memeorandum: Military says Sudan has suspended its participation in talks with paramilitary rival (Samy Magdy/Associated Press)

7:40 AM ET, May 31, 2023

Top Items:

Breaking: Rep. Chris Stewart plans to resign from Congress — The Utah Republican congressman is expected to announce his departure from the House of Representatives soon, several sources told The Salt Lake Tribune. — U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart plans to resign his seat in Congress, possibly as soon as this week.

Discussion: The Hill, New York Post, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Roll Call, Raw Story, Washington Post, Politico and Political Wire

Politico:

Playbook: McCarthy puts down a last-minute revolt — Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — DRIVING THE DAY — IOWA MAN — “Ron DeSantis starts throwing some uppercuts at Trump,” by Natalie Allison in Clive, Iowa: “The Florida governor didn't actually mention his chief rival by name.

Discussion: Political Wire and Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Emily Brooks / The Hill:

McCarthy's future on the line as he whips debt ceiling deal — He got President Biden to negotiate. And then he got a deal. Now, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is in the final phase of his debt ceiling saga: Whipping up enough support for the bill in the House GOP conference to secure his political future.

Discussion: NBC News, Punchbowl News, Washington Post, New Republic, USA Today, Axios, GZERO, RedState, NPR, Breitbart, Progress Pond, CNBC and Newsweek

Tyler Pager / Washington Post:
Shalanda Young emerges as quietly essential figure in debt deal

Discussion: Breitbart, Roll Call and Washington Examiner

Luke Broadwater / New York Times:
Packing Figures and Charts, Roy Leads G.O.P. Revolt Against Debt Limit Deal

Discussion: Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Hill, Insider, Mediaite, NewsNation and Daily Kos

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Debt Limit Bill Heads to Key Committee in First Test of G.O.P. Support

Discussion: USA Today, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, National Review, Semafor, NBC News, The Hill, Politico, Reason, Fox News, CNN, Breitbart, Balloon Juice and Daily Kos

Daniel Horowitz / TheBlaze:
The shocking degree of political betrayal from Kevin McCarthy

Discussion: New Republic, The American Spectator, CNN, La Prensa Latina Media, Breitbart, National Review, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, GZERO and Wall Street Journal

Emily Brooks / The Hill:
First Republican publicly supports ousting McCarthy as Speaker

Discussion: Sputnik News, Raw Story, Insider, Washington Times, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, The Messenger, Daily Kos, Political Wire and Politico

Punchbowl News:
⚡️ Punchbowl News Special Edition: Despite opposition, debt limit moves toward floor

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Conservative Brief

Politico:
House conservatives threaten push to oust McCarthy over debt deal

Discussion: USA Today, Semafor, Raw Story, Fox News, Sputnik News, Washington Times, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, The Hill, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, HuffPost and Washington Examiner

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:

Tara Reade, who accused Joe Biden of sexual assault, defects to Russia — Former Senate staffer who made claim in 2020 appears on Russian media alongside convicted Russian agent in US Maria Butina — Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer who in 2020 accused Joe Biden of sexual assault, said on Tuesday she had defected to Russia.

Discussion: New York Times, Sputnik News, The Times of Israel, Insider, The Messenger, The Gateway Pundit, HuffPost, HotAir and Breitbart

Jacqueline Thomsen / Reuters:

U.S. Senate confirms GOP-backed Biden pick to Louisiana federal court — The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed lawyer Darrel Papillion to a federal judgeship in Louisiana, after he was backed by both of the state's Republican senators. Papillion, a former president of the Louisiana State Bar Association, was confirmed on a 59-31 vote.

Discussion: Political Wire

Pilar Melendez / The Daily Beast:
Biden Accuser Tara Reade Claims She Fled to Russia Fearing for Her Life

Discussion: CNN, PoliticusUSA, New Republic, Washington Press, New York Post, Mediaite and Raw Story

Washington Post:

Mar-a-Lago prosecutors eye July episode with Trump surveillance cameras — Summer interactions inside Trump's home and private club are part of the special counsel's classified documents investigation — A Mar-a-Lago employee who helped move boxes of documents last June has been questioned …

Discussion: Vanity Fair, New York Daily News, PoliticusUSA, New Republic and Daily Kos

Bloomberg:

Twitter Is Now Worth Just 33% of Elon Musk's Purchase Price, Fidelity Says — Twitter is now worth just one-third of what Elon Musk paid for the social-media platform, according to Fidelity, which recently marked down the value of its equity stake in the company.

Discussion: Deadline, RedState, Reuters, The Information, Breitbart and The American Conservative, more at Techmeme »

Peter Schorsch / The Daily Beast:

Leaked Audio From a Ron DeSantis Donor Event Is Really Bad News for His Campaign — Team DeSantis tried to hype poll numbers to deep-pocketed supporters. But the data actually points to a Trump primary victory. … When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gathered top allies with deep pockets …

Discussion: Raw Story and Florida Politics

A.G. Gancarski / Florida Politics:
Donald Trump continues arguing Ron DeSantis was worse than Andrew Cuomo during pandemic

Discussion: Semafor, The Spectator World and Washington Times

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:
Ron DeSantis says he will ‘destroy leftism’ in US if elected president

Discussion: The American Independent, Insider, National Review, Twitchy, CNN and Breitbart

Mike Allen / Axios:

Scoop: Chris Christie to announce GOP presidential campaign next week … - Being joyful and hitting a more hopeful note aimed at America's “exhausted majority.” — Being authentic — a happy warrior who speaks his mind, takes risks and is happy to punch Donald Trump in the nose.

Discussion: ABC News, Political Wire, RedState, Fox News, Digby's Hullabaloo and No More Mister Nice Blog

Zachary Petrizzo / The Daily Beast:

Ashli Babbitt's Mother Arrested After Striking Woman at Pro-Jan. 6 Event — Micki Witthoeft, 58, was spotted by The Daily Beast being taken into custody just after 6:45 p.m. — The mother of Ashli Babbitt, Micki Witthoeft, was arrested Tuesday evening after striking a counter-protester …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

Jan Hoffman / New York Times:

Sacklers Can Be Shielded From Opioid Liability, Appeals Court Rules — The decision gives the Purdue Pharma owners long-sought protection, but it will release billions of dollars from their fortune to states and communities to help cope with the costs of addiction.

Discussion: Financial Times, Purdue Pharma, Associated Press, Washington Post, The Guardian, Mercury News, HuffPost, KRDO and NPR

Reuters:

North Korean satellite plunges into sea after rocket failure — A North Korean satellite launch on Wednesday ended in failure, sending the booster and payload plunging into the sea, North Korean state media said, and the South's military said it had recovered parts of the launch vehicle.

The White House:
Statement by NSC Spokesperson Adam Hodge on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Space Launch

Discussion: La Prensa Latina Media

New York Times:

Trump White House Aides Subpoenaed in Firing of Election Security Expert — The special counsel is scrutinizing the dismissal of Christopher Krebs, who contradicted baseless claims by the former president that the 2020 election was marred by fraud. — The special counsel investigating …

Discussion: Political Wire

Decca Muldowney / The Daily Beast:

Twitter Fails to Remove Hate Speech By Blue-Check Users: Report — If you pay $8 a month, Twitter will boost your tweets, new research found, even if you post about how ‘Hitler was right.’ — Twitter is failing to remove 99 percent of hate speech posted by Twitter Blue users …

Dennis Romero / NBC News:

3 young children die in separate hot-car incidents across the U.S. — The deaths happened in Washington state, Texas and Florida between May 24 and Sunday, and doubled the number of hot car fatalities compared to this time last year. — Three young children died in recent days …

Discussion: CNN and Fox News

KING-TV:
Child left in hot car in Puyallup dies

Discussion: CBS News, ABC News, Breitbart, Associated Press and Metro.co.uk

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:

It Took Alito Barely a Month to Violate the Supreme Court's New Ethics Rules — On April 25, Chief Justice John Roberts sent the Senate Judiciary Committee a “Statement on Ethics Principles and Practices” signed by all nine justices. Roberts forwarded along the “statement” …

Discussion: HuffPost, Associated Press and KRDO

Associated Press:

Clayton Kershaw disagrees with Dodgers' decision to honor Sisters — LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw says he disagrees with the Los Angeles Dodgers' decision to welcome an LGBTQIA+ group called the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at the team's annual Pride Night.

Wall Street Journal:

Racy Novel by France's Finance Minister Has Even the French Blushing — Some ribald passages in the book are titillating the body politic, and drawing barbs about how he finds room for the hobby when many residents are struggling — PARIS—In this land that celebrates public intellectuals …

Associated Press:

The day has arrived for Elizabeth Holmes to report to a Texas prison — Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes entered Texas prison where she could spend the next 11 years for overseeing a blood-testing hoax that became a parable about greed and hubris in Silicon Valley.

Samy Magdy / Associated Press:

Military says Sudan has suspended its participation in talks with paramilitary rival — Sudan's military has suspended its participation in talks with a paramilitary force it's been battling for weeks for control of the northeastern African country, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Examiner, Voice of America and Reuters

Prem Thakker / New Republic:

Conservatives Are Now Boycotting Chick-fil-A for Not Being Homophobic Enough — Bud Light apparently went too far after influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who is transgender, posted an Instagram video promoting a March Madness contest. Target apparently went too far by selling shirts with rainbows.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Press, The Daily Signal, New York Post, The Post Millennial, The Daily Beast, HuffPost, Raw Story, Twitchy, IJR, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, al.com, The Hill, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Rolling Stone and The Messenger

Wall Street Journal:

How a High-Value Russian Wanted by the U.S. Escaped From Italy — Artem Uss was awaiting extradition to the U.S. Italy's failure to hold on to him has left red faces in Rome. — MILAN—A Kremlin-linked businessman accused of illegally exporting American military technology to Russia was arrested in Italy at the U.S.'s request.

Politico:

Republican candidate accused of lying about military record ends comeback bid — It's good news for House Republicans, after JR Majewski lost a competitive Ohio seat in 2022. — JR Majewski, a pro-Trump Republican accused of misrepresenting his military record, is ending his comeback bid.

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Laura Vozzella / Washington Post:

Virginia Gov. Youngkin scraps degree requirement for most state jobs — RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is scrapping college degree requirements for most state government jobs, joining a trend that started in Maryland last year as a way to address staff shortages and expand opportunities for workers.

Discussion: WAVY-TV and Pluribus News

Politico:

Fox News, backed by Trump White House lawyer, fights subpoena in leak lawsuit — The network is trying to protect a source who disclosed details of an FBI probe into a Chinese American scientist. — A former Fox News reporter is fighting in court to scuttle a subpoena demanding that she reveal …

Discussion: Raw Story

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command:

USINDOPACOM Statement on Unprofessional Intercept of U.S. Aircraft over South China Sea — U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Public Affairs — A People's Republic of China J-16 fighter pilot performed an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver during the intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft, May 26, 2023.

Discussion: USA Today, CNN, The Dispatch, NBC Bay Area, CBS News, Al Jazeera, Reuters, ABC News, Bloomberg, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner, NBC News, Politico and The Daily Caller

US Department of Justice:

Pennsylvania Woman Sentenced on Felony and Misdemeanor Charges For Actions During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach — Defendant Fought with Law Enforcement Inside the Capitol Building — WASHINGTON - A Pennsylvania woman was sentenced today in the District of Columbia on felony and misdemeanor charges …

Discussion: NBC News, Associated Press and CBS News

Kasha Patel / Washington Post:

Land around the U.S. is sinking. Here are some of the fastest areas. — Imagine Earth's surface is like a stack of pancakes. The pancakes, or layers of soil and rocks, may appear fairly evenly stacked and fluffy. Over time though, the stack can become compressed, thinner and shorter.

Discussion: Bloomberg