Top Items:
Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Inside Trump's snap decision to ban transgender troops — After a week sparring with his attorney general and steaming over the Russia investigation consuming his agenda, President Donald Trump was closing in on an important win. — House Republicans were planning to pass a spending bill stacked …
Discussion:
Axios, Little Green Footballs, CNBC, The Gateway Pundit, ABC News, Business Insider, Raw Story, Balloon Juice and The Week
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Christopher Ingraham / Washington Post:
The military spends five times as much on Viagra as it would on transgender troops' medical care — On Twitter this morning, President Trump announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military, citing “medical costs” as the primary driver of the decision.
Discussion:
Politico, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, AOL, Richard Dawkins Foundation and Vox
New York Times:
Trump Says Transgender People Will Not Be Allowed in the Military — WASHINGTON — President Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States will no longer “accept or allow” transgender people in the United States military, saying American forces “must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory” …
Jason Noble / Des Moines Register:
Ernst breaks with Trump on transgender military ban — U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst on Wednesday broke with President Donald Trump's call to bar transgender Americans from serving in the military, telling the Des Moines Register that anyone qualified should be allowed to serve.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Vox, RedState, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Business Insider, Hit & Run, IndieWire, Deadline and IJR
The Daily Beast:
Trump Bows to Religious Right, Bans Trans Troops … On the anniversary of Harry S. Truman's desegregation of the military, President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly reversed the move to openly integrate trans service members. The announcement came in the form of a tweeted edict …
Discussion:
New York Times, IJR and Business Insider
Cora Lewis / BuzzFeed:
Trump Says Transgender People Cannot “Serve In Any Capacity” In The Military — He made the announcement on Twitter on Wednesday. — President Trump tweeted on Wednesday that transgender people cannot “serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” repeating a claim from conservative Republicans …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, UPI, Mashable, AOL, Daily Kos, WAVY-TV, WREG-TV, IJR and Associated Press
John Bowden / The Hill:
GOP senators break with Trump over transgender troop ban — Multiple Republican senators broke with President Trump on Wednesday after he announced on Twitter that transgender troops would be banned from serving in the military. — In separate statements, GOP Sens. John McCain
Discussion:
RedState and Talking Points Memo
The Hill:
Trump to ban transgender people from all military service
Trump to ban transgender people from all military service
Discussion:
Hot Air, Politico, Vox, Axios, ABC News, Shareblue, Task & Purpose, Business Insider, Mother Jones, Washington Post, Deadline, ThinkProgress, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, Common Dreams, Mediaite, Bearing Arms, The Daily Caller, Human Rights Campaign, Right Wing Watch, Friendly Atheist, Mashable, The Root, Washington Monthly, twitchy.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Week and Daily Kos
Eric Boehlert / Shareblue:
Trump “blindsided the Pentagon” with new military policy he got watching Fox News
Trump “blindsided the Pentagon” with new military policy he got watching Fox News
Discussion:
IJR, Daily Kos, Media Matters for America, The White House and Politicus USA
Jeremy Herb / CNN:
House defeats bid to block Pentagon funding transgender surgeries
House defeats bid to block Pentagon funding transgender surgeries
Discussion:
Foreign Policy, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Business Insider, Jezebel and New York Magazine
Abby Phillip / Washington Post:
Trump announces ban on transgender people in U.S. military
Trump announces ban on transgender people in U.S. military
Discussion:
ABC News, Axios, Shareblue, www.wnyc.org, Fox News, vice, Media Matters for America, Refinery29, Mashable, Just Security, NPR, RedState, CBS Dallas, Task & Purpose, The First Street Journal, CNBC, Business Insider, The Daily Signal, Conservative News Today, The Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, KTLA, New York's PIX11, CBS New York, Raw Story, Snopes.com, The Times of Israel, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, FOX News Radio, The Atlantic, The Federalist, NTK Network, CNN, The Week, Washington Free Beacon, IJR, Mother Jones, Pirate's Cove, CBS Philly, Mediaite and Geller Report, more at Techmeme »
Media Matters for America:
Before Trump banned transgender people from serving in military, here's who praised him as pro-LGBTQ
Mark K. Matthews / Denver Post:
Colorado Republican Ken Buck: “Any American ... should be allowed to serve” …
Colorado Republican Ken Buck: “Any American ... should be allowed to serve” …
Discussion:
The Atlantic and Political Wire
Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Trump to reinstate US military ban on transgender people
Trump to reinstate US military ban on transgender people
Discussion:
Slate, Breitbart, GLAAD, HuffPost, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Washington Post, The Guardian, AOL, The Gateway Pundit, Vox, The Pavlovic Today, Task & Purpose, Media Matters for America, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, The Daily Signal, CNBC, VICE News, IJR, NBC News, Politicus USA, Mashable, Refinery29, CBS Dallas and The Week
Burgess Everett / Politico:
Ernst opposes Trump's ban on transgender troops
Ernst opposes Trump's ban on transgender troops
Discussion:
Business Insider and New York Magazine
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
A Trump Tower of Absolute Folly — Donald Trump's campaign against his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, in which he is seemingly attempting to insult and humiliate and tweet-shame Sessions into resignation, is an insanely stupid exercise. It is a multitiered tower of political idiocy …
Discussion:
CNN, JustOneMinute, Breitbart, Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune
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Mike Allen / Axios:
Jeff Sessions won't take Trump's hint — Attorney General Jeff Sessions doesn't plan to take the hint. President Trump continues hitting him in all body parts — apparently hoping he'll resign, which could pave the way for firing special counsel Bob Mueller.
