memeorandum: House passes $1.2 trillion spending package, crucial step to averting shutdown (USA Today)

2:35 PM ET, March 22, 2024

Top Items:

The Publicly-Traded Presidential Candidate — We've all been focused lately on a question appropriate for Schadenfriday: How is Donald Trump going to post a $450+ million bond to cover his appeal in the New York civil fraud case? The clock is ticking, and Trump claims he doesn't have the ability to post it.

Discussion: Salon, Associated Press, The Guardian, Outside the Beltway and Wall Street Journal

Matt Egan / CNN:

Trump is about to get $3 billion richer after deal is approved to take his company public. But it won't solve his cash crunch — Investors have approved a deal on Friday to make Truth Social owner Trump Media a publicly traded company. — The green light from shareholders clears …

Discussion: CNBC, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Beast, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Gizmodo, UPI, El País, The Guardian, Raw Story, Business Insider and Washington Post

Politico:

Why Trump's big Wall Street payday won't bail him out of financial trouble — The approval from investors would come as Trump faces a severe financial crunch: He's been hit with more than $500 million in civil penalties, not to mention ongoing legal fees as he appeals verdicts against him.

Discussion: Washington Post, New Republic, GB News, Associated Press, Reason, Raw Story and New York Times

Dan Primack / Axios:

Trump's Truth Social is going public after winning DWAC merger vote … - As Axios reported earlier today, this ends a multiyear saga that's included civil lawsuits, criminal lawsuits, closing extensions and vote postponements.

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Deadline, The Daily Caller, CBS News, Rolling Stone, Wired, Fox Business, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, The Western Journal, WBUR, Fortune, Gizmodo and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
Trump's lawsuit against ABC is not the flex he thinks it is

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Raw Story, Rolling Stone and Fox News

Matthew Goldstein / New York Times:
Trump Media Merger Approved, Allowing Truth Social to Go Public

Discussion: Mediaite, Business Insider, CNBC, Raw Story, New Republic, The Verge, Associated Press, The Wrap, The Guardian, Fox Business, RedState and Althouse

Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:
Trump Claims He's Scraped Together Almost $500M ‘IN CASH’ as Fraud Bond Deadline Looms

NBC News:
Trump claims he has $500 million in cash, undercutting lawyers' claims on bond money

Discussion: CNBC, Axios, Associated Press, New Yorker, BizPac Review, Washington Times, The Western Journal, Raw Story, Forbes, Rolling Stone, Mediaite, Bloomberg and Business Insider

Andrew Solender / Axios:

Marjorie Taylor Greene files motion to remove Speaker Mike Johnson … - Johnson's predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), became the first House speaker to be ousted after hardline Republicans triggered a motion to vacate against him last year. — Greene's move came after she voiced …

Discussion: The Guardian, ABC News, Washington Examiner, HuffPost, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, The National Pulse, Mediaite, RedState, CBS News and MeidasTouch

The Daily Beast:

MTG Officially Launches Revolt Against Speaker Mike Johnson — On Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a motion to force a vote on Mike Johnson's removal from the speakership. — It's anarchy again in the House GOP. — On Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) …

USA Today:

House passes $1.2 trillion spending package, crucial step to averting shutdown — WASHINGTON - The U.S. House passed the final six spending bills needed to avert a government shutdown and finalize funding until September, ending a series of shutdown scares that have rocked the country.

Discussion: Business Insider, Fox News, Bloomberg, ABC News, Associated Press, Forbes, Fox 8 Cleveland WJW, IJR, New York Post, Florida Phoenix, The Hill and The Guardian

Spencer Brown / Townhall:

Here We Go Again? MTG Files Motion to Remove Speaker Johnson. — After the U.S. House of Representatives passed a funding package to avert a government shutdown in a bipartisan 286-134 vote on Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced a motion to vacate the chair …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CNN, HotAir, LGBTQ Nation, Daily Caller News Foundation, Raw Story, New Jersey Online, Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit and Political Wire

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
House passes $1.2 trillion spending bill, sending it to Senate hours before shutdown

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon, Axios, PJ Media, The Federalist, RedState, Roll Call, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times, Associated Press, Punchbowl News, CNN, UPI and North Dakota Monitor

Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
House Passes Spending Bill to Avert Shutdown, Prompting G.O.P. Mutiny

Discussion: NPR, Associated Press, The Hill, GovExec.com, The Guardian, CNN, New Jersey Globe, CBS News, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, abc7NY, Wonkette and Reuters

Brian Beutler / Off Message:

The Case For 2024 Optimism — Biden's got a lot of upside potential, Trump's got a lot of downside risk. — The short version is that over the past couple weeks President Biden has caught up with Donald Trump, as depicted in the Economist's polling average above.

