memeorandum: Democrats set up spending showdowns next week (Susan Ferrechio/Washington Examiner)

10:10 AM ET, September 25, 2021

Top Items:

Jeff Greenfield / Politico:

The Roots of Democratic Disarray — If anyone tells you they know how the battle among congressional Democrats will be resolved, wish them a good day and walk away very quickly. They managed to pass an infrastructure bill in the Senate — with Republican support! — and are now in total disagreement …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, CNN, New Republic and The Guardian

Paul Steinhauser / Fox News:

The Biden effect: GOP starts linking down-ballot Democrats to an increasingly unpopular president — Amid president's eroding poll numbers, Republicans begin hitching potentially vulnerable Democrats to Biden — Chaffetz: Biden's crises, cratering poll numbers are ‘self-inflicted wounds’

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Zandar Versus The Stupid

Politico:

Pelosi goes all in with domestic agenda on the line — Nancy Pelosi has never been in a bind like this before. — The speaker is on the cusp of muscling through a pair of bills that amount to trillions of dollars in investments that, if they make it to President Joe Biden's desk, will reshape both her and the president's legacies.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Politico:

As Dems race forward, Manchin pumps brakes: ‘There is no timeline’ — Democratic leaders and President Joe Biden are speeding up their work on Biden's massive jobs and families plan. Joe Manchin keeps throttling momentum back. — The president wants Manchin and other holdouts to find …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Susan Ferrechio / Washington Examiner:
Democrats set up spending showdowns next week

Discussion: Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, MyNorthwest.com and Salon

Jim Parker / KVIA-TV:

Fort Bliss woman soldier assaulted at Afghan refugee camp — DONA ANA COUNTY, New Mexico — The FBI is investigating the assault of a female Fort Bliss soldier by several male Afghan refugees at the Army's Doña Ana Complex camp where thousands are currently being housed, officials told ABC-7 on Friday.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Breitbart, El Paso Times, HotAir, The Daily Caller and Twitchy

Andrew Miller / Fox News:

Assault on female US service member by male Afghan refugees at Fort Bliss under FBI investigation — The incident comes on the heels of two Afghan refugees being charged with federal crimes at a Wisconsin military base — Fox News Flash top headlines for September 24

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding, KTSM-TV, New York Post, RedState, National Review, Jihad Watch, РИА …, Page Array, BorderReport and Washington Examiner

Katie Pavlich / Townhall: A Female U.S. Soldier Has Been Assaulted by Afghan Refugees in New Mexico

Amy Gardner / Washington Post:

Arizona recount results raise stakes for GOP-backed ballot reviews in other states — A GOP-commissioned report that did not find evidence fraud tainted Arizona's 2020 election has intensified the fight over similar partisan ballot reviews in Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Reuters, NBC News, Raw Story, CBS News, Washington Examiner, Insider, ABC News, Associated Press, Political Wire, The Daily Signal, Crooks and Liars, Zandar Versus The Stupid and KRON4

New York Times:
‘Stop the Steal’ Movement Races Forward, Ignoring Arizona Humiliation

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press, BuzzFeed News, Politico, Arizona Mirror, We Love Trump, Arizona Capitol Times, Raw Story, New York Post, Washington Times, The Hill, NBC News, Daily Kos, The Daily Beast and No More Mister Nice Blog

Amanda Carpenter / The Bulwark:
The Arizona “Audit” Was Election Subversion

Discussion: Arizona Mirror, Raw Story, Daily Kos and The Gateway Pundit

Carla Marinucci / Politico:

Elder energizes California GOP but steers party against the tide — OAKLAND — California voters' staggering rejection of the Gov. Gavin Newsom recall was bad enough for the state's Republicans. Now the party has to navigate the meteoric rise of conservative Larry Elder …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Why the GOP is threatening to block a debt limit extension they say is needed

Discussion: Insider, Washington Post and Common Dreams

Geoff Duncan / CNN:
If my fellow Republicans want to win, they won't buy Trump's stolen election fantasy

Discussion: Fox News, Associated Press, The Hill, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Raw Story and HuffPost

Ian Austen / New York Times:

China Frees 2 Canadians After U.S. Deal Over Huawei Executive — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor had been held by China since 2018, soon after Canada detained the Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. A U.S. agreement has cleared the way for Ms. Meng's release.

