memeorandum: McCarthy says if House speaker, he would strip some Democrats of committee assignments (Teaganne Finn/NBC News)

5:30 PM ET, January 10, 2022

Top Items:

West Virginia's coal miners just made Joe Manchin's life a lot harder — For months, Sen. Joe Manchin III has sold his opposition to the Build Back Better proposal as driven uniformly by a brave and hardheaded assessment of the national interest. He has warned that BBB will fuel inflation …

Jeff Goodell / Rolling Stone:

Manchin's Coal Corruption Is So Much Worse Than You Knew — The senator from West Virginia is bought and paid for by Big Coal. With his help the dying industry is pulling one final heist — and the entire planet may pay the price — One of the hardest things to grasp about the climate crisis is the connectedness of all things.

Steven Greenhouse / The Guardian:

Bernie Sanders says Democrats are failing: ‘The party has turned its back on the working class’ — In an exclusive interview, the senator says it's time to ‘step up and take on the greed of the ruling class in America’ — enator Bernie Sanders has called on Democrats to make …

Discussion: Washington Post and FiveThirtyEight

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Manchin's Choice on Build Back Better: Mine Workers or Mine Owners

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Hill, The Western Journal, HotAir, Vox, CNN and CBS News

Zeke Miller / Associated Press:

Home COVID tests to be covered by insurers starting Saturday — WASHINGTON (AP) — Starting Saturday, private health insurers will be required to cover up to eight home COVID-19 tests per month for people on their plans. The Biden administration announced the change Monday as it looks …

Discussion: Politico, RedState, The Daily Caller, Breitbart and Political Wire

Min Max / CMS:
Biden-Harris Administration Requires Insurance Companies and Group Health Plans to Cover the Cost of At-Home COVID-19 Tests, Increasing Access to Free Tests

Discussion: KTLA

Henry Olsen / Washington Post:

How do we know Trump's election fraud claims are bogus? Take a look at Pennsylvania. — Former president Donald Trump, like a tone-deaf musician, used the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot last week to once again allege, without evidence, that the 2020 election was rigged.

Mariana Alfaro / Washington Post:
Trump calls GOP senator a ‘jerk’ after he rejects former president's false claims of widespread election fraud

Discussion: The Sunday Times, Washington Examiner, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Todd Starnes, CNN, Insider and Patterico's Pontifications

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Trump rips GOP senator who called 2020 election ‘fair’

Discussion: CNN, Washington Examiner and POLITICUSUSA

Washington Post:

More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation. — The Washington Post has compiled the first database of slaveholding members of Congress by examining thousands of pages of census records and historical documents

Discussion: Supercreator

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:

Exclusive — Kevin McCarthy Plans to Strip Ilhan Omar off Foreign Affairs, Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff off Intelligence Committee — House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy told Breitbart News that as speaker of the House he would strip Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) …

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, Insider, New York Post, Townhall, The Daily Wire and Instapundit

Summer Concepcion / Talking Points Memo: McCarthy Again Threatens To Strip Dems Of Committee Seats If He Becomes Speaker

Teaganne Finn / NBC News: McCarthy says if House speaker, he would strip some Democrats of committee assignments

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
So much for ‘nothing to hide’: Jim Jordan balks at Jan. 6 probe

Discussion: Insider, Washington Post, The Hill, Roll Call, Washington Times, Axios, The Daily Beast, The Daily Wire, HuffPost, NBC News, Raw Story, The Western Journal, New York Post, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, The Federalist, CBS News, CNN, IJR, UPI and Politico

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Symone Sanders, a Top Strategist for Biden and Harris, Is Joining MSNBC — Ms. Sanders, 32, will host a weekend show on the cable network, one of the first big programming moves by MSNBC's president, Rashida Jones. — Symone D. Sanders, the former chief spokeswoman for Vice President Kamala Harris …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Mediaite, BizPac Review, Insider, The Hill, The Wrap and The Daily Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Max Tani / Politico:
Symone Sanders lands at MSNBC

Discussion: Washington Examiner, One America News Network, New York Post, HotAir, TheGrio, WTOP News, National Review, Breitbart and Twitchy

Tim Miller / The Bulwark:

I Spent Insurrection Week Listening to Steve Bannon — For three hours every day, the Republican coup plotters who inspired the domestic terror attack at the U.S. Capitol last year gather to discuss their next move. On their January 6th anniversary program, the Dead Cops Society beseeched …

Discussion: HotAir and Raw Story

Hayes Brown / MSNBC:

Mitch McConnell's Electoral Count Act offer is a poison pill for voting rights — Fate of voting rights legislation rests on pressure from ‘spotlight of history’ — The Electoral Count Act, the law governing how Congress certifies presidential elections, is filled with gaps and ambiguities.

Discussion: Mother Jones and Raw Story

Mychael Schnell / The Hill:
McConnell's office knocks Democrats over 'the left's Big Lie'

Discussion: The Daily Wire, POLITICUSUSA, Politico and The Daily Caller

Manuel Roig-Franzia / Washington Post:

Greg Gutfeld has risen to the top at Fox News — and that's no joke — NEW YORK — Greg Gutfeld is picking through a long, narrow closet. He wrenches a painting from the depth of the clutter. A painting of himself. That familiar arched right eyebrow. That sideways grin.

