memeorandum: Senate GOP to Reform Health-Care System on the Fly, in a Blindfold (Eric Levitz/New York Magazine)

2:40 PM ET, July 25, 2017

Top Items:

Jeff Sessions Is Growing ‘Pissed’ at Trump, His Allies Say. And He Doesn't Plan to Quit. … Attorney General Jeff Sessions has no plans to leave office as friends say he's grown angry with President Donald Trump following a series of attacks meant to marginalize his power and, potentially, encourage his resignation.

Discussion: Raw Story, Politicus USA, Above the Law and The American Conservative

Erick Erickson / The Resurgent:

Cabinet Level Revolt Over Trump's Treatment of Jeff Sessions. “A Clusterf**k” One Secretary Calls It. — “If he can get treated that way, what about the rest of us?” one of the President's Cabinet secretaries asked me with both shock and anger in his voice.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and No More Mister Nice Blog

Lesley Clark / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Trump messes with Sessions, and Senate Republicans are not pleased — President Donald Trump is getting a bitter Washington lesson when he messes with Jeff Sessions - you don't pick a fight with one of the Senate's guys. — It's a lesson that could cost him politically in a Senate …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, neo-neocon, NPR, Power Line, Washington Free Beacon, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Daily Wire, Balloon Juice, Washington Monthly, IJR, AOL, ABC News, Common Dreams, CNBC and Politicus USA

Adam Shaw / Breitbart:

Trump's Attack on Sessions over Clinton Prosecution Highlights His Own ‘Weak’ Stance — President Trump's decision Tuesday to attack Attorney General Jeff Sessions over Sessions' “position” on Hillary Clinton's various scandals only serves to highlight Trump's own hypocrisy on the issue …

Discussion: Power Line, Axios, Washington Post, Politico, Daily Wire, Fox News Insider, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon, IJR, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, The Week, Washington Times, FOX News Radio, twitchy.com and Above the Law

Washington Post:

Trump leaves Sessions twisting in the wind while berating him publicly — President Trump and his advisers are privately discussing the possibility of replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and some confidants are floating prospects who could take his place were he to resign or be fired, according to people familiar with the talks.

Betsy Klein / CNN:
Trump slams Sessions, rips DOJ in Twitter outburst

Mike Allen / Axios:
Trump in phone call: “What would happen if I fired Sessions?”

Discussion: RedState, Washington Times, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo and Politico

Jonathan Karl / ABC News:
Trump and Jeff Sessions ‘need to either get together or separate,’ White House spokesman Anthony Scaramucci says

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Post

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
The Strange, Slow-Motion Defenestration of Jeff Sessions

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Shareblue and Washington Post

Julia Marsh / New York Post:
Ex-Jets player sues Jeff Sessions to legalize marijuana

Discussion: The Root, The Daily Caller, ProFootballTalk and Gothamist

Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:
The Note: Trump has sights set on belittling Sessions

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Magazine, Politico, Washington Post, Political Wire, National Review and National Journal

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
Donald Trump's public bullying of Jeff Sessions is embarrassing

Discussion: ABC News, Bloomberg and ThinkProgress

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

The 29 most cringe-worthy lines from Donald Trump's hyper-political speech to the Boy Scouts — Washington (CNN)On Monday night, President Donald Trump jetted to West Virginia to address the annual Boy Scout Jamboree. And oh what a speech it was! — Trump ranged from the current health care bill …

BBC:
Trump boy scout Jamboree speech angers parents

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Magazine, Breitbart, New York Times, Raw Story, Daily Wire, Friendly Atheist, Common Dreams, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and IJR

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:
Trump's Boy Scouts Speech And The Thin Line Between Openness And Recklessness

Discussion: IJR

Washington Post:
Trump's Boy Scouts speech broke with 80 years of presidential tradition

Discussion: Newsweek, Vox, IJR, Daily Wire, Shakesville, ThinkProgress, Mashable, RedState, Daily Kos, Jezebel, PEN America, The Week and Balloon Juice

The White House:
Remarks by President Trump at 2017 National Scout Jamboree

Discussion: Associated Press, Power Line and Mother Jones

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:
After Trump's partisan speech, Boy Scouts of America reiterates that it is ‘wholly non-partisan’

Discussion: Shareblue, Raw Story and The Week

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
Boos for Obama as Trump speaks at Boy Scout jamboree

Discussion: Raw Story, CNN, Politico, Shareblue, vice, Business Insider, Mashable, The Root and The Week

Tara Palmeri / Politico:

Scaramucci threatens to ‘fire everybody’ to stop White House leaks — President Donald Trump's newly appointed communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, said Tuesday that he is prepared to “fire everybody” in the White House communications shop in order to put an end to embarrassing internal leaks.

