Top Items:
Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
Trump moves to burn down the rule of law — His cabinet nominations are obscene and augur dark days to come. … 🌎 — When the sordid history of the second Trump administration is written, should we all survive that long, it will be difficult to sort out which of his early cabinet picks were the most atrocious.
Discussion:
The Intercept, The Independent, New York Times, Mediaite, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, The Sun and The Guardian
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Chris Geidner / Law Dork:
Trump wants his criminal lawyers at DOJ, RFK Jr. at HHS, and no one holding him back — Republican senators are going to have to think hard about their role. — It is becoming increasingly clear that, to the extent Donald Trump ever took the presidency seriously, he is not doing so this time around …
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Vox, Washington Post, The Independent, Politico, The Daily Caller, Daily Caller News Foundation, New York Times, The Bulwark, STAT, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, emptywheel, Roll Call, TPR, Associated Press, Deadline, Daily Kos, Forbes, Fox News, Hollywood Life, USA Today and The Guardian
Filip Timotija / The Hill:
Jordan: Gaetz ethics report 'shouldn't go public'
Jordan: Gaetz ethics report 'shouldn't go public'
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, New Republic, The Transom, IJR, Trending Politics … and Mediaite
Colby Itkowitz / Washington Post:
Trump looks to bypass Senate for polarizing Cabinet picks
Trump looks to bypass Senate for polarizing Cabinet picks
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Washington Examiner, Doomsday Scenario, Associated Press, Slate, Breitbart, CBS News, Steady, Balls and Strikes, Wall Street Journal, Bangor Daily News, Daily Mail, The Guardian, New York Times, New Republic, WHEC.com, Townhall, The Hill, CNN, The Dispatch, Reason, WVEC, Default, Raw Story, The Independent, HuffPost, Los Angeles Times, HotAir, USA Today, Digby's Hullabaloo, Must Read Alaska, Forbes, The Moderate Voice, Sun-Sentinel, Axios, Tangle and Argus Leader
Olivia Beavers / Politico:
House Ethics chair says meeting on Gaetz report has been postponed, not canceled — Chair of the House Ethics Committee Michael Guest said Friday morning the group has only postponed, not canceled, a meeting to discuss the panel's report about Matt Gaetz. Guest (R-Miss.) declined to say whether …
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The Hill, The Independent, Mock Paper Scissors, Mediaite, Townhall and Washington Post
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The Hill:
Speaker Johnson urges Ethics panel not to release Gaetz report
Speaker Johnson urges Ethics panel not to release Gaetz report
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Raw Story, Axios, Washington Post, New York Times, New York Post, CBS News and Politico
Politico:
Johnson: Ethics shouldn't release Gaetz report
Johnson: Ethics shouldn't release Gaetz report
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USA Today, Washington Examiner, UPI, New York Post, CBS News, Vanity Fair, Florida Politics, The Dispatch, New York Times, Washington Times, The Independent, Talking Points Memo, Forbes, Roll Call, Axios, ABC News, The Guardian, NBC News, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, New Republic and E&E News
Marc A. Caputo / The Bulwark:
Gaetz Begins Lobbying Lawmakers, Hoping He Hasn't Burned All the Bridges
Gaetz Begins Lobbying Lawmakers, Hoping He Hasn't Burned All the Bridges
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Examiner, ABC News, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, Washington Post, Raw Story, Forbes, FOX 35 Orlando, Trending Politics …, Bloomberg, Associated Press, MPR News, Punchbowl News, Al Jazeera, Scripps News, The Independent, Daily Mail, Politico and Letters from an American
Keren Landman / Vox:
What RFK Jr. can — and can't — actually do as Trump's health secretary — Donald Trump announced Thursday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be his nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), setting the stage for a potentially radical remaking of the nation's health care.
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Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Trump picks vaccine skeptic RFK Jr. for Health and Human Services secretary
Trump picks vaccine skeptic RFK Jr. for Health and Human Services secretary
Discussion:
CBS News, Iowa Starting Line, Fortune, New York Post, The Hill, The Daily Caller, New York Daily News, NBC News, Washington Post, CatholicVote org, Fox News, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, One America News Network, Deseret News, Washington Times, American Greatness, The 19th, Semafor, The Daily Signal, The Independent, WHDH-TV, Must Read Alaska, Daily Mail, Washington Examiner, WSVN-TV, Scripps News, E&E News, UPI, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, USA Today and CNN
CNN:
Trump's team skips FBI background checks for some Cabinet picks — President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is bypassing traditional FBI background checks for at least some of his Cabinet picks while using private companies to conduct vetting of potential candidates for administration jobs …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, The Independent, New Republic, Crooks and Liars and Axios
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
Trump's Defense Secretary Pick Pete Hegseth Said to Face Previous Sexual Misconduct Allegation — Sources say Donald Trump's transition team leadership met with the former Fox News host, who is a left-field pick to head the Department of Defense, about the claims on Thursday.