Discussion:
Politico, Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, Business Insider, BuzzFeed, The White House, ABC News, Weekly Standard, Shakesville and Daily Kos
Fox News Insider:
Tucker Carlson Blasts Donald Trump for Attacking Jeff Sessions Attorney General
Tucker Carlson Blasts Donald Trump for Attacking Jeff Sessions Attorney General
Discussion:
CNN, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, TheBlaze, Daily Wire and The Rush Limbaugh Show
Jake Gibson / Fox News:
Sessions to announce investigations into intelligence leaks: source
Sessions to announce investigations into intelligence leaks: source
Discussion:
Axios, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, The Week and Talking Points Memo
Dylan Scott / Vox:
The latest vote to repeal Obamacare fails in the Senate — But the debate lives on. — The Senate failed Wednesday to advance a bill that would have partially repealed Obamacare without replacing it, another step in the Senate health care debate that is likely heading toward a much more scaled-down bill.
Discussion:
Axios, The Daily Caller and Balloon Juice
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Seung Min Kim / Politico:
GOP scrapes for bare minimum on Obamacare repeal
GOP scrapes for bare minimum on Obamacare repeal
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Vox, Washington Post, vice, Booman Tribune and New York Times
Dylan Scott / Vox:
Republicans face a monumental choice on Obamacare repeal: go big or go skinny
Republicans face a monumental choice on Obamacare repeal: go big or go skinny
Discussion:
Politico, Bloomberg, Business Insider and ACASignups.net
Berkeley Lovelace Jr / CNBC:
GOP senators must do whatever it takes to get to 50 votes on Obamacare repeal, says HHS secretary
GOP senators must do whatever it takes to get to 50 votes on Obamacare repeal, says HHS secretary
Discussion:
The Atlantic, The Guardian, NBC News, Axios, Political Wire and CRFB Papers and Blog Posts
Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Matt Drudge is firing warning shots at Trump, and that should worry the president — Conway: White House staff is tough, but humble — Matt Drudge has been in the White House an awful lot these days — “all the time,” as one senior administration official puts it.
Eli Yokley / Morning Consult:
Many Republicans Doubt Clinton Won Popular Vote — A plurality of Republicans say President Donald Trump received more of the popular vote in 2016 than his Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. — According to a new Morning Consult/POLITICO poll …
Discussion:
Business Insider and Political Wire
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Steven Shepard / Politico:
Poll: Voters say Mueller ouster would be inappropriate
Poll: Voters say Mueller ouster would be inappropriate
Discussion:
The Hill, The Daily Caller, RedState and Axios
Steven Shepard / Politico:
Poll: Half of Trump voters say Trump won popular vote
Poll: Half of Trump voters say Trump won popular vote
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Axios, The Daily Caller and The Week
New York Times:
Health Care Vote: Senate Rejects Repeal Without Replace — • The Senate on Wednesday afternoon rejected a proposal to repeal major parts of the Affordable Care Act without providing a replacement. Follow the live vote tracker to see how each senator voted.
Discussion:
Townhall.com, New York Times, Mediaite, Vox and Talking Points Memo
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Tom Winter / NBC News:
DOJ: Ex-Manafort Associate Firtash Is Top-Tier Comrade of Russian Mobsters — The Department of Justice has identified a former business associate of ex-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort as an “upper-echelon [associate] of Russian organized crime.” — The declaration came in a 115-page filing …
Discussion:
Political Wire
The Hill:
Welcome to The Hill's 50 Most Beautiful! — After receiving hundreds upon hundreds of nominations, it was tough to choose just 50. — But following a lot of debate, we finalized this year's winners. — There is one thing that's different than our prior lists.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and AOL
Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
Mr. President, Please Be Quiet — Once again, Donald Trump has tweeted himself into the center of the day's news. He does this almost every morning — even, perhaps especially, when he has nothing new to say. Upon seeing today's efforts, I sighed and muttered “there goes Wednesday.”
Discussion:
Viking Pundit
mccain.senate.gov:
STATEMENT BY SASC CHAIRMAN JOHN McCAIN ON TRANSGENDER AMERICANS IN THE MILITARY — Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today on President Trump's tweet regarding transgender Americans in the military:
Discussion:
Axios, National Review, Mediaite, Business Insider and Politicus USA
Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Clinton book to double down on Russia, Comey message — 's upcoming book will double down on Russia's interference and James Comey's involvement in her stunning election defeat, according to sources familiar with the memoir. — Privately, Clinton has told friends and longtime associates that she …
Discussion:
Axios, Liberal Values, Mediaite, IJR, Washington Free Beacon and The Week
Stephen Rodrick / Rolling Stone:
Justin Trudeau: The North Star — He was raised in jet-set privilege but overcame tragedy to become Canada's prime minister. Is he the free world's best hope? — Let's begin by synchronizing our watches. We are in the Eastern time zone. — The legislative session is over …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Daily Caller, NTK Network and Mediaite
McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:
Jeff Flake's Gamble — The constituents filing into the Mesa Convention Center one evening in mid-April for the Republican senator Jeff Flake's town hall had a decidedly un-Republican look. Tattoos and political T-shirts abounded. Activists stood near the entrance distributing stickers …
Michael Kruse / Politico:
To America, It Looks Like Chaos. For Trump, It's Just Tuesday. — It started Monday morning with Donald Trump calling his own attorney general “beleaguered.” It continued with an Air Force One flight to West Virginia and a rambling, partisan speech to thousands of hollering Boy Scouts.
Discussion:
VICE News, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, IJR, Lawfare, Conservative News Today and The Week