memeorandum: Senate's budget rules invalidate key provisions in Republican health care bill (Dylan Scott/Vox)

11:15 PM ET, July 21, 2017

Top Items:

Sessions discussed Trump campaign-related matters with Russian ambassador, U.S. intelligence intercepts show … Russia's ambassador to Washington told his superiors in Moscow that he discussed campaign-related matters, including policy issues important to Moscow, with Jeff Sessions during …

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:

Sean Spicer Resigns as White House Press Secretary — WASHINGTON — Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, resigned on Friday morning, telling President Trump he vehemently disagreed with the appointment of the New York financier Anthony Scaramucci as communications director.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Shareblue, Breitbart, Mediaite, NewsBusters, Media Matters for America, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Boing Boing, ABC News, CNBC, Mashable, The Nation, The Atlantic, vice, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, TheBlaze, AOL, The Daily Signal, The Week, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, ThinkProgress, Conservative News Today, Common Dreams, Recode, Refinery29, Vox, Axios, Outside the Beltway, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Post, The Mahablog, Sputnik International, TVNewser, Daily Wire, Politico, The Root, myfox8.com, Infowars, Joe.My.God., Grist, Washington Monthly, Shakesville, Mother Jones, The Slot, Little Green Footballs, Power Line, NTK Network, CBS Boston, RedState, Patterico's Pontifications, New York's PIX11, WREG-TV, New York Magazine and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Michael C. Bender / Wall Street Journal:

Sean Spicer Faced Myriad Obstacles During Dramatic White House Rise and Fall — The former White House press secretary's briefings became must-see TV, but he was often out of sync with his boss.

Discussion: IJR, Mashable and Mediaite

The Daily Beast:

Anthony Scaramucci Loved Hillary, Gave to Obama, and Deleted Anti-Trump Tweets … Anthony Scaramucci deleted tweets in which he previously criticized Donald Trump hours after accepting his new job as White House communications director on Friday. — Scaramucci also previously expressed support …

Discussion: Raw Story, Business Insider, The Guardian, Common Dreams and IJR

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Inside the 24 hours that broke Sean Spicer — Sean Spicer came to the White House on Thursday completely unaware President Donald Trump was planning to meet with Anthony Scaramucci, a longtime Wall Street friend, and offer him the job of communications director.

Discussion: Business Insider, Media Matters for America, New York Times, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Refinery29, Mashable, Mediaite, The Week, The Atlantic, The Slot, Vox, NTK Network, Axios, vice, CNBC and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Spicer quits amid White House feud — White House press secretary Sean Spicer resigned on Friday following his disagreement with President Donald Trump's decision to appoint Anthony Scaramucci, a Wall Street financier, as the new communications director, according to multiple White House officials.

Benny Johnson / IJR:
Americans Disgusted That Media Ran Live-Feed of Sean Spicer's Family Residence After Resignation

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller and Daily Wire

The Daily Beast:
Spicey Bails, White House Flails, As Mooch Prevails

Discussion: Mother Jones, Raw Story, Politicus USA, Fusion and IJR

David A. Graham / The Atlantic: Anthony Scaramucci Is the Right Answer to the Wrong Question

Ben Terris / Washington Post:
The ballad of Sean Spicer: He snagged the Washington dream job, but at a price.

Discussion: Business Insider, The Week and IJR

Jack Shafer / Politico:
Should You Feel Sorry for Sean Spicer?

Discussion: Washington Post, Vanity Fair, ABC News and AOL

Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Trump's new communications chief once called him a ‘hack’

Discussion: Politico, The Atlantic, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones and IJR

Mike Allen / Axios:
Inside the room at Sean Spicer's resignation announcement

Discussion: Shareblue, Business Insider, New York Times, Media Matters for America, Mediaite and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
Scaramucci took winding path but finally landed a top job with Trump

Discussion: Axios, Bearing Arms, The Atlantic and ABC News, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:

Jared Kushner Discloses Dozens More Assets in Revised Financial Filing — Ivanka Trump disclosed $2.5 million in salary and severance from her father's businesses — WASHINGTON— Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, on Friday released …

Discussion: Raw Story

Jonathan O'Connell / Washington Post:

In revised filing, Kushner reveals dozens of previously undisclosed assets … Jared Kushner failed to disclose dozens of financial holdings that he was required to declare when he joined the White House as an adviser to President Trump, his father-in-law, according to a revised form released Friday.

