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6:20 PM ET, December 18, 2024

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Politico:
Johnson weighs spending plan B as Elon Musk stokes opposition  —  Speaker Mike Johnson's leadership team is quietly discussing a plan B to fund the government amid conservative opposition and vocal criticism from incoming President Donald Trump's top ally Elon Musk.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Under pressure from Elon Musk, House GOP prepares to scrap spending bill  —  Unless Congress acts, a shutdown deadline looms just past midnight Saturday.  —  Republicans are preparing to scrap House Speaker Mike Johnson's bipartisan plan to avert a government shutdown …
Discussion: New York Post and The Hill
HuffPost:
Mike Johnson Faces Growing GOP Backlash As Elon Musk Calls For Government Shutdown  —  Johnson's push for a short-term government funding bill met louder resistance than usual from Republicans in the House.  —  LOADING  —  WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) …
NBC News:
Trump opposes funding bill, pushing government closer to a shutdown  —  Elon Musk joined a wave of right-wing fury against a bill to keep the government open.  Now, the president-elect says he wants big changes, too, before this weekend's deadline.  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald …
Ellen Mitchell / The Hill:
Senate passes $895B Defense bill; some Dems defect over transgender fight  —  The Senate on Wednesday voted to pass the $895 billion Defense authorization bill, despite a provision on transgender care that turned off some Democrats, moving it along to President Biden's desk to be signed into law.
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Trump's Vengeance Tour Has Already Started  —  Going forward, how are we going to hash out how much the government spends and on what?  Through a combination of public edicts from Elon Musk and harried Fox News appearances from Speaker Mike Johnson, apparently.
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Jeffries suggests Democrats will oppose a ‘clean’ funding bill after Johnson's plan falters
Discussion: USA Today and Townhall
Associated Press:
Government funding to run out unless Speaker Mike Johnson finds support for bill
CNN:
In reversal, key House panel votes to release Matt Gaetz ethics report  —  The House Ethics Committee secretly voted earlier this month to release its report into the conduct of former Rep. Matt Gaetz before the end of this Congress, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.
RELATED:
New York Times:
House Ethics Panel Voted Secretly to Release the Gaetz Report  —  Lawmakers agreed the report would come out after the House has completed legislative business for the year and once they have left Washington to return to their districts.  —  The House Ethics Committee secretly voted this month …
Tal Axelrod / ABC News:
Democrats' playbook to beat Republicans in 2 years: work with them now  —  “I think we are telling them that we're here to govern,” one Democrat said.  —  DCCC chair Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., speaks during the House Democrats' post-caucus meeting news conference in the Capitol, Sept. 18, 2024.
RELATED:
Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
What Do Democrats Need to Do?  Act Like an Opposition Party.  —  Democrats may be in the minority, but they are not yet an opposition.  —  What's the difference?  —  An opposition would use every opportunity it had to demonstrate its resolute stance against the incoming administration.
Hayes Brown / MSNBC:
Democrats missed a huge opportunity by not elevating AOC
Apoorva Mandavilli / New York Times:
California Declares an Emergency Over Bird Flu in Cattle  —  Officials have discovered the virus in 645 dairy herds, more than in any other state so far.  —  In a stark acknowledgment of the increasing seriousness of bird flu's spread, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California declared on Wednesday …
RELATED:
Reuters:
US confirms first severe human case of bird flu  —  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that a patient has been hospitalized with a severe case of H5N1 infection in Louisiana, marking the first known instance of a severe human illness linked to the bird flu virus in the United States.
Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill:   CDC confirms first case of severe bird flu
Annie Karni / New York Times:
House Republicans Call for Liz Cheney to Be Investigated Over Jan. 6 Committee Role  —  Ms. Cheney defended her work on the select committee in a detailed statement, and called the report “a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth.”  —  House Republicans on Tuesday said their one-time colleague …
RELATED:
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:   Democratic senator says Trump's plan to ‘cripple our democracy’ underway
Paul Krugman / Krugman wonks out:
Health Insurance is a Racket  —  What value do these companies add, really?  —  It's not news that many Americans dislike health insurance companies.  In fact, Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare who was murdered two weeks ago, reportedly warned his colleagues months ago that the industry had a public relations problem.
RELATED:
Wendell Potter / New York Times:
I Was a Health Insurance Executive.  What I Saw Made Me Quit.  —  I left my job as a health insurance executive at Cigna after a crisis of conscience.  It began in 2005, during a meeting convened by the chief executive to brief department heads on the company's latest strategy: “consumerism.”
Discussion: Raw Story and STAT
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Inside Disney's Decision to Settle a Trump Defamation Suit  —  Talks started and finished on the same day, after Disney decided that fighting the lawsuit could potentially hurt the company and protections for the press.  —  When Disney reached a settlement last week with President-elect Donald J. Trump …
Punchbowl News:
What's in the CR for members — a pay raise, plus an Obamacare opt-out  —  Two provisions that directly impact lawmakers were quietly added to the CR: a pay raise and an Obamacare opt-out. … It's complicated, but Congress has proactively blocked lawmakers from getting a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) since 2009.
RELATED:
Katherine Tully-McManus / Politico:
Lawmakers are primed to get a pay bump. Some aren't happy about it.
Discussion: Rolling Stone and Alternet.org
Brian Beutler / Off Message:
More On Ethical Populism  —  The sweet spot lies in demagogic appeals that can withstand factual scrutiny.  —  ∙ Paid  —  The competition is stiff, but for me the most demoralizing spectacle from November 5 through the Nancy Pelosi-led whip operation to deny AOC Democrats' top oversight role …
Discussion: New Republic
RELATED:
New Republic:
Transcript: Trump's Angry New Tirade on Truth Social Signals Dark 2025  —  The following is a lightly edited transcript of the December 17 episode of the  —  Daily Blast podcast.  Listen to it here.  —  Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network.
David Smith / The Guardian:
Trump planning to target progressive non-profits, US watchdog warns  —  Congressional Integrity Project creates initiative to counter growing ‘authoritarianism’ and defend progressives  —  Donald Trump and his Republican allies are planning to target progressive groups they perceive …
Discussion: The Independent
Columbia University Irving Medical Center:
Sexism Is a Risk Factor for Memory Decline Among Women  — Share on X (formerly Twitter)  — Share by email  —  Women born in the most sexist U.S. states experienced faster memory decline in later years compared to women born in the least sexist states, a new study by researchers …
 
