memeorandum: Gohmert's Pence lawsuit seeks to declare Electoral Counting Act unconstitutional in bid to overturn Biden win (Ronn Blitzer/Fox News)

2:55 PM ET, December 29, 2020

Top Items:

McConnell blocks Senate Democrats' initial attempt to approve $2,000 stimulus checks amid growing pressure on GOP leader to act — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Tuesday blocked consideration of a House bill that would deliver a $2,000 stimulus payments to most Americans …

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Power Line, Crooks and Liars, The Federalist, Forbes, Al Jazeera, Business Insider, DCReport.org, CBS News and Newsy

Axios:

Senate tide begins to shift toward $2,000 checks after Trump's push — A couple of days ago, it looked impossible that $2,000 COVID relief checks — up from the $600 checks for individuals in the package President Trump signed Sunday — could pass the Senate.

Discussion: Politico, Townhall, Breitbart, U.S. Senator for Florida …, Real Clear Politics, KDFX-TV, The Right Scoop, Washington Examiner, Michigan Advance and The Week

Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:
McConnell blocks Schumer's bid to unanimously pass $2,000 stimulus checks

Oriana Gonzalez / Axios:
Georgia's GOP senators back $2,000 stimulus checks ahead of runoff

Discussion: Vox, NBC News, HuffPost, Bloomberg, The Hill, Business Insider, Politico, Roll Call, Breitbart, Jacobin, Raw Story, The Daily Poster, Talking Points Memo, IJR, HotAir, The Gateway Pundit, The Week, New York Post, The Intellectualist and Political Wire

Wall Street Journal:
Trump Gives Schumer an Assist

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

Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:
Trump rips GOP leaders for allowing veto override

Tyler Clifford / CNBC:
GOP pollster says Trump's demand for $2,000 stimulus checks is a nightmare for Republicans in Georgia

Discussion: CNN, NBC10 Philadelphia, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and Mediaite

Oriana Gonzalez / Axios:
Trump slams McConnell for blocking vote on $2,000 stimulus checks

Discussion: Raw Story, Fox News, CBS Pittsburgh, The Daily Caller, BGR and Real America's Voice

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
$2,000 vs. $600 stimulus payments isn't the real issue

Discussion: The Week, CRFB Papers and Blog Posts, IJR, The US Sun, Breitbart, Denver Post and CBS San Francisco

Lauren Fox / CNN:
Mitch McConnell faces decision over formal vote to increase stimulus payments to $2,000

Discussion: USA Today, HuffPost, Business Insider, The Hill, The Guardian, Roll Call, NPR, UPI, KDFX-TV, The Verge, Townhall, Deseret News and HotAir

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Bernie Sanders to delay defense veto override in bid for $2,000 checks

Bloomberg:
McConnell Rebuffs Trump, Democrats by Blocking $2,000 Aid Checks

Discussion: CNBC, POLITICUSUSA, The Week and Mediaite

Zack Budryk / The Hill:

Ex-Pence aide turned Trump critic ‘very concerned’ about Jan. 6 violence — A former aide to Vice President Pence who has since become a vocal critic of the Trump administration warned Monday that she feared violence could erupt in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, when Congress …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Mediaite, The Sun, WTTG-TV, WTOP and HuffPost

Chris Cioffi / Roll Call:

The Inaugural Luncheon is the latest pandemic casualty — The century-old tradition of the post-inauguration lunch is the latest pandemic casualty as COVID-19 continues to upend the ceremonies around the Jan. 20 swearing-in of President-elect Joe Biden. — The Inaugural Luncheon tradition …

Ronn Blitzer / Fox News:
Gohmert's Pence lawsuit seeks to declare Electoral Counting Act unconstitutional in bid to overturn Biden win

Discussion: Washington Examiner, RedState and CNN

Alexi McCammond / Axios:
Kamala Harris receives first dose of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, Reuters, ABC News, CBS News, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, BGR, Washington Times, The Daily Caller, UPI, abc7NY, ABC7, POLITICUSUSA, WHNT-TV, New York Post and The Week

Oriana Gonzalez / Axios:
Fauci: Vaccine numbers below target set for end of December

Discussion: CNBC, Sydney Morning Herald and The American Independent

New York Times:
Will Pence Do the Right Thing?

Discussion: Conservative News Today, Law & Crime, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Donald Trump, Michelle Obama Most Admired in 2020 — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans are most likely to name President Donald Trump and Michelle Obama as most admired man and woman in 2020. Trump tied former President Barack Obama for the honor last year but edged out his predecessor this year.

Zack Budryk / The Hill:
Trump ends Obama's 12-year run as most admired man: Gallup

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Big League Politics, The Sun, Breitbart and HotAir

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Nikki Haley's mind-numbing inanity — Republicans have made clear for years that they lack constructive ideas to respond to Americans' real-world concerns. In lieu of rational responses to rising health-care costs or falling K-12 test scores or income inequality, they rant about Confederate flags …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Stand For America, Townhall and Fox News

Zack Stanton / Politico:

The Worst Predictions of 2020 — On the last day of 2019, President Donald Trump joined in on New Year's Eve celebrations at Mar-a-Lago, ringing in 2020 with what was, in retrospect, a terrible prediction about the year ahead. — “We're going to have a great year, I predict,” the president told assembled guests.

