memeorandum: It Can't Be Assumed That Higher Turnout Would Have Helped Harris (Nate Cohn/New York Times)

8:30 AM ET, December 3, 2024

Top Items:

Cate Martel / The Hill:

12:30 Report — Hunter Biden pardon ripples across Washington — Thank you for signing up! — The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the 12:30 Report newsletter — It's Monday. Welcome back and happy December! First lady Jill Biden unveiled …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Beast, New York Post, The Post Millennial, RedState, Twitchy, Fox News, HuffPost, Washington Times, USA Today, New Jersey Online, The Guardian, CBS News, Breitbart and ABC News

New York Times:

How Biden Changed His Mind on Pardoning Hunter: ‘Time to End All of This’ — The threat of a retribution-focused Trump administration and his son's looming sentencings prompted the president to abandon a promise not to get involved in Hunter Biden's legal problems.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, The Bulwark, Mediaite, Althouse, ABC News, CANADIAN AFFAIRS, Raw Story, Townhall, Politico, RedState, New York Magazine, NBC News, The Daily Signal and The Independent

Politico:
Biden just gave Trump a new pardon playbook

Discussion: NOTUS, New York Times, Breitbart, The Dispatch, Ohio Capital Journal, NPR, Reason, The Guardian, USA Today, The Independent, CNN and IJR

Wall Street Journal:
Unpacking the Unusual Hunter Biden Pardon

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press, The Hill, Washington Times, Townhall, Washington Examiner, Minnesota Reformer, The National Pulse, CBS News, Fox News, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, New York Times, Politico, Voice of America, New York Post and USA Today

Eric Levitz / Vox:
For Democrats, the Hunter Biden pardon is a problem — and an opportunity

Ed Mazza / HuffPost:
John Dean Reveals Biden Move That Could Doom Trump's ‘Revenge’ Plot

Discussion: BizPac Review, Fox News, HotAir, freebeacon.com, New York Post, Townhall, Daily Mail, The Hill, GB News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, Breitbart, The Post Millennial, ABC News and Politico

Zachary Basu / Axios:
Hunter Biden pardon deepens Dems' identity crisis

Washington Post:
President Biden faces criticism over controversial pardon of his son Hunter

Discussion: emptywheel, Alternet.org, Twitchy, New Republic, Instapundit, RedState, New York Post, CBS News, The Guardian and Daily Kos

Hugo Gurdon / Washington Examiner:
Lies, damned lies, and the pardon of Hunter Biden

Discussion: PJ Media, Townhall, Fox News, JONATHAN TURLEY, Fox Business, Newsbusters, RedState, Twitchy, acecomments.mu.nu, Instapundit, Mediaite, HotAir, The Federalist, DNyuz and New York Post

David Voreacos / Bloomberg:
Why Biden's Pardon of His Son Is So Controversial

Ivana Saric / Axios:
What to know about presidents pardoning family members and allies

Discussion: Washington Post, Deseret News, CBS News, The Free Press, RedState, USA Today, spiked, Bloomberg and Fox News

Fox News:

Trump suggests Canada become 51st state after Trudeau said tariff would kill economy: sources — Trudeau made a hastily arranged visit to Mar-a-Lago last Friday after Trump threatened Canada with tariffs — Join Fox News for access to this content — President-elect Trump suggested …

Discussion: Townhall, BizPac Review, Mediaite, The Independent, Raw Story, RedState, Daily Mail, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Times

Ron Dicker / HuffPost:

Donald Trump Reportedly Takes Menacing Jab At Justin Trudeau In Mar-a-Lago Meeting — The president-elect dismissed the Canadian prime minister's tariff concerns with a confrontational joke. — LOADING — Donald Trump reportedly suggested to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau …

Discussion: Twitchy and Daily Mail

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:

Trump falls just below 50% in popular vote, but gets more than in past elections — President-elect Donald Trump got very close to a majority of the vote in this presidential election, but not quite. It is not exactly the “unprecedented and powerful mandate” Trump claimed on election night.

