memeorandum: Republicans Explode Into Chaos on Day 1 of Controlling the House (Susan Rinkunas/Jezebel)

1:15 PM ET, January 3, 2023

Top Items:

Eric Cortellessa / TIME:

McCarthy Proposes Gutting Office of Congressional Ethics in Bid for Speaker — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spent the first two days of the new year trying to shore up GOP support for his bid to be Speaker by releasing a series of proposals aimed at winning over hard-right detractors who stand to torpedo his ascension.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Congressional Integrity …, RedState, Accountable US, The Hill, The Hill, Raw Story, Public Citizen and Slay News

Charlie Sykes / Morning Shots:

Welcome to the MAGA Crackup — The incredible shrinking Kevin McCarthy — Well, Happy New Year to you, too. — Today was supposed to be the GOP's celebration of the Red Wave, a moment of triumph and anticipation. Instead, we are likely to get a sh*tshow for the ages from an unruly …

Discussion: Daily Mail, Raw Story, New York Times and NPR

Susan Rinkunas / Jezebel:

Republicans Explode Into Chaos on Day 1 of Controlling the House — Dan Crenshaw nearly cried on TV about his “narcissist” colleagues. Matt Gaetz called Kevin McCarthy an alligator. McCarthy is cursing at everyone. A trainwreck! — Alerts — Republicans spent most of 2022 giddy …

Discussion: Fox News, New Republic, The Texas Tribune, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, NewsNation, 77 WABC and Robert Reich

New York Times:

McCarthy Remains Short of Support to Become Speaker as Vote Nears — A monthslong lobbying effort has failed to yield the breakthrough the California Republican would need to cement the top job, threatening a messy floor fight just as his party is assuming control of the House.

Washington Post:

Kevin McCarthy will learn his fate today — Good morning, Early Birds. Happy New Year. We're pulling for the Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin after he was critically injured in Monday night's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Tips: earlytips@washpost.com. Thanks for waking up with us.

Discussion: NBC News, CNBC, USA Today, The Hill, Politico, CNN, Reason, Washington Examiner, The Atlantic, ABC News, NewsNation and The Daily Caller

Ronald Brownstein / CNN:

The right has already won the House speakership election — No matter how they resolve Tuesday's vote choosing the next speaker of the House, Republicans appear poised to double down on the hard-edged politics that most swing state voters rejected in last November's midterm election.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Examiner, PoliticusUSA, The Guardian, Raw Story, ABC News, Opinion Today, Slender Threads, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and The Hill

NBC News:

How the House elects its speaker, and why Tuesday's vote could make history — Rep. Kevin McCarthy needs 218 votes to become the next speaker, but a group of far-right members of the House oppose his election. Here's when the vote will be — and what will happen if he doesn't win outright.

CNN:
GOP dilemma: If not McCarthy, then who?

Chris Pandolfo / Fox News:
House Democrats mock Republican ‘division and dysfunction’ ahead of McCarthy speaker vote

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Associated Press, The Hill, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Raw Story, Washington Post, New York Times, BizPac Review, CBS News, Just The News, Progress Pond, IJR, The Daily Beast and NOQ Report

Punchbowl News:
1/3/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, New York Times, Sky Dancing, CBS News, Reuters, National Review, The Washington Current, Just The News, Raw Story, Political Wire, The Daily Caller and Semafor

Steve Clemons / Semafor:
Principals — with Steve Clemons — Representative-elect George Santos says he supports …

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Signal, Mock Paper Scissors and Conservative Brief

Reuters:

Pro-Putin operatives in Germany work to turn Berlin against Ukraine — In Germany some are clamouring for a change in course on Ukraine. Key figures in the campaign have links to the Russian state or far right, a Reuters investigation has found. — In a square beneath the twin spires …

New York Times:
Ukrainian Forces Grow More Adept at Defending Against Russian Drones

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, CBS News, Associated Press, The Guardian, USA Today, ABC7, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal

Financial Times:
Turning the tide in Russia's war on Ukraine

Discussion: UPROXX, Balloon Juice and New York Times

Annie Karni / New York Times:

George Santos Comes to Washington. It Could Be Awkward. — On the first day of the 118th Congress, the representative-elect, a Republican who has made false claims about his background, education and finances, will bring his saga to Capitol Hill. — WASHINGTON — Representative-elect George Santos has been hard to pin down.

Discussion: USA Today

New York Times:
Brazilian Authorities Will Revive Fraud Case Against George Santos

New York Times:

Trying to Trademark ‘Rigged Election,’ and Other Revelations From the Jan. 6 Transcripts — The Jan. 6 committee released a whirlwind of documents in its final days and wrapped up its work on Monday. — WASHINGTON — The nation's top military officer saw the Jan. 6 attack as similar to the …

Discussion: Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, New York Daily News, CBS News, The Hill, HuffPost, Washington Times and CNN

Sarah D. Wire / Los Angeles Times:
Republicans move to retain Jan. 6 committee documents

Discussion: CNN, Forbes, Axios, HuffPost and Political Wire

Megan Brenan / Gallup:

Americans Largely Pessimistic About U.S. Prospects in 2023 — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Coming off several challenging years, Americans enter 2023 with a mostly gloomy outlook for the U.S. as majorities predict negative conditions in 12 of 13 economic, political, societal and international arenas.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner, New York Post and The Daily Caller

Joe Anuta / Politico:

Colorado plans to send more migrants to New York — NEW YORK — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis plans to send migrants to major cities including New York, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday, warning that the nation's largest city is already struggling to deal an influx of people sent from Texas and other Republican-led states.

Discussion: FOX31 Denver

Adam Klasfeld / Law & Crime:

Virgin Islands Attorney General Loses Her Job Days After Suing JPMorgan Chase in Connection with the Jeffrey Epstein Probe — The Virgin Islands top prosecutor who reached a more than $105 million settlement with Jeffrey Epstein's estate lost her job days after suing JPMorgan Chase in connection with her probe.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Daily Mail, WFLA-TV, The Dossier, RedState, Karl Dickey, Slay News, Breitbart, Just The News and The Gateway Pundit

Axios:

Exclusive: Donald Trump Jr. signs 7-figure podcast deal with Rumble … - Rumble went public via a blank check company merger in September that valued the platform at over $2 billion at the time. — The company has made strides in user growth, but continues to burn through cash as it launches new features and spends on marketing.

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Mediaite, Slay News and Rumble, more at Mediagazer »

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:

Trump's Tax Returns Are Only Part of the Picture — Democrats released six years' worth of former President Donald Trump's tax returns last Friday, confirming earlier findings outlined in a pair of congressional analyses of the records: Trump took hundreds of millions of dollars …

Tom Perkins / The Guardian:

Trump seems to have a large war chest - but is he struggling to raise money? — Some high-profile mega-donors have fled, small-dollar donor stream that fueled his past runs is drying up, and he is accused of violating ‘soft money’ laws — ith his 2024 presidential candidacy officially kicked into gear …

Discussion: Raw Story

Marco Margaritoff / HuffPost:

Kellyanne Conway Reveals Only Person Donald Trump ‘Reserves Fear For’ — Conway said she contacted Melania Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, to have her husband quell the growing mob — because Melania was the only person Trump feared. — Donald Trump feared just one person during his volatile one-term presidency: his own wife, Melania Trump.

Discussion: Raw Story, Select Committee …, Law & Crime, Insider and Washington Press

HuffPost:

A Far-Right Gang Of House Members Will Hold Power Over Their Caucus — With A Megaphone — The GOP lawmakers, who have spent years becoming far-right influencers, are poised to hold a concerning amount of control over the new Congress. — The day after Election Day, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona …

Discussion: Raw Story and Washington Monthly

Tom Suozzi / New York Times:

A Con Man Is Succeeding Me in Congress Today — Mr. Suozzi, a Democrat, has represented New York's Third Congressional District since 2017. He is a former Nassau County executive and mayor of Glen Cove on Long Island and ran for the Democratic nomination for governor of New York in 2022.

Discussion: NPR, USA Today, The Hill and Raw Story

CNN:

Suspect in Times Square machete attack on New Year's Eve arrested and faces attempted murder charges — The 19-year-old suspect accused of attacking New York police officers with a machete near Times Square on New Year's Eve has been arrested and faces charges of attempted murder of a police officer.