memeorandum: Venezuela crisis: what happens now after two men have claimed to be president? (Tom Phillips/The Guardian)

8:15 AM ET, January 24, 2019

Top Items:

Sen. Cory Gardner to break with Republicans on Trump's wall — it's the right thing to do — Colorado senator's spokesman says Gardner intends to vote for clean funding bill that would open the government with no border-security strings attached. — Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner's …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:

White House seeks list of programs that would be hurt if shutdown lasts into March — White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has pressed agency leaders to provide him with a list of the highest-impact programs that will be jeopardized if the shutdown continues into March and April, people familiar with the directive said.

Discussion: CNN, The Week, POLITICUSUSA, ThinkProgress, CNBC, Raw Story and Wall Street Journal

Taylor Garland / Media Releases:

Air Traffic Controllers, Pilots, Flight Attendants Detail Serious Safety Concerns Due to Shutdown — Washington, D.C. — On Day 33 of the government shutdown, National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) President Paul Rinaldi, Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) President Joe DePete …

Discussion: The Guardian, Indian Country Today, AOL, Gizmodo, New York Times, Axios and Mediaite

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:

Republican Senator Joni Ernst Says She Was Raped in College — Ernst speaks in first interview since divorce details divulged — Fourth-ranking Senate Republican up for re-election in 2020 — Republican Senator Joni Ernst says that she was raped in college by someone she knew …

Discussion: Conservative News Today, CNN, The Week, Politico, Des Moines Register and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:

‘Master negotiator’ or ‘nonentity’? Kushner thrusts himself into middle of shutdown debate — Jared Kushner spoke up at a recent Oval Office meeting about cutting a deal to end the government shutdown, which has been the latest project for President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Week and Breitbart

CNN:

Trump says he won't give State of the Union during shutdown after being disinvited by Pelosi — (CNN)President Donald Trump made a concession to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi late Thursday, agreeing to not give a State of the Union address until after the government shutdown standoff has ended.

Discussion: The Week

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Shutdown, Day 34: Two new dynamics — DRIVING THE DAY — SHUTDOWN ... DAY 34 ... TWO IMPORTANT DYNAMICS HAVE BURST INTO PUBLIC VIEW AT THE SAME TIME ... — WASHINGTON IS GETTING MORE SERIOUS ABOUT ENDING THE SHUTDOWN: Look around. SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CALIF.) …

Discussion: New York Times and Wall Street Journal, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
White House confirms President Trump sent letter to Kim Jong Un

Discussion: Al Jazeera

Washington Post:
Pelosi tells Trump: No State of the Union address in the House until government is opened

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Political Wire, ABC News, Breitbart, Axios, Jezebel, WTOP, Townhall, Vox, KRIV, The Root, Raw Story, IJR and Althouse

Associated Press:

AP-NORC poll: Shutdown drags Trump approval to yearlong low — WASHINGTON (AP) — A strong majority of Americans blame President Donald Trump for the government shutdown and reject his primary rationale for a border wall. That's according to a new poll that shows the turmoil in Washington …

Discussion: Fox News, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, Hot Air, New York Times, Booman Tribune, Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway, Morning Consult and Media Matters for America

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Trump Says He'll Delay Speech Until After Shutdown, as Democrats Draft Border Security Plan — WASHINGTON — President Trump said late Wednesday that he would deliver his State of the Union address once the federal government reopens, capping a day of brinkmanship with Speaker Nancy Pelosi …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Boing Boing, Joe.My.God., Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Week, twitchy.com, The Resurgent, CBS San Francisco, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, The Last Refuge and NY State of Politics

Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:

Power Up: Here's why Trump isn't budging on his border wall — Good morning and welcome to the 34th day of the government shutdown. An AP-NORC poll released last night show that 6 in 10 Americans blame President Trump for the shutdown and reject his call for the border wall.

Discussion: New York Times, American Greatness and Splinter

New York Times:
Trump Says He Will Explore Alternatives After Pelosi Says No State of the Union Until Shutdown Ends

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Associated Press, Hullabaloo, Hot Air, Power Line, Raw Story, Politico and Political Wire

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
The Trump-Pelosi war just intensified. We're in for two years of crisis.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Breitbart, ABC News and The Mahablog

Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:
Showdown: Trump pledges ‘alternative’ event after Pelosi blocks State of the Union

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Guardian and The Daily Caller

Pelosi / Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
Pelosi Sends Letter to President Trump on the State of the Union Address

Discussion: New Republic, CNN, CBS News, Associated Press, The White House, RT, Townhall, IJR, The Stream, National Review and Common Dreams

Ana Vanessa Herrero / New York Times:

After U.S. Backs Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's Leader, Maduro Cuts Ties — CARACAS, Venezuela — President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela faced the most direct challenge to his hold on power on Wednesday, when an opposition leader stood in the streets of the capital and declared himself …

Discussion: The Atlantic, TheDrive, Home Page Rotator, Washington Post, Hit & Run, Vox, Politico, The Week, Wall Street Journal and TheBlaze

Joshua Goodman / Associated Press: Maduro faces off with US over Venezuela rival's power claim

Associated Press: Venezuela's Guaido leaps from back-bench to center stage

Los Angeles Times:
As protesters fill streets of Venezuela, Trump recognizes opposition leader as rightful president

Discussion: twitchy.com

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Trump Makes the Right Decision for Venezuela

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air, NPR and Common Dreams

Tom Phillips / The Guardian:
Venezuela crisis: what happens now after two men have claimed to be president?

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Just Security, Forbes and The American Spectator

Michael R. Pompeo / US Department of State:
Continuing U.S. Diplomatic Presence in Venezuela

Discussion: Bloomberg and EURACTIV.com

Cliff Sims / Vanity Fair:

“She Was a Cartoon Villain Brought to Life”: A Former Trump Aide Recalls Conway's Leaking Tactics in the West Wing Viper's Nest — In this exclusive excerpt from Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House, a former Trump aide recalls the leaking, the gossiping …

Discussion: Axios, Raw Story, Mediaite and Jezebel

Annie Karni / New York Times:

For Journalists, Covering the Shutdown Is Business as Usual (Kind Of) — The strangest thing about being a White House reporter during the government shutdown is how much time President Trump is actually spending in the West Wing. — Times Insider explains who we are and what we do …

Caitlin Flanagan / The Atlantic:

The Media Botched the Covington Catholic Story — On Friday, January 18, a group of white teenage boys wearing MAGA hats mobbed an elderly Native American man on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, chanting “Make America great again,” menacing him, and taunting him in racially motivated ways.

Discussion: The Federalist, 1A, The American Conservative, Front Page Magazine and Instapundit

Olivia Messer / The Daily Beast:
Covington Catholic Teen on ‘Fox & Friends’: Blackface Is ‘School Spirit’

Discussion: The Daily Banter, Shareblue Media, The Root and Vox

John Eligon / New York Times:
Hebrew Israelites See Divine Intervention in Lincoln Memorial Confrontation

Discussion: New York Post, The Resurgent, Conservative News Today and RedState

Washington Post: Diocese of Covington evacuated after reports of suspicious package

Jonathan Capehart / Washington Post:
Nothing justifies what the Covington students did

Discussion: The American Conservative, ThinkProgress and The New Neo

Marissa J. Lang / Washington Post:

‘Will work for pay’: Furloughed federal workers stage sit-in outside senators' offices; 12 arrested — On the 33rd day of a partial government shutdown that has left hundreds of thousands without pay, union leaders and furloughed federal workers marched into the office of Senate Majority …

Discussion: Vox

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
McConnell blocks bill to reopen most of government

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Post, TheBlaze and VTDigger

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
Top Dem: We would support $5.7B for a ‘smart wall’

Discussion: Splinter, Politico and Common Dreams

CNN:

BuzzFeed to cut 15% of staff in new round of layoffs — New York (CNN)BuzzFeed is preparing to announce a significant round of layoffs, according to sources familiar with the matter. — The coming contraction is the latest example of digital media companies having to make cutbacks in a difficult operating environment.

Discussion: TheBlaze, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:
BuzzFeed to Cut 15% of Its Workforce

Discussion: Conservative News Today, RedState, The Post & Email, HuffPost, The Resurgent and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Edmund Lee / New York Times:
BuzzFeed Plans Layoffs as It Aims to Turn Profit

Discussion: Breitbart

Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:

Kamala Harris's Logo Is a Disaster. Here's Why. — Does bad graphic design doom good candidates? Or do lousy candidates inspire bad graphic design? — Back in 2016, I was pretty bullish on Marco Rubio's presidential prospects—right up until the moment I saw this: — The candidate's name in lower case?

The Daily Beast:

Ex-Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly Calls on President to End Shutdown — Former White House chief of staff John Kelly, along with four other former Homeland Security secretaries, has called on President Trump to end the partial government shutdown in order to ensure national security.

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Why do people such as Lindsey Graham come to Congress? — Back in the day, small rural airports had textile windsocks, simple and empty things that indicated which way the wind was blowing. The ubiquitous Sen. Lindsey O. Graham has become a political windsock, and as such, he …

Reuters:

France says it expects Iran-EU trade mechanism to be established in ‘coming days’ — PARIS (Reuters) - France's foreign minister said on Wednesday that he expected a European-backed system to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and circumvent U.S. sanctions would be established in the coming days.