memeorandum: House passes short-term spending bill to avoid government shutdown (ABC News)

10:45 PM ET, September 22, 2020

Top Items:

John Kruzel / The Hill:

GOP will ask Supreme Court to limit mail voting in Pennsylvania in first post-RBG test — Republicans plan to ask the Supreme Court to review a major Pennsylvania state court ruling that extended the due date for mail ballots in the key battleground state, teeing up the first test …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Reuters, Washington Post, Breitbart, Forbes, Fox News, Raw Story, Reason, Just The News, Political Wire and One America News Network

Kirsten Powers / USA Today:
Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell and the Republican Party play victims. Don't let them.

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, NBC News, The Hill, National Review and Daily Kos

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
The Republican Party is an authoritarian outlier

Discussion: Washington Post, Bulwark+, MarketWatch, Redstate, Fox News, Progress Pond, National Review, abc7NY, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Times, Real Clear Politics, TheBlaze, Raw Story, The Hill and WKBN-TV

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Romney backs vote on Supreme Court nominee, clearing way for Trump

Ryan Cooper / The Week:
Democrats have a better option than court packing

Discussion: New York Times, Slate, The Federalist, Fox News, National Review, New Republic and The Nation

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Billionaires Haim and Cheryl Saban ramp up support for Biden and Democrats in Senate races

Discussion: The Philadelphia Inquirer, Fox News, NBC News, Breitbart, Redstate, Washington Post and Political Wire

Politico:
Senate Republicans bet it all on the Supreme Court — again

Discussion: Fox News, New York Times, The Hill, Washington Post, Associated Press, Deseret News, The Week, KTLA and One America News Network

Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
Down With Judicial Supremacy! — The Supreme Court was never meant to be the only arbiter of the meaning of the Constitution.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Reuters and The Week

Associated Press:
Trump asks Supreme Court for fast action in census case

Discussion: National Review

Daniel Trotta / Reuters:

Handmaid's Tale? U.S. Supreme Court candidate's religious community under scrutiny — (Reuters) - Some have likened People of Praise, a self-described charismatic Christian community, to the totalitarian, male-dominated society of Margaret Atwood's novel “The Handmaid's Tale.”

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Refinery29, The Federalist, National Review, Twitchy, Salon and Newsweek

Axios:

Meadows: Trump will not meet with Lagoa in Florida — White House chief of staff Mark Meadows tells Axios that President Trump will not meet with shortlisted Supreme Court candidate Barbara Lagoa during a campaign visit to Florida on Friday, and that any talks with court candidates will take place in Washington.

Discussion: Florida Phoenix, Washington Free Beacon, CNN, National Review, One America News Network, The Daily Signal, TheBlaze, USA Today and New York Post

Politico:
Trump-world clashes over Barrett vs. Lagoa

Discussion: Washington Post, Vanity Fair and Fox News

Tyler Pager / Bloomberg:

Kamala Harris Downplays Debate Skills as Buttigieg Stands In for Pence — Former prosecutor known for withering attacks on opponents — Harris created viral moments in presidential primary debates — Kamala Harris's team is working to manage public expectations that her upcoming debate …

Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story

New York Times:

The Russian Trolls Have a Simpler Job Today. Quote Trump. — As part of their attempt to interfere with the 2020 election, Russians are grabbing screenshots of President Trump's tweets, or quoting his own misleading statements, analysts and officials say.

Discussion: Raw Story

Commission on Presidential Debates:

Moderator Announces Topics for First Presidential Debate — The first presidential debate will be held on Tuesday, September 29 at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH. The format for the first debate calls for six 15-minute time segments dedicated …

Discussion: Axios, Wall Street Journal, Raw Story, IJR, UncoverDC, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, The Week, New York Post and Fox News

ABC News:

House passes short-term spending bill to avoid government shutdown — The deal will fund the government through Dec. 11. — Catch up on the developing stories making headlines. — The House approved late Tuesday night, in a 359-5-1 vote, a stopgap bill to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month.

Discussion: NBC News, Townhall, Fox News, WOWK-TV, New York Post, One America News Network and The Hill

Alayna Treene / Axios:
House Democrats and Trump admin strike deal to avert government shutdown

Discussion: Political Wire, Forbes, Mercury News and The Hill

Susan Davis / NPR:
House Passes Short-Term Funding Bill To Keep Government Running

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, GovExec.com, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Politico, NBC4 Washington, Roll Call, Florida Phoenix and Just The News

Adam Taylor / Washington Post:

Dutch lawmakers demand answers after U.S. ambassador holds party for right-wing populists at embassy — Dutch officials demanded answers from Pete Hoekstra, the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, on Tuesday in light of reports that the Trump appointee had held a private event …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Eline Schaart / Politico: US ambassador under fire for hosting Dutch far-right bash

Wall Street Journal:

Reopening Colleges Likely Fueled Covid-19 Significantly, Study Finds — Research suggests in-person classes led to thousands of additional cases each day in the U.S. — Colleges and universities that reopened for face-to-face instruction might have caused tens of thousands of additional cases …

Discussion: Raw Story

Leah Asmelash / CNN:
Colleges knew the risks but they reopened anyway. Here's how they got it all wrong

Discussion: OutKick and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Scoop: Meadows puts agencies on notice about staff shake-up — White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told administration officials Monday to expect senior aides to be replaced at many government agencies, according to an internal email obtained by Axios. — Behind the scenes …

Discussion: ABC News and Political Wire

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Trump extends ban on racial discrimination training to federal contractors — President Trump on Tuesday extended his administration's ban on training involving race- and sex-based discrimination to include federal contractors, doubling down on an issue to appeal to his base, and white voters in particular.

Discussion: Redstate, Reuters, NPR, The Daily Beast and Big League Politics

The White House:
Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping

Discussion: Axios

Veronica Stracqualursi / CNN:

Trump's ex-Russia adviser Fiona Hill: US increasingly seen as ‘object of pity’ — (CNN)President Donald Trump's former top Russia adviser said Tuesday that the United States is increasingly seen as “an object of pity” and its standing on the world stage is eroding.

Discussion: Axios and Raw Story

Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:

Biden says Cindy McCain will endorse him — Democratic nominee Joe Biden said Tuesday that Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), will endorse him for president. — Biden made the announcement during a virtual fundraiser, saying Cindy McCain made the decision due …

Discussion: Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Associated Press, Mediaite, The Week, IJR, Washington Times and New York Post

Matthew Choi / Politico:
Cindy McCain endorses Biden

Discussion: ABC News, Associated Press, The Hill, Axios, Talking Points Memo, Forbes, The Guardian, Fox News, The Daily Caller, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, KRON4, Deadline and One America News Network

Jill Ishkanian / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Defund the police’ activist Alyssa Milano calls 911 sparking massive police presence in her quiet California neighborhood claiming an armed an gunman was on her property - but it was really a teen shooting at squirrels with an air gun — Actress Alyssa Milano called police …

Discussion: Power Line, Fox News, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit and Page Six

Des Moines Register:

Iowa Poll: Donald Trump and Joe Biden are locked in a dead heat six weeks to Election Day — It's a dead heat in Iowa as a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden locked in a tie just six weeks to Election Day.

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, POLITICUSUSA, Fox News, Politico, Iowa Starting Line, Washington Times and Political Wire

Washington Post:

Pentagon used taxpayer money meant for masks and swabs to make jet engine parts and body armor — Shortly after Congress passed the Cares Act, the Pentagon began directing pandemic-related money to defense contractors — A $1 billion fund Congress gave the Pentagon in March to build …

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Kos, Task & Purpose, Vanity Fair, Law & Crime, The American Independent, Just The News, The Week, Raw Story, Slate and Talking Points Memo

Barbara McQuade / Washington Post:

Barr can make the Justice Department help Trump in election disputes. Here's how. — The attorney general has clearly demonstrated a desire to help the president politically — William P. Barr sounds more like a far right-wing news pundit lately than the nation's attorney general …

Discussion: The Cain Gang

CNN:

Fact check: Trump campaign posts another dishonestly snipped Biden quote to make him sound confused — Washington (CNN)There is a pattern: President Donald Trump's campaign and its allies keep dishonestly snipping, editing or describing video clips of former Vice President Joe Biden to try …

Discussion: National Review, Big League Politics, Vanity Fair, Power Line and Redstate

Andrew Feinberg / The Independent:

It's not just Roe v Wade. Trump's Supreme Court pick could challenge Brown v Board of Education — Nearly 30 Trump nominees have refused to say the ruling in the landmark case — which overturned segregaton in schools — was the correct one — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death leaves …

Discussion: New York Times

Ryan P. Williams / The American Mind:

Dear Berggruen Institute: Renounce Death Threats Now — A letter from Claremont Institute President Ryan Williams to Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels of the Berggruen Institute — Co-Founder + Editor-in-Chief of Noema Magazine Berggruen Institute — Los Angeles, CA 90013 Dear …

Discussion: The National Pulse

World Socialist Web Site:

The New York Times and Nikole Hannah-Jones abandon key claims of the 1619 Project — The New York Times, without announcement or explanation, has abandoned the central claim of the 1619 Project: that 1619, the year the first slaves were brought to Colonial Virginia—and not 1776—was the “true founding” of the United States.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Federalist and Twitchy

Amber Jamieson / BuzzFeed News:

We Aren't Nationally Mourning The 200,000 COVID-19 Victims Because If We Did It Would Be A Reckoning — Earlier this month, on Sept. 11, as has happened every year since the 2001 terror attacks, a moment of silence was held at 8:46 a.m. ET, the exact time a plane struck the north tower of the World Trade Center.

IC3.gov News:

Foreign Actors and Cybercriminals Likely to Spread Disinformation Regarding 2020 Election Results — The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are issuing this announcement to raise awareness of the potential threat posed …

Discussion: Bloomberg, IJR and Mediaite

Kate Briquelet / The Daily Beast:

Revealed: Bill Clinton's Intimate Secret Dinner With Ghislaine Maxwell — The former president invited Ghislaine Maxwell to a cozy dinner in L.A. in 2014, years after she had been accused by a victim of procuring girls for Epstein's sex ring. — After a star-studded gala in February 2014 …

Discussion: Big League Politics, Mediaite and New York Post

Washington Post:

FDA to announce tougher standards for a coronavirus vaccine that make it unlikely one will be cleared by Election Day — The guidance is part of an effort to boost transparency and public trust as polls show many are skeptical a vaccine will be safe and effective.

Discussion: New York Times, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, IJR, Forbes, Kaiser Health News and Raw Story

CNN:

Why we should listen to what Olivia Troye says about Donald Trump — Former Trump official says he witnessed Pence praise Olivia Troye — Miles Taylor served at the Department of Homeland Security in the Trump Administration from 2017 to 2019, including as DHS chief of staff to Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Discussion: The Week, Washington Times, New York Times, Forbes, Talking Points Memo, New York Post, Raw Story, Politico and Mediaite

Michael Sallah / ICIJ:

With Deutsche Bank's help, an oligarch's buying spree trails ruin across the US heartland — In a fiery ball, the explosion in a massive furnace at Warren Steel in Ohio blew out bricks and windows and sent workers hurtling to the ground, including three who were airlifted to burn units and two others rushed to local hospitals.

Ashley Boucher / People.com:

Resident Doctor Dies of Coronavirus at 28 After Treating COVID-19 Positive Patients in the ER — Adeline Fagan, who was in her second year of residency, tested positive for COVID-19 in July — A young resident doctor has died from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) after a two-month battle with the illness.

Discussion: CBS Philly, Fox News and New York Post

New York Times:

Climate Disruption Is Now Locked In. The Next Moves Will Be Crucial. — America is now under siege by climate change in ways that scientists have warned about for years. But there is a second part to their admonition: Decades of growing crisis are already locked into the global ecosystem and cannot be reversed.

New York Times:

The Toll Since Coronavirus Struck: 250,000 More Deaths Than Normal — Brazil Canada France Germany India Italy Mexico Spain U.K. — Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine …

Discussion: CNBC and Vox