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, Daily Caller News Foundation and The Sun
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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 …
Discussion:
Vox, Washington Post, Politico, Daily Caller News Foundation, Talking Points Memo, The Independent, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Bulwark, STAT, The Daily Caller, New York Times, CNN, emptywheel, Roll Call, WVEC, Daily Kos, TPR, Associated Press, Deadline, Forbes, Fox News, Hollywood Life, USA Today and The Guardian
ABC News:
Mike Johnson says he doesn't think House Ethics Committee should release Gaetz report — Johnson won't say if he discussed the matter with Donald Trump. — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks at a press conference for House Republicans, following their leadership meeting, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 13, 2024.
Discussion:
Diane Ravitch's blog, Axios, NOTUS, The Japan Times, Raw Story, New York Daily News and Fox News
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
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 …
Discussion:
Mock Paper Scissors, The Hill, The Independent, Mediaite, Townhall and Washington Post
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Politico:
Johnson: Ethics shouldn't release Gaetz report
Johnson: Ethics shouldn't release Gaetz report
Discussion:
USA Today, UPI, New York Post, Vanity Fair, WHEC.com, Florida Politics, The Dispatch, CBS News, Daily Kos, Washington Times, New York Times, The Independent, Talking Points Memo, Forbes, Roll Call, Axios, ABC News, The Guardian, Washington Examiner, NBC News, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, New Republic and E&E News
The Hill:
Speaker Johnson urges Ethics panel not to release Gaetz report
Speaker Johnson urges Ethics panel not to release Gaetz report
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Washington Post, Axios, New York Post, CBS News and Politico
CNN:
Speaker Johnson says he's going to request Ethics Committee not release Gaetz report
Speaker Johnson says he's going to request Ethics Committee not release Gaetz report
Discussion:
Associated Press, Fox News, NOTUS, New York Magazine, Bloomberg, Scripps News, Axios, Washington Post, Politico, Semafor, Mediaite, CBS News, New York Daily News, Raw Story, Forbes, Washington Times, The Independent, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Guardian, WSVN-TV, NBC News, Reuters, Daily Mail, USA Today and The Hill
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:
Washington Examiner, Forbes, New York Post, Mediaite, Daily Mail, Bloomberg, Semafor and The Gateway Pundit
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Juliegrace Brufke / Axios:
Scoop: McCaul's exit from Foreign Affairs leadership sets up succession race … - “Out of respect for [conference] rules and a desire to see future leaders rise from our conference, I have decided not to pursue another term as chairman,” McCaul told Axios in a statement.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner
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Alex Thompson / Axios:
Scoop: Rahm Emanuel weighs bid for DNC chair
Scoop: Rahm Emanuel weighs bid for DNC chair
Discussion:
Politico, Fox News, New Republic, New Jersey Online, So What, Daily Mail and WPR
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Scoop: House Dems sick of Pelosi … - “She needs to take a seat,” said one senior Democratic lawmaker. — “Making scattershot comments is not just unhelpful, it's damaging,” said the lawmaker. … - Both lawmakers insisted on anonymity. — Pelosi still instills fear in the members she led for two decades.
Discussion:
RedState, Mediaite, Townhall and Washington Examiner
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, The Guardian, The Independent, Washington Examiner, 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.
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Timothy Snyder / Thinking about:
Decapitation Strike — 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. And the whole idea of his campaign was that this time he had a plan.
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
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.
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:
New Republic, Ways and Means, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, CAIR and Nevada Current
Liam Archacki / The Daily Beast:
Dem Rep. Says Tulsi Gabbard Is ‘Likely a Russian Asset’ — DOUBLE AGENT? — The Florida Democrat slammed Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, whose comments about Russia have raised concerns. — Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said that Tulsi Gabbard …
Discussion:
The Hill, Robert Reich, Washington Post, Diane Ravitch's blog, Fox News, The Bulwark and Washington Examiner
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:
CBS News, New York Times, CatholicVote org, UPI, KVUE-TV, Houston Public Media, abc7NY and WHEC.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, Politico, Digby's Hullabaloo, Vanity Fair, TMZ.com, USA Today, Breitbart, The Independent, The Hill, New Republic, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit and Not the Bee
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:
Doomsday Scenario, Raw Story and Off Message
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:
NPR, Fox News, Axios, Washington Times, 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
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.
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.
Miranda Nazzaro / The Hill:
Democratic senators call for federal probe into Musk's contact with Russia — A pair of Democratic senators called for a federal investigation into Elon Musk's involvement in SpaceX's federal contracts following reports the tech billionaire has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Discussion:
CBS News and Los Angeles Times
Allan Smith / NBC News:
John Fetterman says Democrats need to stop ‘freaking out’ over everything Trump does — The Pennsylvania senator spoke to NBC News about what went wrong for his party in 2024 and how it should approach the future Trump administration. — In the closing weeks of the presidential campaign …
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Post and Politico
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
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Beware the Trifecta: History Shows Full Control of Government Is Fleeting — The last five presidents have all had periods where both the House and the Senate were in friendly hands — but most lasted just two years before the backlash set in. — After Republicans did better than expected …
Discussion:
New Jersey Globe, PoliticusUSA, Al Jazeera and Nevada Current
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