memeorandum: Trump urged to use recess appointment to replace Sessions

1:05 PM ET, July 27, 2017

Top Items:

Lorraine Woellert / Politico:

Scaramucci still stands to profit from SkyBridge from the White House — Anthony Scaramucci finally has his White House job, but he still stands to profit from an ownership stake in his investment firm SkyBridge Capital. — The incoming White House communications director earned $4.9 million …

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:

The Real Story Behind Mooch's War on Reince — Anthony Scaramucci just accused Reince Priebus of a felony. For no reason. — Anthony Scaramucci has had some difficulty over the course his first few days as White House communications director, but as he wrapped up his first week on the job …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Vox, National Review, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Business Insider, Conservative News Today, The Gateway Pundit, The Guardian and The Week

New York Times:

Scaramucci Calls for Inquiry After ‘Leak’ of Financial Form — WASHINGTON — In the five days since he was named White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci has vowed to hunt down leakers and fire anyone he catches. By the end of his fifth day, he was on the receiving end of what he called a leak about himself.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, PEN America, Shareblue, IJR, CNBC, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, The Week, Hot Air and Washington Times

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Trumpism Distilled — If the facts of the situation are as they appear this morning, in his first days on the job, Anthony Scaramucci has managed to become a compressed, crystallized version of all the ridiculousness of Trumpism. He has gone to the unprecedented and almost unimaginable extremity …

Discussion: bradford-delong.com

Kenneth W. Starr / Washington Post:

Kenneth Starr: Mr. President, please cut it out — Kenneth W. Starr, a former U.S. solicitor general and federal judge, served as independent counsel in the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky investigations during the Clinton administration. — Mr. President, please cut it out.

Discussion: Vox, HuffPost, The Hill, Mediaite and Raw Story

Elizabeth Preza / Raw Story:
‘Those are public records, my dude’: Internet howls after Scaramucci accuses Priebus of leaking his disclosure forms

Discussion: ABC News, ThinkProgress and Washington Post

CNN:
Scaramucci: 'If Reince wants to explain he's not a leaker, let him do that'

Discussion: NBC News, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire, No More Mister Nice Blog, Political Insider blog and Fox News Insider

Cristiano Lima / Politico:
Scaramucci claims ‘felony’ over report of public disclosures

Discussion: Vox, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, The Hill, IJR and twitchy.com

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump dines with Sean Hannity, former Fox executive Bill Shine and Scaramucci

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and twitchy.com

Erica Martinson / Alaska Dispatch News:

Trump administration signals that Murkowski's health care vote could have energy repercussions for Alaska — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump isn't going to just let Sen. Lisa Murkowski's no vote on Tuesday's health care motion go. — Early Wednesday, Trump took to Twitter to express displeasure with Murkowski's vote.

Sam Baker / Axios:

It's time to vote, and the health care bill isn't finished — We're hours away from a series of votes that will culminate, we think, with a brand-new bill to repeal part of the Affordable Care Act. Of course, no one's seen it. Senate Republicans don't know where they're headed …

Discussion: Politico

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Senate Republicans' approach to health care is bizarre and appalling

Discussion: ThinkProgress, bradford-delong.com, Conservative News Today, Daily Kos and Politico

Sarah Kliff / Vox:
“Skinny” repeal isn't skinny at all

Discussion: Axios, Daily Kos and Hot Air

David Nather / Axios:
New “skinny repeal” challenge: hitting budget targets

Discussion: New York Magazine, Vox and ThinkProgress

Seung Min Kim / Politico: Republicans' incredible shrinking Obamacare repeal

Matt Fuller / HuffPost:
Republicans Say They Can Fix ‘Skinny Repeal’ Later. Don't Be So Sure.

Discussion: Vox, Center on Budget …, Washington Post, The Daily Caller and Axios

CNN:

Trump urged to use recess appointment to replace Sessions — is that possible? — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)Is President Donald Trump trying to force out Jeff Sessions as attorney general so he can “recess appoint” someone to the job who would fire Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller?

Discussion: Shareblue and Washington Post

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
The norms of government are collapsing before our eyes

Discussion: CNN, Fox News Insider, DCReport.org and STAT

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Graham: Firing Mueller would be ‘beginning of the end’ of Trump's presidency

Discussion: Political Wire, The Atlantic, Raw Story, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, VICE News, CNBC, Above the Law and Axios

Kaili Joy Gray / Shareblue:
Sen. Graham warns of “the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency”

Discussion: IJR

Fox News Insider:
Graham Says He'll Propose Law to Prevent Trump From Firing Mueller

Discussion: IJR

Rebecca Kheel / The Hill:

Joint Chiefs: No change in transgender policy until Trump sends Pentagon direction — The highest-ranking military officer in the country said that the military's transgender policy won't actively change until President Trump sends specific directions to the Pentagon.

