memeorandum: Treasury warns of need to deal with national debt limit (Martin Crutsinger/Associated Press)

2:30 PM ET, May 5, 2021

Top Items:

Oversight Board upholds former President Trump's suspension, finds Facebook failed to impose proper penalty — The Board has upheld Facebook's decision on January 7, 2021, to restrict then-President Donald Trump's access to posting content on his Facebook page and Instagram account.

Charlie Warzel / Galaxy Brain:

Trump's New Blog Is a Trap — The only way to win is not to play … A Quick Thought on Facebook's Oversight Board Decision — This morning the Board delivered its long-awaited decision with this slippery, misleading headline: Oversight Board upholds former President Trump's suspension …

Discussion: New York Times, CNBC, The Wrap, IJR, Mediaite and POLITICUSUSA, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Facebook's Oversight Board upheld the social network's decision to ban Trump — Long-awaited ruling has implications for how social media companies govern speech by public officials and other powerful people — Facebook's Oversight Board on Wednesday upheld the social network's decision …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, NewsOne, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Associated Press, Variety, Mercury News, The Root, The American Independent, Snopes.com, KNWA FOX24, ABC7, WGN-TV and Jezebel

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

Facebook Oversight Board Upholds Social Network's Ban of Trump — A company-appointed panel ruled that the ban was justified at the time but added that the company should reassess its action and make a final decision in six months. — SAN FRANCISCO — A Facebook-appointed panel of journalists …

Discussion: Insider, Breaking News USA, Occupy Democrats, CBS News, IJR, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg, Breitbart, Florida Politics, Fox 8 Cleveland WJW, Althouse, ABC7 and The Daily Beast

Michael Kruse / Politico:
The Facebook Ban Hurt Trump in Surprising Ways

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, New Republic, The Guardian and Washington Post

The Guardian:
Trump criticizes Facebook ruling and says social media companies ‘must pay a political price’ - live

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Washington Times, RedState and Althouse

Axios:
Trump and inner circle hang on Facebook verdict

Discussion: Pew Research Center, The Verge, Politico, Insider, The Guardian, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, The Week, USA Today, HotAir, RedState, Mediaite, POLITICUSUSA, Page Array and The Western Journal

Politico:

Cheney isn't fighting McCarthy push to replace her in leadership — Liz Cheney is not fighting to hold onto her job as House GOP conference chair, even as top Republican leaders openly campaign to replace her in the No. 3 spot. — To the frustration of many fellow Republicans …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Insider, CNN, The Hill, Donald J. Trump, Breitbart, Truth and Consequences, New Republic, Mediaite and Salon

Wall Street Journal:

Purging Liz Cheney — GOP leaders shouldn't have to lie about 2020 to keep their job. — By The Editorial Board — This should be a hopeful moment for House Republicans. While they're playing defense in the minority for now, their prospects for picking up the five net seats they need …

Discussion: The Bulwark, The Hill, Politico, HuffPost, The National Interest, Donald J. Trump, Breitbart, CNN, NBC News, The Week, Electoral-vote.com, Mediaite, TheBlaze, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Forbes and The Western Journal

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

The effort to dump Liz Cheney is the consequence of a party that lost its way — The growing effort to remove Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from the third-ranking Republican leadership position in the House further accelerates her party's full capitulation to Donald Trump's big lie about the 2020 election.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, ABC News, Politico, National Review, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, The Western Journal, Associated Press, USA Today, Washington Times, Raw Story, Fox News, davidblaska.com, The Nation, The Dispatch, HuffPost and Times of San Diego

Allahpundit / HotAir:
Report: Trump, McCarthy, Scalise all back Elise Stefanik to replace Cheney in caucus leadership

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, CNN and Wall Street Journal

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Ernst defends fellow Republican leader Cheney — but calls for intra-GOP peace

Discussion: National Review and Washington Examiner

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
How GOP rage at Liz Cheney makes a future stolen election more likely