Discussion:
CNBC, New Republic, Washington Examiner, CNN, NBC News, SFist, The Hill, New York Times, IJR, Rolling Stone, Washington Post, New Jersey Online, Los Angeles Times, Daily Mail, Twitchy, Raw Story, Forbes, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News and Daily Kos
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James Laporta / CBS News:
Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for defense secretary, was investigated for alleged sexual assault in 2017
Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for defense secretary, was investigated for alleged sexual assault in 2017
Discussion:
HuffPost, Mediaite, Associated Press, USA Today and Washington Post
Paul Rosenzweig / The Bulwark:
It's Time for Outgoing Democrats to Play Hardball — IN THIS CRUCIAL PERIOD between the election and the inauguration, opponents of the president-elect need to use every feasible lever of power to defeat Trump's movement, lest the country fail. — In this, they would be correcting a past mistake.
Timothy Snyder / Thinking about:
Decapitation Strike — Preserving America from Trump's Appointments — Each of Trump's proposed appointments is a surprise. It is comforting to think that he is simply a vengeful old man, lashing out this way and that. This is unlikely. He and Musk and Putin have been talking for years.
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Considers Fox Business Host Larry Kudlow for Top Economic Jobs — Former National Economic Council director had met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago this week — Donald Trump appeared to be nearing a decision on his nominee to lead the Treasury Department, as he was meeting Friday …
Discussion:
Forbes, New York Post, Daily Mail, Mediaite, Bloomberg, Semafor and The Gateway Pundit
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Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump's New Oligarchy Is About to Unleash Unimaginable Corruption — Last spring, Donald Trump presided over a meeting with the country's top oil executives at his Mar-a-Lago resort. According to The Washington Post, Trump promised to fulfill a wish list of policies sought by their industry …
Discussion:
Raw Story and Off Message
Nadia Lathan / Associated Press:
Texas Supreme Court rules against lawmakers who stopped execution with last-minute subpoena — The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a legislative subpoena cannot be used to stop an execution after Republican and Democratic lawmakers used the novel maneuver to pause Robert Roberson's lethal injection at the last minute.
Discussion:
New York Times, UPI, Houston Public Media, KVUE-TV, abc7NY and WHEC.com
Washington Post:
Inside the Republican false-flag effort to turn off Kamala Harris voters — A multipronged dark money effort by advisers to Elon Musk targeted liberals, Jews, Muslims and Black voters with ads that were not quite what they seemed. — Muslims in Michigan began seeing pro-Israel ads …
Discussion:
Slate, Raw Story and freebeacon.com
Maya Yang / The Guardian:
Musk asks ‘high-IQ revolutionaries’ to work for no pay on new Trump project — World's richest man solicits applications for ‘tedious work’ in newly formed Department of Government Efficiency — Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are asking Americans who are “high-IQ small-government revolutionaries” …
Discussion:
NBC News, Vanity Fair, Digby's Hullabaloo, USA Today, Politico, TMZ.com, Breitbart, The Independent, The Hill, New Republic, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit and Not the Bee
Noah Hurowitz / The Intercept:
House GOP Moves to Ram Through Bill That Gives Trump Unilateral Power to Kill Nonprofits — A controversial “nonprofit killer” bill is back on track after it was blocked earlier this week. — A majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives rejected the bill on Tuesday out of fear …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Ways and Means, The Daily Caller, CAIR and Nevada Current
Eric Schmeltzer / New Republic:
The Democrats' Refusal to Break With a Broken System Cost Them Dearly — It's become something of a glum tradition in the Democratic Party. After an electoral beating, opinion makers and political elites—along with everyone with a social media account—offer their takes as to why Democrats blew it.
Politico:
Trump to tap campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung as communications director — A veteran of all three campaigns, he's known for his slashing statements on Trump's behalf. — Steven Cheung, who served as Donald Trump's principal spokesperson on his 2024 campaign and also served on his 2020 …
Discussion:
Fox News, NPR, Axios, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Forbes and Townhall, more at Mediagazer »
David Brooks / New York Times:
Why We Got It So Wrong — Let me ask you a few questions: — If the Democrats nominated a woman to run for president, would you expect her to do better among female voters than the guy who ran in her place four years before? — If the Democrats nominated a Black woman to run for president …
Discussion:
The Federalist and Althouse
Anna Betts / The Guardian:
Judge orders hearing to review Onion's purchase of Alex Jones's InfoWars — Judge to audit if conspiracy theorist's bankruptcy auction was fair, which could delay buying process for satire site — A judge has intervened and ordered a hearing to review the purchase of the conspiracy theorist …
Michael Schaffer / Politico:
The Resistance Is Not Coming to Save You. It's Tuning Out. — The first Trump administration sparked waves of public activism and aggressive media coverage. This time, not so much. — In the weeks before the 2024 election, no media platform had more catnip for Donald Trump's detractors than the Drudge Report.
Discussion:
HotAir and Frontpage Mag
Clara Jeffery / Mother Jones:
Of Misogyny, Musk, and Men — In the days before the election, when too many stories about deadlocked polls and undecided voters and the MAGAfication of young men began to wear on my soul, I turned to TikTok to see what women were thinking. Soon enough I was swimming in a sea of female excitement and angst.
Paul Steinhauser / Fox News:
Mike Rogers in consideration for FBI chief after meeting in Mar-a-Lago with Trump transition team, sources say — Mike Rogers served as an FBI Special Agent before winning election to Congress and steering the House Intelligence Committee — FIRST ON FOX - Will the second time be the charm …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit