Mail:

Charlie Gard is given legal permanent residence in US by Congress so ‘he can fly to the States for world class treatment’ — Charlie Gard is being given legal and permanent residence in the US by Congress in order to allow him to fly to America for treatment.

Discussion: CNN, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Stream, TheBlaze and Daily Wire

Haley Byrd / IJR:

Mulvaney to Insurers on Trump Plans if Health Bill Fails: 'You Probably Won't Like It That Much' — Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told attendees of a Bloomberg Government dinner Tuesday night that a long-term commitment from the Trump administration …

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Times and HuffPost

Jeet Heer / New Republic:

The Dirtbag Left and the Problem of Dominance Politics — Trump insulted his way to the White House. Now, Chapo Trap House is trying to insult Democrats into moving left—a strategy that's doomed to fail. — On a recent episode of the popular podcast Chapo Trap House …

Discussion: New York Magazine

Chicago Sun Times:

New Rauner hire compared abortion to Nazi eugenics in blog post — Sign-Up for our News & Politics Newsletter — One of Gov. Bruce Rauner's new communications aides has argued that abortion is being used “to rid the world of disabled and other ‘unwanted’ persons” — comparing it to Nazi Germany.

Discussion: Raw Story and Capitol Fax.com

Kyle Smith / National Review:

The Left's ‘Hamburger Problem’ Is Not Going Away — And that means Democrats' time in the wilderness could last a long, long while. — Progressives have a problem: They ladle unto every decision, even the most mundane and trifling one, an unattractive glop of gooey political significance.

Discussion: The Resurgent and Mother Jones