Discussion: New York Times

Mehdi Hasan / The Guardian:

Donald Trump didn't win by a historic landslide. It's time to nip that lie in the bud — In 2024, we have a new post-election lie - Trump didn't just win, Republicans say, but he won big. He won a landslide. That's false — Remember the “big lie”? In 2020, Donald Trump lost …

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

It Can't Be Assumed That Higher Turnout Would Have Helped Harris — Voting records suggest Democrats who stayed home were less likely to support her, with no equivalent drop-off in Trump support among Republicans. — If you've been reading post-election coverage, you've probably seen …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Adam Wren / Politico:

Rahm Emanuel? Ben Wikler? Why Democrats should pick — or pass over — potential contenders for DNC chair — A decision on who will try to lead the party out of the wilderness is expected early in 2025. — Democrats' first steps to find their way out of the political wilderness following …

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Times, Journal Sentinel and Alternet.org

Tal Axelrod / ABC News:

DNC hopes to highlight success ahead of post-election meeting — DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said the election was a “mixed bag.” — Chair of the Democratic National Committee Jaime Harrison bangs the gavel on the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Aug. 19, 2024.

Discussion: CBS News

Mitch Smith / New York Times:

Wisconsin Judge Strikes Down Limits on Public Sector Unions — The 2011 law stripped most government workers in the state of collective bargaining rights and set off protests that lasted weeks. — A Wisconsin judge on Monday struck down portions of a 2011 law that stripped most government workers …

Politico:
Unions score major win in Wisconsin with court ruling restoring collective bargaining rights

Discussion: Fox Business

Rachel Ryan / Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin:
Dane County judge strikes down Act 10, restoring collective bargaining power for some public employees

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:

Congress faces shutdown dilemma that could mess with Trump's first 100 days — There's no easy answer for Republicans as they move toward a stopgap bill to push a key government funding deadline to early 2025, which could complicate Trump's other plans. — WASHINGTON — As Congress returns …

Discussion: GovExec.com, Washington Times, CBS News, Reuters, E&E News and Punchbowl News

Aris Folley / The Hill:
Schumer says bipartisan talks to avoid shutdown before Christmas ‘on the right track’

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Minho Kim / New York Times:

For U.K. Ambassador, Trump Picks Billionaire Who Supported His Rivals — Warren Stephens, an investment banker, gave $2 million in 2016 to a group aiming to block Donald J. Trump's political rise. More recently, he backed Asa Hutchinson, Chris Christie, Mike Pence and Nikki Haley before donating to the Trump campaign.

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Mail, One America News Network, The Guardian, Associated Press, Fox News, Politico, DNyuz, Bloomberg and Washington Times

Emily Hallas / Washington Examiner:
Trump taps Warren Stephens to be ambassador to United Kingdom

Discussion: GB News, Townhall, The Hill and Daily Mail

Matthew Chapman / Raw Story:

Trump privatization plan will add thousands a year to typical mortgage: expert — A proposed deregulation of the home loan market that Donald Trump is widely expected to pursue could have massive consequences for new homebuyers — particularly those with low incomes, reported CNN on Monday.

Samantha Delouya / CNN: Trump may renew a housing fight that could rattle mortgage rates

ProPublica:

Formaldehyde Causes More Cancer Than Any Other Toxic Air Pollutant. Little Is Being Done to Curb the Risk. — An Ever-Present Danger: Formaldehyde is all around us and causes more cancer than any other chemical in the air. It can also trigger asthma, miscarriages and fertility problems.

Stephen Robinson / Public Notice:

Nancy Mace's never-ending chase for 15 more minutes of fame — Her descent into crude bigotry shows that she'll do anything for attention. … 📸 — Nancy Mace made headlines in recent weeks with her ugly, transphobic attacks on Democratic Rep.-elect Sarah McBride.

New York Times:

Trump Says He Will Block Acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japanese Firm — The announcement reiterated sentiments the president-elect expressed on the campaign trail, and further imperiled a deal that had already run into widespread political opposition. — President-elect Donald J. Trump …

Discussion: The Mainichi, DNyuz, Bloomberg, Townhall and Axios

Punchbowl News:

12/3/24 ☀️ AM: — How Democrats are cleaning up their House — The Vault: Treasury nom Bessent to start making Senate rounds — GOP leaders rebuff attempts to bypass FBI background check for Cabinet noms — How Democrats are cleaning up their House

New York Times:

Inside the Supreme Court Ethics Debate: Who Judges the Justices? … As the summer of 2023 ended, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court began trading even-more-confidential-than- usual memos, avoiding their standard email list and instead passing paper documents in envelopes to each chambers.

New York Times:

Project 2025, Mar-a-Lago and Fox News: What Connects Trump's New Staff Picks — A number of patterns have emerged among the people President-elect Donald J. Trump has indicated he wants to fill his cabinet and other senior-level positions in his administration.