Discussion: VICE, CNN, New York Times, Slate, NPR, The American Conservative, Forbes, IJR, National Review, Bloomberg and Michael-In-Norfolk

Steve Hayes / The Dispatch:
Kevin McCarthy's GOP is Tired of Hearing the Truth

Discussion: National Review, New York Times, Patterico's Pontifications and Townhall

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Liz Cheney's top donors stand with her despite Republicans' push to oust her from House leadership

Discussion: The American Independent, Bloomberg, Tangle, The Hill, Associated Press, NBC News, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Times and New York Times

Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:
Power Up: Marjorie Taylor Greene might have helped Liz Cheney survive this long

Discussion: Erick Erickson's Confessions …, Politico, Insider, National Review, The Western Journal, Forbes and RedState

Fadel Allassan / Axios:
Trump, House GOP leaders endorse Elise Stefanik to replace Liz Cheney

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Insider, CBS News, The Hill, Breitbart, National Review, Associated Press, The Federalist, CNN and Talking Points Memo

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Trump's Big Lie Devoured the G.O.P. and Now Eyes Our Democracy

Discussion: Salon, Digby's Hullabaloo, CNN and Los Angeles Times

Brad Stone / Bloomberg:

The Untold Story of How Jeff Bezos Beat the Tabloids — When a gossip rag went after the CEO, he retaliated with the brutal, brilliant efficiency he used to build his business empire. In an exclusive excerpt from the new book Amazon Unbound comes an unrivaled tale of money, sex, and power.

more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:

Peloton Recalls All Treadmills as CEO Apologizes — Home-fitness company now offering customers refunds, halts sales of Tread+ machine — Peloton Interactive Inc. has agreed to recall its treadmills, and its chief executive apologized for the company's initial refusal to comply …

Discussion: TMZ.com and New York Post

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:
CPSC and Peloton Announce: Recall of Tread+ Treadmills After One Child Death and 70 Incidents; Recall of Tread Treadmills Due to Risk of Injury

Discussion: CBS News, USA Today, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Chicago Sun-Times, Jezebel, CBS Philly, Forbes, New York Times, ABC News, KTVX-TV, NBC 6 South Florida, UPI, The Verge, Fox 8 Cleveland WJW and KRQE-TV

Kate Davidson / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Treasury Evaluating Various Scenarios for Debt Limit Reinstatement — Limit on government borrowing would be reinstated on July 31 unless lawmakers act — WASHINGTON—Treasury Department officials on Wednesday urged Congress to move quickly to increase the federal borrowing limit this summer …

Discussion: Bloomberg

Martin Crutsinger / Associated Press: Treasury warns of need to deal with national debt limit

Cassidy Morrison / Washington Examiner:

Judge overturns federal pandemic eviction moratorium — A federal judge vacated the nationwide moratorium on evictions established last year to protect renters who could not pay their rent due to restrictions meant to limit the spread of the coronavirus. — “The pandemic has triggered …

Discussion: National Review and The Federalist

Annie Nova / CNBC:
Federal judge overturns national eviction ban

Discussion: Raw Story

Signal Blog:

The Instagram ads Facebook won't show you — Companies like Facebook aren't building technology for you, they're building technology for your data. They collect everything they can from FB, Instagram, and WhatsApp in order to sell visibility into people and their lives.

Discussion: Gizmodo, Washington Post, MacRumors, The Indian Express and Forbes, more at Mediagazer »

Larry McShane / New York Daily News:

Please buy this newspaper: A Daily News reporter begs a local owner to rescue the tabloid from Alden Global Capital — Like any good tabloid headline, it's simple, snappy and succinct: DAILY NEWS NEEDS NEW OWNER. — And not just any owner: a New York owner, someone who knows the city …

Discussion: Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Kevin McCarthy says he rented a ‘room’ — in a 7,000-square-foot penthouse — “Frank [Luntz] has been a friend of mine for more than 30 years. ... I've rented a room from Frank for a couple of months, but don't worry, I'm back to — going back to where I normally am, on my couch in my office.

Discussion: Breaking News USA, Mock Paper Scissors, The Gateway Pundit and The Hill

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

There's an Extremely Stupid Reason Congress Doesn't Want a Good IRS — Yesterday, Treasury secretary Janet Yellen noted that, in this decade, uncollected federal taxes will amount to roughly $7 trillion. Former IRS commissioners Fred Goldberg and Charles Rossotti have calculated that …

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

Judge Says Barr Misled on How His Justice Dept. Viewed Trump's Actions — Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in a ruling that the misleading statements were similar to others that William P. Barr, the former attorney general, had made about the Mueller investigation.

Discussion: CNN, The Guardian, The Intellectualist, Daily Kos, HotAir, Crooks and Liars, Raw Story, The Hill, Washington Examiner, The Week, Progressive Eruptions and The Daily Caller

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:

Strongmen who got cozy with Trump get the cold shoulder from Biden — The Biden administration has zinged Russia and China over human rights and alleged thuggery against their neighbors, cut off some arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and stiff-armed Turkey's increasingly authoritarian leader.

Discussion: Washington Examiner and National Review

Sabrina Tavernise / New York Times:

The U.S. Birthrate Has Dropped Again. The Pandemic May Be Accelerating the Decline. — Over all, the birthrate declined by 4 percent in 2020. Births were down most sharply in December, when babies conceived at the start of the health crisis would have been born.

Discussion: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Reuters, NPR, Human Events, The Daily Caller, National Review and The Hill

New York Times:

Why Democratic Departures From the House Have Republicans Salivating — A growing number of Democrats in battleground districts are retiring or leaving to seek higher office, imperiling the party's slim House majority and President Biden's expansive agenda.

Discussion: The American Independent, The Nation, Politico, HotAir, The Hill, New York Post and CNN

Jessica M. Goldstein / Washingtonian:

The Awkward Feeling of Rooting for the White House Press Secretary — Half of America is smitten with Jen Psaki, while a swath of the White House press corps sounds quite taken with how polite she is. — In her first three months on the job, White House press secretary Jen Psaki has yet …

Barak Ravid / Axios:

Scoop: Jared Kushner founds “Abraham Accords Institute” — Jared Kushner is founding an organization called the Abraham Accords Institute for Peace, to work on deepening the normalization agreements he helped strike between Israel and Arab countries. — The big picture: The Abraham Accords …

Discussion: The Times of Israel, Algemeiner.com and Insider

Washington Post:

White House grapples with reports of labor shortage, inflation as recovery picks up steam — Biden administration officials are hearing from a range of voices about economic pressures — Senior Biden economic officials have in recent weeks been peppered by complaints from restaurant groups …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Insider

Neal Rothschild / Axios:

Trump's spell over the media broke once he lost his megaphones — Social media interactions about former President Trump have fallen 91% since January, according to exclusive data from NewsWhip. — Why it matters: When Trump lost his social media accounts, he lost his once-immense power …

Discussion: Mock Paper Scissors

Reuters:

U.S. eyes nuclear reactor tax credit to meet climate goals -sources — The White House has signaled privately to lawmakers and stakeholders in recent weeks that it supports taxpayer subsidies to keep nuclear facilities from closing and making it harder to meet U.S. climate goals …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller

Ronald Radosh / New Republic:

Our Friend, the Trump Propagandist — According to our old friend David Horowitz—the radical leftist turned thoughtful conservative turned Trump propagandist whom we've been acquainted with, in his various political guises, for more than 60 years—America is on the brink of destruction …

Tia Mitchell / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

AJC Poll: Georgians narrowly back Biden, but state remains polarized on many issues — EXCLUSIVE — Six months after the 2020 elections, a new poll suggests Georgians like the way President Joe Biden is responding to the coronavirus pandemic, but they are more divided on his economic proposals …

Discussion: The Hill