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, Arizona Republic, The Hill, Axios, Bongino, Associated Press, Roll Call, Raw Story and Fox Business

CNN:
CNN Polls: Majority of voters in Michigan and Pennsylvania are dissatisfied with their presidential choices

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, New York Post, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times, Political Wire, The Western Journal, Emerson Polling and Axios

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:
Trump Would Break the Budget

Discussion: CNBC and Bloomberg

Matthew Chapman / Raw Story:
Trump canceled a rally in Arizona because his campaign was too broke: report

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN and PoliticusUSA

James Bickerton / Newsweek:
Joe Biden Jokes About Donald Trump's Debt Problems: 'I Can't Help You'

Discussion: Fox News, TIME, Politico, Raw Story, New Jersey Online, Twitchy, CNN, Hopium Chronicles, PoliticusUSA and New York Times

Politico:

Johnson's margin drops to one vote as Gallagher heads for early exit — Allies of the Wisconsin Republican say he was long jaded by the antics of the House following the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Discussion: Daily Kos

NBC News:

Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher will resign early, leaving House majority hanging by a thread — House Republicans lost another member in Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., on Friday. Gallagher's early departure could leave Republicans with just one vote to spare on legislation.

Discussion: CBS News and Axios

Andrew Solender / Axios:
Ken Buck's parting gift to GOP: Signing Democrats' Ukraine discharge petition

Discussion: New Republic, MeidasTouch, The Western Journal, The Bulwark, Fox News, Raw Story, Washington Times, The Hill and CBS News

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Ronna McDaniel, Former R.N.C. Chair, Joins NBC News — Her new role as a commentator on NBC and MSNBC programs comes shortly after she stepped down as the leader of the Republican National Committee. — Ronna McDaniel, who stepped down as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee this month …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Politico, The Daily Beast, Axios, New Republic, RedState, The National Pulse, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Wrap, The Daily Caller and Deadline, more at Mediagazer »

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
NBC News Hires Former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel

Discussion: New York Post and Twitchy

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill: Ronna McDaniel joins NBC News as contributor

New York Times:

Inside Garland's Effort to Prosecute Trump — In trying to avoid even the smallest mistakes, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland might have made one big one: ending up in a race against the clock. — After being sworn in as attorney general in March 2021, Merrick B. Garland gathered …

Discussion: Wonkette, No More Mister Nice Blog and Althouse

Politico:
Playbook: Inside the new Democratic politics of Israel

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Punchbowl News

The Cause:

They don't want want this miracle™ to exist — It was four years ago today. After about 34 hours inside Ann Arbor's St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and a lifetime of heroic pushing by my wife, my daughter was born. She, like every newborn, was a miracle™. That's the cliche™.

Politico:

House Dems could have Johnson's back on ouster threat — if Ukraine aid gets a vote — All Democrats had previously voted to oust McCarthy along with a group of Republicans last fall.

Discussion: Adam Kinzinger and Political Wire

Eboni Boykin-Patterson / The Daily Beast:

Candace Owens Stumped by Basic Black History Quiz — The conservative commentator missed an opportunity to score a few likability points with the Black community this week on ‘The Breakfast Club.’ — The day before Daily Wire ended their relationship with the often controversial right-wing commentator …

Discussion: Variety, The Hill, Mercury News, Rolling Stone, The Root, Deadline and IJR, more at Mediagazer »

MSNBC:

Fox News' demands to impeach Biden blew up in the GOP's face — The network deserves a big share of the blame for leading Republicans into this debacle. — It's time to call it: The House GOP's shambolic inquiry into the impeachment of President Joe Biden expired on Wednesday night …