Discussion: Politico, ABC News and Axios

CNN:

US Joint Chiefs blindsided by Trump's transgender ban — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)The Joint Chiefs of Staff, including chairman General Joseph Dunford, were not aware President Donald Trump planned to tweet a ban on transgender service members, three US defense officials told CNN …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, Media Matters for America, Breitbart, VICE News, FiveThirtyEight and IJR

Reuters:

Top U.S. general says no changes yet to transgender policy — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General Joseph Dunford, said in a written message on Thursday to military leaders that there has been no change yet to the military's policy on transgender personnel …

Discussion: New York Times, Mother Jones and Political Wire

ABC News:
Top officer says transgender policy unchanged for now

Discussion: Washington Times and Associated Press

Bloomberg:

Jeff Bezos Surpasses Bill Gates as World's Richest Person — His net worth climbs more than $1 billion in intraday trading — Gates has held top spot on Bloomberg wealth index since 2013 — A surge in Amazon.com Inc. shares Thursday morning in advance of the online retailer's earnings report …

Discussion: Business Insider, KTLA, The Verge, New York Magazine, Gizmodo and Mashable, more at Techmeme »

Kate Vinton / Forbes:

Jeff Bezos Overtakes Bill Gates To Become World's Richest Man — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has overtaken Bill Gates and is now the richest person in the world, with a fortune topping $90 billion for the first time ever. — When markets opened on Thursday, Bezos had a net worth of $90.6 billion …

Discussion: CNBC, IJR, Gizmodo and NBC News

Nick Wingfield / New York Times:
Jeff Bezos Becomes World's Richest Person, Surpassing Bill Gates

Discussion: Forbes, The Week and Althouse

New York Times:

Allies Warn Trump of Conservative Revolt Unless He Backs Off Sessions — Among those urging Mr. Trump to spare the attorney general have been Reince Priebus, the chief of staff, and Stephen K. Bannon, the president's chief strategist. — ON WASHINGTON — Lisa Murkowski, a Swing Vote on Health Care, Isn't Swayed

Discussion: RedState, First Draft, Business Insider and JustOneMinute

Washington Post:
Trump talks privately about the idea of a recess appointment to replace Sessions

Weekly Standard:

Derek Harvey Out at NSC — One of the smartest minds on Iraq gets the boot. — Derek Harvey, a top Middle East adviser to President Donald Trump, has been fired from his position at the National Security Council, effective today. Harvey, a longtime intelligence professional with vast experience …

Discussion: The Atlantic and Washington Free Beacon

Kate Brannen / Foreign Policy: Top Middle East Advisor Out On the National Security Council

Hillel Italie / Associated Press:

Hillary Clinton calling new book ‘What Happened’ — https://apnews.com/2966d534b7034f64ab37 dc9b81179040 — Link copied! — NEW YORK (AP) — Hillary Clinton is calling her new book “What Happened” and promising unprecedented candor as she remembers her stunning defeat last year to Donald Trump.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Mashable and Washington Times

Hillary Rodham Clinton / New Book Releases …:
What Happened — “In the past, for reasons I try to explain …

Discussion: Vox, MichelleMalkin.com and TheBlaze

Alan Feuer / New York Times:

Justice Dept. Weighs In Against Protections for Gays in the Workplace — The Department of Justice has filed court papers arguing that a major federal civil rights law does not protect employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation in a case now being considered by a New York appeals court.

Dominic Holden / BuzzFeed:
The Justice Department Just Argued Against Gay Rights In A Major Federal Case

Discussion: Mother Jones, VICE News, FiveThirtyEight, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, Splinter, Business Insider, Raw Story and AOL

miamiherald:

Wasserman Schultz kept paying tech expert suspected of stealing House computers — When a computer expert who worked for congressional Democrats was accused of stealing computers and data systems in February, members of Congress cut him loose within days, leaving Imran Awan with no supporters five months later.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine and RedState

Matt Vespa / Townhall.com:
ABC, NBC, And CBS Pretty Much Bury IT Scandal Engulfing Debbie Wasserman Schultz's Office

Discussion: neo-neocon, Investor's Business Daily, The Gateway Pundit, USA Today, NewsBusters, RedState, IJR, Daily Wire, twitchy.com, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, TheBlaze, Snopes.com and Washington Free Beacon

Josh Hafner / USA Today:

OnPolitics Today: Trump's Mar-a-Lago trips cost more than trans soldiers' health care — 3.9k Shares — President Trump tweeted this morning that the U.S. military wouldn't allow transgender troops “in any capacity,” an apparent rejection of the military's roughly 6,000 trans troops and the Obama-era policy that embraced them.

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Times, Shareblue, Axios, www.wnyc.org, HuffPost, Business Insider, BostonGlobe.com, Task & Purpose, VICE News, Washington Post, STAT, ThinkProgress and AOL

Joseph R. Murray II / USA Today:
Trump's military transgender ban is unfair but correct

Discussion: HuffPost, NPR and Washington Blade

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:

Republican Sen. Steve Daines to make Democrats vote on single payer — Sen. Steve Daines is proposing an amendment to the Republican healthcare bill that would implement a government-run, single-payer insurance system in the U.S. — The Montana Republican doesn't support single-payer healthcare.