Jaclyn Peiser / Washington Post:

An Indiana GOP state senator said teachers ‘need to be impartial’ during lessons about Nazism and fascism — On Wednesday, during an Indiana state Senate committee hearing about a proposed bill that would ban “divisive concepts” in school classrooms, Republican Sen. Scott Baldwin …

Discussion: Alternet.org, Daily Kos, The Hill and HuffPost

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
Republicans are waging a war on schools. When will Democrats fight back?

Discussion: Raw Story

Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times:

Mocking anti-vaxxers' deaths is ghoulish, yes — but necessary — Among all the ways that COVID-19 affects our lives, the pandemic confronts us with a profound moral dilemma: — How should we react to the deaths of the unvaccinated? — On the one hand, a hallmark of civilized thought is the sense that every life is precious.

Discussion: Twitchy

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:

Robert Durst, Real Estate Scion Convicted as a Killer, Dies at 78 — He was a suspect in three lurid murders and became a fugitive. In September, he was found guilty in the fatal shooting of a confidante and sentenced to life in prison. — Robert A. Durst, the scion …

Jeff Asher / The Atlantic:

The Data Are Pointing to One Major Driver of America's Murder Spike — After murders in the United States soared to more than 21,000 in 2020, researchers began searching for a definitive explanation why. Many factors may have contributed, such as a pandemic-driven loss of social programs …

Zachary Petrizzo / The Daily Beast:

Anti-Vax Leader Urges Followers to Drink Their Own Urine to Fight COVID — ‘EVERYTHING WE NEED’ — Anti-COVID-19 “Vaccine Police” leader Christopher Key has a new quarter-baked conspiracy theory for his anti-vax followers to use to cure themselves of COVID-19: Drink their own urine.

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic:

Why More Americans Are Saying They're ‘Vaxxed and Done’ — Sign up for Derek's newsletter here. — To understand how ideologically scrambling the Omicron wave has been, consider this: Some 2022 Democrats are sounding like 2020 Republicans. In spring 2020, many Republicans …

Discussion: The Monday Notice, Washington Post and Sacramento Bee

Julia Manchester / The Hill:

Arizona GOP Senate candidate invokes 'Let's go, Brandon' in new campaign ad — Arizona Republican Senate candidate Jim Lamon invoked the anti-Biden phrase “Let's go, Brandon” in a campaign ad released on Monday. — The ad, which kicks off a six-figure ad campaign throughout Arizona …

Associated Press:

Speaker: Nashville US House seat to split in redistricting — NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Republicans plan to carve fast-growing Nashville into multiple congressional seats, making it potentially easier for the state's Republican-dominated congressional delegation to flip …

Discussion: The Hill and Dad Gone Wild Newsletter

Gary D. Robertson / Associated Press:

North Carolina voters dispute Cawthorn candidacy over Jan. 6 — A group of North Carolina voters want U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn disqualified as a congressional candidate — RALEIGH, N.C. — A group of North Carolina voters told state officials on Monday they want U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn disqualified …

Discussion: The Hill, Daily Kos, Truthout, POLITICUSUSA, The Gateway Pundit and Alternet.org

Melissa Korn / Wall Street Journal:

Yale, Georgetown, Other Top Schools Illegally Collude to Limit Student Financial Aid, Lawsuit Alleges — A new federal suit adds to continuing efforts to change college admissions practices — Sixteen major U.S. universities, including Yale University, Georgetown University and Northwestern University …

Discussion: Insider, Washington Examiner, DCist, Al Jazeera, Forbes and Yale Daily News

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Rochelle Walensky is not good at this — We learned Friday that Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has sought the counsel of a prominent media consultant amid struggles to craft a coherent and consistent message on the coronavirus.

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Examiner, Newsweek, The Federalist and Townhall

Ambassador Daniel Fried / Just Security:

Paul Manafort's Book Deal May Breach His Plea Agreement — News that Paul Manafort has written a book (scheduled to be published later this summer) is not surprising: he had texted about doing so during the Special Counsel investigation. As a result, the government anticipated …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Insider, The Hill and Raw Story

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:

Treasury warns of ‘enormous challenges’ this tax-filing season that could delay refunds — Officials predict a number of services could be delayed because of issues related to the pandemic and budget constraints. The tax filing deadline this year is April 18.

Discussion: New York Times, Gizmodo, Politico, New York Post, TaxProf Blog, Bloomberg, CBS News, CBS Dallas / Fort Worth, Deseret News and Just The News

New York Times:

Updates: At Least 19 Dead, Including 9 Children, in Bronx Apartment Fire — Crews entering the building found victims on every floor. Heavy smoke likely prevented victims from escaping. — Here's what you need to know: — ‘The numbers are horrific,’ Mayor Eric Adams said after the city's deadliest fire in decades.

Discussion: New York Daily News, abc7NY, Gizmodo, Fox News, ABC News, The Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Slate and Todd Starnes

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

Trump's potential liability for Capitol riot faces major test in court — (CNN)A federal judge in Washington, DC, is set to consider, for the first time, whether former President Donald Trump is immune from liability related to his supporters attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, ABC News, Democrats, Fox News, Raw Story and New York Times

New York Times:

Live Updates: Russia Plays Down Threat to Ukraine After Meetings with U.S. — Here's what you need to know: — The U.S. and Russia remain far apart in talks on Ukraine, but Russians say they have no plans to invade. — GENEVA — With Russian troops massing along Ukraine's borders …