memeorandum: U.S. economy added 850,000 jobs in June as labor market showed renewed strength (Eli Rosenberg/Washington Post)

10:25 AM ET, July 2, 2021

Top Items:

Barrett finds own voice at center of conservative U.S. Supreme Court — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Justice Amy Coney Barrett blazed her own path during her rookie term on the U.S. Supreme Court, helping a conservative majority prevail in major cases while at times defying expectations after critics …

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:

A Supreme Blow to Intimidation — Sheldon Whitehouse is unhappy about Thursday's ruling. That's a good sign. — Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is unhappy with Thursday's Supreme Court ruling that reins in his ability to harass political opponents. Perhaps he and his fellow intimidators should have been less brazen.

E.J. Dionne / Washington Post:

Oligarchy Day at the Supreme Court — Thanks to the six right-wing justices on the Supreme Court, our country is less democratic. In twin rulings issued Thursday, they said that states can make it harder for people to vote and they made it easier for big donors to sway elections in secrecy.

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, Raw Story, The Root, HotAir and Washington Examiner

Washington Post:
The Roberts court systematically dismantles the Voting Rights Act

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, The Daily Signal, Law & Crime, New York Magazine, Kansas Reflector, The 19th, Insider and The Federalist

Cristian Farias / Vanity Fair:
“That Law, of All Laws, Should Not Be Diminished”: In Devastating Ruling, the Supreme Court Leaves the Voting Rights Act on Life Support

Discussion: Power Line, DCReport.org, CNN, Washington Post, Law & Crime, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Signal, Roll Call, HuffPost, Deseret News and New Republic

Richard L. Hasen / New York Times:
The Supreme Court Is Putting Democracy at Risk

Discussion: Bloomberg, Law & Crime, Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, Townhall and Slate

Axios:

Biden aide charges “sabotage” of Harris — Top White House officials are mobilizing to defend Vice President Kamala Harris amid a gusher of leaks about dysfunction and infighting in her office. — Driving the news: White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told Axios in a statement …

Discussion: Politico, New York Post, Washington Free Beacon, POLITICUSUSA, CNBC, Breitbart, The New Neo, Washington Examiner, RedState and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
The Veep From ‘Veep’ — Column: Kamala Harris can't fix her office, much less the border

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Beast and spectatorworld.com

Eli Rosenberg / Washington Post:

U.S. economy added 850,000 jobs in June as labor market showed renewed strength — Hiring surged heading into the second half of the year. — The U.S. economy added 850,000 jobs in June as the pace of the recovery surged — quieting simmering fears, at least temporarily, of more lasting harm from labor and supply shortages.

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Examiner and The Guardian

Josh Mitchell / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Job Growth Likely Accelerated in June, Economists Say — Some industries continue to struggle to find workers at prevailing wages — The U.S. economy is projected to have created more than 700,000 jobs last month, though some companies continue to struggle to find workers to serve a flood of customers as the pandemic recedes.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Joe.My.God., Political Wire and The Daily Caller

Patricia Cohen / New York Times:

The June jobs report will offer a reading on economic momentum. — The latest clues to the state of the nation's economic recovery will come Friday morning when the Labor Department releases its June jobs report. — Economists expect payroll gains to top 700,000, an increase …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

David Frum / The Atlantic:

Trump Is Preparing for the Worst — “How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. — “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.” — “What brought it on?” — “Friends,” said Mike. “I had a lot of friends.” — Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair and Raw Story

New York Post:
Trump Organization indictments are a travesty of justice

Discussion: BizPac Review

New York Times:
Trump Was Not Indicted. But the Charges Still Threaten Him.

Discussion: The Guardian, Raw Story, NBC News and Salon

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
Trump's Accountant Confronts a Loyalty Test

Discussion: Raw Story, Insider, CBS News, CNN, BizPac Review, emptywheel and NBC New York

New York Times:
Will Trump Be Indicted? — Mr. Ayer was a U.S. attorney in the Reagan administration …

Discussion: New Yorker, ABC News, Raw Story and emptywheel

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:
Trump seeks to use indictments as a political rallying cry as he tries to survive latest legal threat

Discussion: HotAir, Crooks and Liars, Politico, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times, Slate, New York Times, One America News Network, The Hill, Insider and Mother Jones

Thomas Gibbons-Neff / New York Times:

U.S. Leaves Its Last Afghan Base, Effectively Ending Operations — With little fanfare, Bagram Air Base — once the military's nerve center — was handed over to the Afghans, after nearly 20 years of waging war from the hub. — KABUL, Afghanistan — American troops and their Western allies …

Discussion: Slate

Jazz Shaw / HotAir:
U.S. pulls out of Bagram Airfield without notice

Discussion: Metro.co.uk and Associated Press

Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Shuts Down Bagram Air Base as Afghanistan Pullout Speeds Up

Discussion: USA Today and One America News Network

Kathy Gannon / Associated Press:
US hands Bagram Airfield to Afghans after nearly 20 years

Discussion: NBC News, Reason and Political Wire

Jamie McIntyre / Washington Examiner:
As last US forces depart Bagram air base, fewer than 1,000 American troops remain in Afghanistan

Discussion: Bloomberg, Crooks and Liars and Fox News

Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:
U.S. military vacates main air base in Afghanistan, underscoring withdrawal expected within days

Discussion: CBS News, CNN, UPI and The Sun

Apoorva Mandavilli / New York Times:

Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Protects Against Delta Variant, Company Reports — The vaccine also produced long-lasting immune responses, researchers said. Booster shots seem unnecessary, at least for now. — The Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine is effective against the highly contagious Delta variant …

Discussion: OutKick, CNN, New York Post and NBC Boston

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Is Biden Declaring ‘Independence From the Virus’ Too Soon?

Discussion: USA Today and Daily Kos

Eric J. Topol / New York Times:
It's Time for the F.D.A. to Fully Approve the mRNA Vaccines

Discussion: Army Times, Science News and Washington Examiner

Pete Williams / NBC News:

Attorney General Merrick Garland orders pause of federal executions — Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered a temporary stop Thursday to scheduling further federal executions. — In a memo to senior officials, he said serious concerns have arisen about the arbitrariness of capital punishment …

Discussion: Joe.My.God., HuffPost, National Review, The Daily Caller and Politico

U.S. Department of Justice:
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Imposes a Moratorium on Federal Executions; Orders Review of Policies and Procedures

Discussion: USA Today, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, UPI, New York Times, Must Read Alaska, Townhall and New York Post

Priscilla Alvarez / CNN:

First on CNN: Biden unveils unprecedented government-wide strategy to encourage US citizenship — (CNN)The Biden administration is introducing an unprecedented effort to encourage eligible immigrants to apply for US citizenship, according to a US Citizenship and Immigration Services official.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and USCIS

Andrea Salcedo / Washington Post:

A former police officer arrested after the Jan. 6 riot was told to stay away from guns. He bought 34, feds say. — In January, a federal judge agreed to release Thomas Robertson, a former Rocky Mount, Va., police officer facing multiple charges over his alleged participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

John Smith / American Thinker:

Did Biden Really Win California? — The November 3, 2020, Presidential election data from California sets off alarm bells. — Election data generated by the natural voting process will closely match Benford's Law predictions. (Benford's Law, or the rule of leading digits, is used as an indicator of fraud in numerical data.)

Rep. Rodney Davis / Washington Examiner:

Pelosi cancels the Fourth of July — During an average year, the U.S. Capitol welcomes 2.5 million visitors, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has refused to reopen the Capitol to visitors — school groups, families, or anyone hoping to see the legislative branch in action.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Washington Post:

Concern over crime is growing — but Americans don't just want more police, Post-ABC poll shows — Concern over crime has reached the highest point in four years amid a spike in killings in big cities and an uptick in violent crime, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Friday …

Discussion: ABC News and HotAir

Clare Malone / The Atlantic:

Ohio Is Now Fully Trumpified — In another lifetime, Representative Anthony Gonzalez was the Ohio Republican Party's dream candidate. Many of his future suburban-Cleveland constituents cheered for him at Byers Field when he was a high-school-football standout at St. Ignatius …

Discussion: National Review

Jacob Silverman / New Republic:

Tucker Carlson and Glenn Greenwald's Shameless Marriage of Convenience … Last week, in an appearance on a Mediaite podcast, the journalist Glenn Greenwald came to the defense once again of Fox News's chief hatemonger, Tucker Carlson. While he rightly accused Carlson of “deliberately inflaming …

Discussion: Just Security, UncoverDC, Vox, BizPac Review and Media Matters for America

The Daily Beast:

Trumpworld App Is Bankrolled by Fugitive Chinese Billionaire — Trump adviser Jason Miller launched a new social media company that's being bankrolled by a buddy of pardoned Trump strategist Steve Bannon. — A new social media network led by Donald Trump adviser Jason Miller is backed …

Roger Sollenberger / The Daily Beast:

Inside Broke Roger Stone's Very ‘Shady’ Condo Purchase — Roger Stone somehow secured a $400,000 mortgage while facing a $1.5 million federal lien and owing the IRS roughly $2 million. — BEAST INSIDE — The federal government says longtime Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone owes $2 million in unpaid taxes.

Discussion: Raw Story

Christian Toto / Hollywood in Toto:

‘Forever Purge’ Follows Far-Left's Fear of White Supremacy, Ignores Antifa — The “Purge” franchise offers a glimpse into the progressive mindset. — Previous installments slammed Christians as monsters, railed against President Donald Trump and stoked the dying embers of Occupy Wall Street's class resentment.

Sally Jenkins / Washington Post:

The NFL's investigation was just like Daniel Snyder's workplace culture: Rotten — The so-called investigative report on the nasty skirt-clutching culture inside the Washington Football Team has vanished like invisible ink. And somehow the NFL thinks it can make it all right by handing Tanya Snyder the mop and broom.

Discussion: ProFootballTalk and DCist

Chris Deluzio / The Hill:

Pennsylvania's election audit moves follow the partisan playbook — In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, across the country, we saw radical efforts to spread lies about voter fraud, attack voting rights and overturn the results of the presidential election.