memeorandum: Trump Says Transgender People Will Not Be Allowed in the Military (New York Times)

7:35 PM ET, July 26, 2017

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 …

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: The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Fox News Insider, National Review, Politicus USA, Deadline and Mediaite

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, IJR, Richard Dawkins Foundation, Vox, ThinkProgress, AOL and Mashable

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” …

Discussion: The Atlantic, CNN, Log Cabin Republicans, VICE News, Business Insider, Red Alert Politics, Washington Post, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Refinery29, Mashable, Above the Law, Outside the Beltway, Task & Purpose and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Cora Lewis / BuzzFeed:
Trump Says Transgender People Cannot “Serve In Any Capacity” In The Military

Discussion: ABC News, Shareblue, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, UPI, WAVY-TV, Mashable, AOL and Daily Kos

Eric Boehlert / Shareblue:
Trump “blindsided the Pentagon” with new military policy he got watching Fox News

Discussion: Media Matters for America, IJR and Daily Kos

Jason Noble / Des Moines Register:
Ernst breaks with Trump on transgender military ban

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, IJR, Business Insider, Hit & Run, IndieWire, RedState and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Jonathan Swan / Axios: Pence, Bannon pushed for transgender troop ban

The Daily Beast:
Trump Bows to Religious Right, Bans Trans Troops

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, VICE News, IJR and Business Insider

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
Hatch: ‘Transgender people are people’

Discussion: Politico, Shareblue, Task & Purpose and The Daily Caller

Media Matters for America: Before Trump banned transgender people from serving in military, here's who praised him as pro-LGBTQ

The Hill:
Trump to ban transgender people from all military service

John Bowden / The Hill:
GOP senators break with Trump over transgender troop ban

Discussion: al.com, RedState, VICE News and Washington Post

Jeremy Herb / CNN:
House defeats bid to block Pentagon funding transgender surgeries

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Politico, Business Insider, Jezebel and New York Magazine

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:
Trump announces ban on transgender people in U.S. military

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Trump to reinstate US military ban on transgender people

Page Six:

‘Dancing with the Stars’ wants Sean Spicer … Sean Spicer is taking his first steps to transition from the White House briefing room to the bright lights of a TV news studio — but he's also being courted by “Dancing with the Stars,” Page Six has learned. — The outgoing press secretary spent …

Discussion: Townhall.com, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Jezebel, Raw Story, Daily Wire, Mediaite, The Week and Washington Free Beacon

Kashmir Hill / Splinter:

Why Did Jared Kushner Download an Encrypted, Disappearing Message App? — The list of people interested in Jared Kushner's communications history keeps growing: This week, the White House advisor and presidential son-in-law voluntarily handed over documents to the Senate intelligence committee …

Discussion: Raw Story

Tara Palmeri / Politico:
‘Dancing with the Stars’ wants to waltz with Spicer

Discussion: TVNewser

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The ‘Skinny Bill’ Is a Farce. Here's the Real Reason Republicans Are Doing It. — At times, various factions in Congress have called for repealing, replacing, or repairing Obamacare. Senate Republicans have been unable to agree on which of these ends to pursue, and so instead …

Discussion: Daily Kos

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: Politico, Axios, The Daily Caller and Balloon Juice

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

‘Skinny’ Obamacare repeal still lacks votes to pass — Even a bare-bones repeal of Obamacare is no sure thing in the Senate. — A handful of key Republican senators who had spurned earlier overtures from GOP leadership endorsed the latest plan to gut Obamacare's individual and employer coverage mandates and its medical device tax.

Discussion: Axios, Vox, USA Today, Hit & Run, Reuters, Washington Post, Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Senate rejects repeal-only ObamaCare plan

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and IJR

Plain Dealer: Sen. Rob Portman, you just let Ohio down: editorial

Ryan Grim / The Intercept:

Steve Bannon Pushing For 44 Percent Marginal Tax Rate On The Very Rich — Top White House adviser Steve Bannon is pushing for tax reform to include a new 44 percent top marginal tax rate, hitting people who earn more than $5 million a year, with the revenue paying for tax cuts for the rest …

Discussion: RedState, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

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, Breitbart, JustOneMinute, Booman Tribune, Washington Monthly and Talking Points Memo

Mike Allen / Axios:
Jeff Sessions won't take Trump's hint

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Politico, Business Insider, neo-neocon, The White House and Washington Examiner

Warren / THE WARREN (HENRY) REPORT:
Tucker Calrissian Tonight

Discussion: Fox News Insider, The Guardian and The Rush Limbaugh Show

Jake Gibson / Fox News:
Sessions to announce investigations into intelligence leaks: source

Discussion: Townhall.com, Axios and The Daily Caller

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.

Discussion: The Week

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 and Raw Story

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Foxconn to announce billions in investments and thousands of jobs for Wisconsin — MADISON - Foxconn Technology Group will announce at the White House on Wednesday its plans to build a massive plant in Wisconsin that would employ thousands. — The project could reshape the economy …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Crain's Detroit Business and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Wisconsin Foxconn deal could include $1 billion to $3 billion in taxpayer-backed incentives

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg, Business Insider, CNBC, The Verge, Crain's Detroit Business and Mediaite

Billy House / Bloomberg:

Gowdy Acted Like Kushner's Lawyer Behind Closed Doors, Democrat Says — Gowdy says Democrats ‘ran out of questions’ for Kushner — Intelligence panel interviewed Kushner as part of Russia probe — Republican Trey Gowdy acted behind closed doors like a lawyer for President Donald Trump's son-in-law …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Politico

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 John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Evgenia Peretz / Vanity Fair:

Angelina Jolie Solo — Photographs by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. Styled by Jessica Diehl. … Like most things involving Angelina Jolie, stepping foot into her house is an experience so heightened one wonders if it's for real or the product of careful orchestration.

Discussion: Splinter

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

State Department head of diplomatic security resigns — The head of the State Department's diplomatic security bureau has resigned and will leave his post on Thursday, leaving the two top positions vacant for the foreseeable future in the bureau in charge of embassy security around the world.

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: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Jezebel, Townhall.com, Axios, Political Insider blog, Refinery29, TalkLeft, IJR, NBC News, Rewire, Vox, Hit & Run, Mediaite, New York Times, The Week and Daily Kos

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 …