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7:20 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:
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 …
Washington Post:
Republicans scrap spending bill, under pressure from Trump and Musk  —  Unless Congress acts, a government shutdown deadline looms just past midnight Saturday.
Politico:
What Elon got wrong about the CR  —  With assists from POLITICO's Congress team  —  THE LATEST: House votes have been cancelled for the night as Speaker Mike Johnson regroups and tries to salvage a year-end spending plan after a mass Republican backlash led by billionaire businessman and presidential pal Elon Musk.
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Jeffries suggests Democrats will oppose a ‘clean’ funding bill after Johnson's plan falters  —  House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) suggested Wednesday that Democrats will oppose any federal spending bill that strays from the bipartisan deal announced a day before …
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.) …
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.
Axios:
Major heartburn erupts over Mike Johnson's spending bill
Ari Natter / Bloomberg:
Trump, Musk Threaten Government Shutdown. Here's What That Costs
Discussion: CNN, NOTUS and USA Today
Leah Barkoukis / Townhall:
Mike Johnson Responds to Elon Musk Over Spending Bill Criticism
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
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.
RELATED:
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.
Hayes Brown / MSNBC:
Democrats missed a huge opportunity by not elevating AOC
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.
RELATED:
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 …
New York Times:
The Wrath of Trump: House Republicans Map a Case Against Liz Cheney  —  President-elect Donald J. Trump has never been shy about his desire to see his enemies punished.  But he often shows a measure of caution about taking credit for potential prosecutions himself.
RELATED:
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
Democratic senator says Trump's plan to ‘cripple our democracy’ underway
Discussion: Mediaite
Annie Karni / New York Times:
House Republicans Call for Liz Cheney to Be Investigated Over Jan. 6 Committee Role
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.
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 …
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.
Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Are Democrats coconut-pilled?  Some want to see Kamala Harris run again.  —  Top officials gathered in Washington suggested an openness to backing the vice president again next time.  —  Senior Democrats aren't ruling out Kamala Harris as a presidential candidate for 2028.
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 …
Ashleigh Fields / The Hill:
LA deputy mayor allegedly made bomb threat to City Hall  —  The FBI is investigating the Los Angeles deputy mayor of public safety after reports show he was allegedly tied to City Hall bomb threats made earlier this year.  —  Agents searched the home of Brian Williams on Tuesday for evidence of a connection.
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
NBC News:
Georgia prosecutors urge appeals court not to toss Trump election interference case  —  The Fulton County district attorney's office said the president-elect had presented the court with an “underbaked” argument for dismissing the case.  —  ATLANTA — Georgia prosecutors are calling …
Discussion: ABC News and Raw Story
Erum Salam / The Guardian:
Ice deports mother and children, including newborn twins, to Mexico  —  Despite the infants being US citizens, Christina Salazar and all four of her children were put on a plane on 11 December  —  After his wife and children, including newborn twins, were suddenly deported to Mexico …
Discussion: CBS News
 
 
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 More Items: 
Dani Anguiano / The Guardian:
LA Times owner asks editorial board to ‘take a break’ from writing about Trump - report
David S. Cohen / Rolling Stone:
Just to Be Clear, No, Trump Can't Be Elected President Again
David Wallace-Wells / New York Times:
Can Anyone Make Sense of Luigi Mangione? Maybe His Favorite Writer.
Discussion: HotAir
Jeff Asher / Jeff-alytics:
Crime in 2024: A Historic Drop in Murder with Declining Violent and Property Crime
Financial Times:
‘What choice do they have?’: America's CEOs bend the knee to Donald Trump
Discussion: Breitbart and Wall Street Journal
 Earlier Items: 
The Guardian:
‘Everything is so bad’: Argentina's poor hit hard by Milei's ‘chainsaw’ measures
Brian Beutler / Off Message:
More On Ethical Populism  —  The sweet spot lies in demagogic appeals that can withstand factual scrutiny.
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Done With Never Trump
Politico:
What it's like to cook for Donald
Discussion: The Independent and HuffPost
Punchbowl News:
What's in the CR for members — a pay raise, plus an Obamacare opt-out
David R. Lurie / Public Notice:
The upcoming GOP assault on Social Security
Discussion: Alternet.org
 

 
From Techmeme:

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

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

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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