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Raw Story, TheBlaze, The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine, Washington Times, IJR, Jezebel, Political Wire, AOL, The Week, TVNewser and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Conflicting reports emerge over firing of White House press aide — Conflicting reports emerged Tuesday over whether a White House press aide had been fired, with the staffer himself saying that no one had informed him he had lost his position. — “No one has told me anything …

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Axios, IJR and Washington Free Beacon

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Inside the Purge — I mentioned yesterday that Anthony …

Discussion: Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Senators on hot mic: Trump is ‘crazy,’ 'I'm worried' — At the end of a Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday morning, Chairman Susan Collins (R-Maine) didn't switch off her microphone. Apparently speaking to Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the ranking Democrat of the committee …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Refinery29, The Daily Caller, Hullabaloo, The Gateway Pundit, Politicus USA, Political Wire, The Week, Jezebel, Washington Free Beacon and Mediaite

Samantha Schmidt / Washington Post:
Rep. Farenthold of Texas says he would challenge female GOP senators to a duel — if they were South Texas men

Discussion: Dallas Morning News, Mother Jones, AOL, Business Insider, Bearing Arms, Off the Kuff, Mashable, Daily Kos, NBC News and twitchy.com

Dylan Scott / Vox:

Skinny repeal: the last-ditch idea to save the Senate health care bill — “Skinny repeal” is the latest ploy from GOP leaders. — Sources suggest that Senate Republicans are weighing a last-ditch idea to pass some kind of health care bill in the coming days: a narrowly focused Obamacare repeal bill.

Discussion: Axios, Politico, New York Times, Mother Jones, Politicus USA, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Jezebel, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Talking Points Memo and Washington Post

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Momentum shifts in Senate for Obamacare repeal vote — Senate Republicans picked up critical votes as they neared a dramatic Tuesday roll call to start dismantling Obamacare, even as they were unsure what the final plan would be. — Conservative Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, Axios, The Hill, Vox, Mother Jones, Hullabaloo, Scared Monkeys and Political Wire

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:
Senate GOP to Reform Health-Care System on the Fly, in a Blindfold

Discussion: Politico, Vox and Axios

Sharon Begley / STAT:

Psychiatry group tells members they can defy ‘Goldwater rule’ and comment on Trump's mental health — leading psychiatry group has told its members they should not feel bound by a longstanding rule against commenting publicly on the mental state of public figures — even the president.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Common Dreams, IJR, Talking Points Memo, The Verge, Althouse and Washington Monthly

Josh Delk / The Hill:

Ivanka Trump retains defense lawyer for Russia investigation — Ivanka Trump will retain criminal defense lawyer Abbe Lowell to counsel her in the ongoing Russia probe, according to the National Law Journal. — Lowell, an attorney for the D.C.-based firm Norton Rose Fulbright …

Discussion: Shareblue

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Senate panel subpoenas Manafort as campaign aides provide Russia information — A Senate committee said Tuesday it sent Paul Manafort a subpoena compelling his testimony in its Russia probe, even as he and Jared Kushner were providing information to other congressional investigators …

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, The Hill, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, Axios, The Root, The Week and Political Wire

New York Times: Manafort Talks With Senate Investigators About June 2016 Meeting With Russians

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Boehner predicts Republicans will ‘never’ repeal and replace Obamacare — Former House speaker John A. Boehner, who has mostly avoided public commentary since leaving Congress two years ago, told a business gathering last week that Republicans are “not going to repeal and replace Obamacare” …

Discussion: ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, The Resurgent, The Daily Caller, Politico, Axios, Business Insider, Political Insider blog, Talking Points Memo, NTK Network, The Week and AOL

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

North Korea could cross ICBM threshold next year, U.S. officials warn in new assessment … North Korea will be able to field a reliable, nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile as early as next year, U.S. officials have concluded in a confidential assessment that dramatically shrinks …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Victor Davis Hanson / National Review:
The Korean Games of Thrones

Discussion: CNBC

Ted Barrett / CNN:

Senate won't let Trump make recess appointments — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)Senators are planning to continue procedural moves to prevent the Senate from formally adjourning for recess next month in order to prevent President Donald Trump from making recess appointments …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Bloomberg:

Scaramucci Seeks Federal Tax Break on SkyBridge Sale — Agreement to sell firm came before he joined administration — Ex-government ethics chief says deal probably doesn't qualify — Anthony Scaramucci wants to put off a tax bill that could reach millions of dollars on the pending sale …

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Trump White House Tests a Nation's Capacity for Outrage — GLEN JEAN, W.Va. — Remember that time President George W. Bush told his attorney general to investigate Al Gore for his “crimes”? Or President Barack Obama called for a Justice Department prosecution of John McCain?

Discussion: Washington Post and No More Mister Nice Blog