memeorandum: In a First, Man Receives a Heart From a Genetically Altered Pig (Roni Caryn Rabin/New York Times)

9:25 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 …

Discussion: Wonk's Notes

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’

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post and FiveThirtyEight

Brian Schwartz / CNBC: Joe Manchin's former aides gain influential lobbying clients as their ex-boss battles Biden's agenda

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

Discussion: The Hill, The Mahablog, Daily Kos, HotAir, Vox, The Western Journal, 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: New York Magazine, CBS News, Politico, The Daily Caller, RedState, Breitbart, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Wire 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 — As part of its ongoing efforts across many channels to expand Americans' access to free testing, the Biden-Harris Administration …

Discussion: NPR, Insider and New York Times

Maggie Astor / New York Times: Covid Live Updates: U.S. Hospitalizations Break Record as Omicron Surges

Steve Peoples / Associated Press:

GOP steps up bid to convince Hogan to run for Senate in Md. — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other top Republicans are stepping up a personal campaign to persuade Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to run for the Senate and help the party's chances of regaining control of the chamber.

Discussion: Political Wire

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, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Lindsay Wise / Wall Street Journal:

McConnell Issues Threat to Democrats on Filibuster Changes — Republican leader says he would force votes on GOP-sponsored legislation — WASHINGTON—Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) issued a pre-emptive threat to Senate Democrats considering an overhaul of the chamber's …

Discussion: The Hill and The Daily Wire

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: The Palace Intrigue, Mediaite and Twitchy

New York Times:

Voting Rights Groups Skipping Biden's Speech in Georgia Over Inaction — Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor, also will not be there, but she cited a scheduling conflict. — When President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris deliver major speeches on voting rights …

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News, BuzzFeed News, CNN, The Hill, Washington Times, National Review, YouTube and Twitchy

Politico:
Dems' filibuster conundrum: It's not just Manchin and Sinema

Discussion: National Review and Fox News

Houston Keene / Fox News:
RNC calls out Senate Democrats on filibuster hypocrisy in new memo

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Breitbart and New York Post

CNN:

Democrats scramble to sink Cruz's plan to impose sanctions over Nord Stream pipeline — Germany suspends approval of Nord Stream 2 pipeline — (CNN)Top Senate Democrats and the Biden administration are maneuvering behind the scenes to defeat a measure from GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas …

Discussion: The Hill and Wall Street Journal

Julia Davis / The Daily Beast:
Russia Airs Bizarre Jan. 6 Spectacle Featuring Ashli Babbitt's Mom

Discussion: Raw Story and TASS

Patrick Tucker / Defense One:
US ‘Unequivocal’ to Russia on Right of Ukraine, Others, to Join NATO

Discussion: The Hill, CBS News, Politico, ABC News, National Review, Voice of America, New York Times, NPR, TASS, Al Jazeera, Euractiv, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Insider, USA Today, FOX News Radio, CNN and One America News Network

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: HotAir, Axios, The Daily Wire, The Western Journal, New York Post, Insider, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, Townhall, Mediaite, Twitchy, Instapundit and YouTube

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

Discussion: CNN and Breitbart

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

Discussion: Breitbart

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: Dad Gone Wild Newsletter and The Hill

Melissa Brown / The Tennessean:
Tennessee Republicans plan to split Nashville congressional seat

Discussion: Breitbart

New York Times:

Mike Pence Seen as Key Witness in Jan. 6 Investigation — Getting the former vice president to answer questions under oath could be crucial as the House panel focuses on Donald Trump's responsibility for the Capitol riot. — As the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault …

Discussion: Washington Times, Raw Story, PolitiFact, Roll Call, The Hill and Insider

New York Times:
Civil Suits Against Trump Seek Damages for Jan. 6 Attack

Discussion: Fox News, NBC News, Roll Call, Talking Points Memo, Insider, Washington Post and Political Wire

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

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: Mediaite, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Todd Starnes, Washington Examiner, POLITICUSUSA, CNN, Insider and Patterico's Pontifications

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.

Discussion: Media Matters for America

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

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.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and KXAN-TV

Roni Caryn Rabin / New York Times:

In a First, Man Receives a Heart From a Genetically Altered Pig — The breakthrough may lead one day to new supplies of animal organs for transplant into human patients. — A 57-year-old man with life-threatening heart disease has received a heart from a genetically modified pig …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, TheBlaze, Engadget and Gawker

Rachel Siegel / Washington Post:

Fed vice chair to resign over stock trading controversy — Richard Clarida is the third Federal Reserve official to quit over questionable behavior during the coronavirus pandemic — Richard Clarida, the Federal Reserve's vice chair, announced Monday that he will resign …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Washington Examiner, Instapundit, Forbes and New York Post

Allahpundit / HotAir:

No, the CDC chief didn't say that 75% of all COVID deaths involved four comorbidities — This clip, suspiciously shorn of context, has gone viral on righty Twitter today for the same reason that all content goes viral in political media, because it confirms (or appears to confirm) the audience's priors.

Discussion: TheBlaze, Washington Examiner and Twitchy

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Rochelle Walensky is not good at this — We learned Friday that Rochelle Walensky …

Discussion: New York Post, Newsweek, Fox News, HotAir, The Federalist and Townhall

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: New York Times, Washingtonian, The Daily Caller, Al Jazeera, Yale Daily News, DCist, Forbes, Washington Examiner and Insider

Sarah Zhang / The Atlantic:

Omicron Is Forcing Us to Rethink Mild COVID — When Delta swept across the United States last year, the extremely transmissible and deadlier variant threw us into pandemic limbo. The virus remained a danger mostly to unvaccinated people, but they largely wanted to move on.

Discussion: The Federalist

Adam Beam / Associated Press:

California's Newsom wants health coverage for all immigrants — SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Backed by soaring revenues amid the pandemic, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday proposed a budget that would pay for the health care of all the state's low-income residents living in the country illegally …

Discussion: National Review, Reason, Al Jazeera, Washington Times, FOX40, The Gateway Pundit and Sacramento Bee

Brian Stelter / CNN:

Fox, MSNBC and CNN show differing directions with new hosts and shows — New York (CNN Business)On Monday morning CNN, MSNBC and Fox all made programming announcements that doubled as statements about each network's positioning in the news and talk marketplace.

Discussion: Variety and Twitchy