Discussion: VICE, National Review and TheBlaze

McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:

The Resistance's Breakup With the Media Is at Hand — The day after the 2016 election, I got a phone call from an old friend. Neither of us had slept much, and we spent most of the conversation exchanging shell-shocked comments of the Can you believe this? variety. Before we hung up, his voice took on a trace of irony.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Twitchy and Townhall, more at Mediagazer »

Andrea Salcedo / Washington Post:

Massachusetts GOP leader says he likely got covid-19 at a White House Hanukkah party: 'I'm paying the price' — Earlier this month, Tom Mountain, a Massachusetts Republican Party leader, posed for a maskless photo in front of a silver menorah as dozens of other guests without face coverings mingled nearby …

Discussion: Mediaite

Tyler Dumont / WJAR-TV:
Massachusetts GOP leader battling COVID-19 after attending holiday party at White House

Discussion: The Hill, Towleroad Gay News, Slate and HotAir

David Corn / Mother Jones:

Kelly Loeffler's Conflict of Interest Is Even Worse Than Reported — Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters. — As she campaigns for reelection in the January 5 run-off, Kelly Loeffler …

Discussion: Raw Story

Dani Alexis Ryskamp / The Atlantic:

The Life in The Simpsons Is No Longer Attainable — The most famous dysfunctional family of 1990s television enjoyed, by today's standards, an almost dreamily secure existence that now seems out of reach for all too many Americans. I refer, of course, to the Simpsons.

Ed Yong / The Atlantic:

Where Year Two of the Pandemic Will Take Us — Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. — The influenza pandemic that began in 1918 killed as many as 100 million people over two years.

Discussion: The Week

Christian Schneider / The Bulwark:

Rubio vs. Fauci Is Amazing — Marco Rubio inadvertently told us what he thinks of Republican voters. — In the course of his young political career, Marco Rubio has been a Tea Partier, a Reformicon, and a neoconservative. Now he's auditioning for the role of MAGA FAN #7 by trying …

Discussion: @politifact, Newsbusters, Twitchy, Raw Story, TheGrio, The Right Scoop, Talking Points Memo and CNN

Yahoo News:

L.A. County hospitals turn away ambulances, put patients in gift shop: 'I've never seen anything like this' — At Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, the breaking point came Sunday night. — There was not one available bed for at least 30 patients who needed intensive or intermediate levels of care …

Discussion: Daily News, Breitbart and The Stranger

Reed Albergotti / Washington Post:

Apple's longtime supplier accused of using forced labor in China — New documents show Lens Technology, which makes iPhone glass and is owned by China's richest woman, received Uighur Muslim laborers transferred from Xinjiang. — One of the oldest and most well-known iPhone suppliers …

Discussion: Business Insider, The Daily Caller, National Review, Engadget and BuzzFeed News, more at Techmeme »

Politico:

Judge blocks voter purge in 2 Georgia counties — A federal judge in Georgia on Monday ordered two counties to reverse a decision removing more than 4,000 voters from the rolls ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff elections that will decide control of the U.S. Senate.

Discussion: Fox News, New York Times, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, Reuters, TheBlaze, National Review, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, Towleroad Gay News, Conservative News Today, The Right Scoop, The Hill and Twitchy

Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:

Politico to Acquire Energy Trade Publication E&E News — Purchase comes as Politico looks to expand its overall professional news business — Politico is adding some energy to its game. — The nearly 14-year-old political news outlet is acquiring E&E News, a high-price subscription …

Discussion: The Hill, more at Mediagazer »

Melissa Cooke / Politico: POLITICO Acquires E&E News

William J. Kole / Associated Press:

Statue of slave kneeling before Lincoln is removed in Boston — A statue of Abraham Lincoln with a freed slave appearing to kneel at his feet — optics that drew objections amid a national reckoning with racial injustice — has been removed from its perch in downtown Boston.

Discussion: The Hill and The Daily Caller

Arizona Republic:

Report: Phoenix police officer said, 'If the mayor defunds the police, I'm going to shoot her' — Uriel J. Garcia Jen FifieldArizona Republic — On the afternoon of October 21, seven Phoenix police officers gathered for a briefing in a Cave Creek station when the meeting diverged …

Discussion: New York Post and Raw Story

Joseph Krauss / Associated Press:

Record shows US sold ambassador's home in Israel for $67M — An official record shows that the United States sold the ambassador's residence in Israel for more than $67 million in July — Catch up on the developing stories making headlines. — JERUSALEM — The United States sold …

Discussion: The Hill and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Katrin Bennhold / New York Times:

A Far-Right Terrorism Suspect With a Refugee Disguise: The Tale of Franco A. — A German officer is facing trial on terrorism charges. At a volatile time for Western democracy, his story mirrors the story of Germany itself. — OFFENBACH, Germany — At the height of Europe's migrant crisis …

Associated Press:

Child labor in palm oil industry tied to Girl Scout cookies — They are two young girls from two very different worlds, linked by a global industry that exploits an army of children. — Olivia Chaffin, a Girl Scout in rural Tennessee, was a top cookie seller in her troop …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Jeb Lund / New Republic:

Ron DeSantis Is TNR's 2020 Scoundrel of the Year — For so many of us, the person of the year is Nothing. The thing that killed mom or laid out the elementary school teacher was Nothing. Nobody saw it. Either dad tracked nothing home from the grocery store or there was a fatal amount of Nothing smeared all over the produce.