Washington Post: White House taps new acting ethics chief, elevating general counsel over chief of staff

Brandon Carter / The Hill:
Kushner updates financial disclosure after omitting dozens of assets: report

Discussion: RedState

Dana Bash / CNN:

Exclusive: Mueller asks WH staff to preserve all documents relating to June 2016 meeting — WaPo, NYT: Trump legal team trying to undercut Mueller — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller has asked the White House to preserve all documents relating to the June 2016 meeting …

Discussion: Politico, Boing Boing, Axios, Raw Story, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Reuters:

Exclusive: Moscow lawyer who met Trump Jr. had Russian spy agency as client — 5 MIN READ — MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian lawyer who met Donald Trump Jr. after his father won the Republican nomination for the 2016 U.S. presidential election counted Russia's FSB security service among …

Discussion: RedState, Fox News, Washington Monthly, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, IJR, ThinkProgress and The Week

Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed:
Trump's New Lead Lawyer Denies The Legal Team Is Looking Into Pardons

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

Parliamentarian rules against key provisions in Obamacare repeal bill — Several key provisions in the Senate's Obamacare repeal and replace bill, including language targeting Planned Parenthood, may have to be stripped or could be eliminated on the Senate floor by Democrats because they don't comply …

Dylan Scott / Vox: Senate's budget rules invalidate key provisions in Republican health care bill

Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill: Parliamentarian deals setback to GOP repeal bill

Peter Sullivan / The Hill:
Senate heads to new healthcare vote with no clear plan

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Talking Points Memo

Caitlin Owens / Axios: Some parts of GOP health bill violate Senate rules

Manu Raju / CNN:

First on CNN: Rice privately meets with Senate Intel on Russia probe — (CNN)Susan Rice, who served as former President Barack Obama's national security adviser, quietly met behind closed doors Friday with Senate intelligence committee investigators probing Russian meddling in the elections …

Discussion: The Hill, IJR, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:

Senate Intel Chair: ‘The Unmasking Thing Was All Created By Devin Nunes’ — Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) on Friday accused his counterpart in the House, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), of creating a false narrative about Obama administration national security adviser Susan Rice.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Jennifer Levitz / Wall Street Journal:

Joseph Rago, Wall Street Journal Editorial Writer, Dies at 34 — Pulitzer Prize winner was known for his well-reported pieces and policy influence — Joseph Rago, a Pulitzer Prize winning editorial writer at The Wall Street Journal who was known for his richly reported pieces and influence …

Discussion: National Review and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Jake Tapper / CNNMoney:

Sean Hannity will no longer receive Buckley Award after controversy — Bernstein: ‘We are in a cold civil war’ — Fox News Channel star anchor Sean Hannity will no longer receive the conservative Media Research Center's William F. Buckley Award for Media Excellence at its September 21 gala …

Discussion: Politico, IJR, RedState, Mediaite, TheBlaze and Daily Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Foreign Policy:

Trump Assigns White House Team to Target Iran Nuclear Deal, Sidelining State Department — Unhappy with Tillerson over Iran, the president is turning to trusted aides. — After a contentious meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this week, President Donald Trump instructed a group …

Discussion: Raw Story

NBC News:

Russia's Lavrov Says Trump May Have Met Putin More Times — MOSCOW — President Donald Trump may have held more meetings with Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit earlier this month, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday — but he shrugged off the importance of the encounters.

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Shareblue, Shakesville and Associated Press

New York Times:

These Americans Hated the Health Law. Until the Idea of Repeal Sank In. — DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — Five years ago, the Affordable Care Act had yet to begin its expansion of health insurance to millions of Americans, but Jeff Brahin was already stewing about it. — “It's going to cost a fortune,” he said in an interview at the time.

Discussion: Health Affairs Blog, Washington Monthly, Bangor Daily News and Mother Jones

Joe Lawlorstaff / Press Herald:
Sen. Collins slams current Senate bill that would repeal and replace Affordable Care Act

Discussion: Kennebec Journal & …

Andrew Prokop / Vox:

Inside Steve Bannon's apocalyptic ideology: “Like [Karl] Rove on an acid trip” — An interview with journalist Josh Green about his new book on Bannon. — When journalist Josh Green wrote a lengthy profile of Breitbart News chief Steve Bannon back in 2015, the piece ran under the headline …