 
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 More Items: 
NBC News:
Georgia prosecutors urge appeals court not to toss Trump election interference case
Discussion: ABC News
Jeff Asher / Jeff-alytics:
Crime in 2024: A Historic Drop in Murder with Declining Violent and Property Crime
Washington Post:
Majority of Americans oppose Trump's proposals to test democracy's limits
Anthony Capaccio / Bloomberg:
Musk's Alleged Russia Contacts Worry Air Force's Kendall
Discussion: Semafor
The Guardian:
‘Everything is so bad’: Argentina's poor hit hard by Milei's ‘chainsaw’ measures
Discussion: Semafor
Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Are Democrats coconut-pilled? Some want to see Kamala Harris run again.
Discussion: Twitchy, RedState and The Hill
 Earlier Items: 
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Done With Never Trump
Discussion: The Federalist and The Bulwark
Politico:
What it's like to cook for Donald
Discussion: The Independent and HuffPost
Filip Timotija / The Hill:
Trump: Canada becoming 51st state ‘great idea’
Erum Salam / The Guardian:
Ice deports mother and children, including newborn twins, to Mexico
Discussion: CBS News
David R. Lurie / Public Notice:
The upcoming GOP assault on Social Security
Discussion: Alternet.org
 

 
From Techmeme:

Melissa Quinn / CBS News:
SCOTUS says it will hear a challenge from TikTok, ByteDance, and TikTok users on January 10 to the law that could lead to the US banning the app on January 19

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Apple says Meta has made 15 interoperability requests under the EU's DMA, more than any other company, and that these could affect users' privacy and security

Hayden Field / CNBC:
OpenAI debuts a way to talk to ChatGPT by dialing 1-800-CHATGPT for 15 minutes of free access per month in the US or messaging the number via WhatsApp globally
 
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