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Guardian, South China Morning Post, globalnews.ca, WTOP, Politico, New York Post, Reuters, KVIA-TV, Associated Press, d1994, Japan Times, One America News Network, The Diplomat and Financial Times

U.S. Department of Justice:
Huawei CFO Wanzhou Meng Admits to Misleading Global Financial Institution

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, KION546 and Bloomberg

New York Times:
The Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou is set to be released.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, Reuters, UPI, One America News Network, HotAir, Al Jazeera, Forbes, New York Post, Engadget, The Verge, CBC News, Associated Press, BBC and NPR, more at Techmeme »

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:

Biden likely won't shield Trump records from Jan. 6 investigators, White House says — President Joe Biden will not shield former President Donald Trump's records from the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by invoking executive privilege, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Guardian and Associated Press

Politico:
Jan. 6 committee seeks testimony from riot defendants who pleaded guilty

Discussion: New Republic

Myah Ward / Politico:
‘Case-by-case basis’: White House clarifies position on Trump records and Jan. 6 executive privilege

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Post, Joe.My.God., One America News Network, Daily Kos and HotAir

Sarah Toy / Wall Street Journal:

Schools With Face-Mask Requirements Had Fewer Covid-19 Outbreaks, CDC Study Finds — Two studies suggest that masks can help prevent classroom outbreaks and pediatric cases in the community — Face-mask requirements in schools drastically reduce the spread of Covid-19 among children …

Discussion: New York Times, Centers for Disease Control …, Digby's Hullabaloo and Mercury News

Moriah Balingit / Washington Post:
Pediatric covid-19 cases rose faster in counties without school mask requirements, CDC says

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Think tank: Trump faces ‘substantial’ legal risk in Georgia case — Ahead of former President Donald Trump's return to Georgia, legal experts with the Brookings Institution think tank published a detailed analysis Friday of the potential criminal investigation he faces in Fulton County linked …

Discussion: HillReporter.com and myfox8.com

New York Times:

The Surveillance Apparatus That Surrounded Britney Spears — An account by a former employee of the security team hired by Ms. Spears's father created the most detailed portrait yet of the singer's life under 13 years of conservatorship. — Britney Spears's father and the security firm …

Discussion: Variety

Insider:

One of the most secretive and powerful groups in GOP politics just had its cell phone numbers leaked. Here's what its members said about Trump 2024 when we started calling. — Several members of the conservative Council for National Policy were iffy on Trump running again.

Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:

Maybe We Should Be Talking More About the Trump Coup Memo — Fight disinformation. Get a daily recap of the facts that matter. Sign up for the free Mother Jones newsletter. — There was big news this week on what is known ominously and euphemistically as “the democracy beat,” and like all such news, it was bad.

Discussion: Hackwhackers, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Politico, Digby's Hullabaloo, Election Law Blog, Media Matters for America, Washington Post and Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Joseph Wulfsohn / Fox News:

‘Gutfeld!’ beats all late-night shows on their widely hyped ‘Climate Night’ — Greg Gutfeld also trounced his cable news competitors on MSNBC and CNN — Tucker roasts ‘dumbest’ CNN hosts on ‘Gutfeld!’ — Fox News' “Gutfeld!” beat all the other late-night shows Wednesday …

Discussion: Twitchy, Instapundit and The Gateway Pundit

Paul Schwartzman / Washington Post:

Seven-seven-what? After 74 years, D.C. braces for a new area code. — The plethora of timeless symbols that define Washington include the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and a venerated area code that evokes power and prestige: 202 — the digital entryway to the nation's capital. — For now.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

New York Times:

Among Those Who Marched Into the Capitol on Jan. 6: An F.B.I. Informant — A member of the far-right Proud Boys texted his F.B.I. handler during the assault, but maintained the group had no plan in advance to enter the Capitol and disrupt the election certification.

Chris Hayes / New Yorker:

On the Internet, We're Always Famous — What happens when the experience of celebrity becomes universal? — The fennec fox is the smallest fox on earth and cute as a button. It has mischievous dark eyes, a small black nose, and impish six-inch ears—each several times larger than its head.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Politico:

The bedwetting phase — Presented by The American Petroleum Institute (API) — Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With Allie Bice. — At some point this past week, a dark realization set in among Democrats …