Top Items:
Kate Gibson / CBS News:
Senate approves bill to expand Social Security to millions of Americans — Legislation to expand Social Security benefits to millions of Americans passed the U.S. Senate early Saturday and is now headed to the desk of President Biden, who is expected to sign the measure into law.
Discussion:
CNN, The Hill, UPI, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Joe.My.God., USA Today and Washington Examiner
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The Hill:
Live updates: Senate approves Social Security bill, prevents shutdown — Just as the government funding deadline arrived early Saturday, Congress passed an interim plan to prevent a shutdown after a chaotic few days and nights in Washington. — President Biden is expected to sign the funding bill later on Saturday.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Hartford Courant, Washington Examiner, DCReport.org and ABC News
New York Times:
Transition Live Updates: House Approves Stopgap Funding Bill Hours Ahead of Shutdown Deadline — The new legislation would keep the government open but did not include the debt ceiling increase that President-elect Donald J. Trump had demanded. It now goes to the Senate. — Here are the latest developments.
Discussion:
New Jersey Globe, Regular Order, NewsNation, Fox News, Bloomberg, New Republic, MPR News, American Greatness and The Hill
The Hill:
House passes bill to avert government shutdown after whirlwind funding fight — The House approved legislation to avert a government shutdown hours before the deadline Friday, sending the bill to the Senate for consideration after a whirlwind week on Capitol Hill.
Discussion:
RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Punchbowl News, WHDH-TV, NBC News and USA Today
Washington Post:
8 policies stripped from GOP bill after Trump, Musk rebellion
8 policies stripped from GOP bill after Trump, Musk rebellion
Discussion:
Politico, Rolling Stone, Salon, NewsNation, USA Today, Consequence, The Atlantic, Townhall, Washington Times and Steady
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Mike Johnson's magic debt ceiling promise
Mike Johnson's magic debt ceiling promise
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, CNN, WSVN-TV, Politico and Washington Times
Politico:
Playbook: Shutdown? Averted. Crisis? Delayed. — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — FOOD FOR THOUGHT — “The ABC Settlement Doesn't Mean the Press Is Caving to Trump,” by Ankush Khardori: “There were good legal reasons for the network to avoid a trial.”
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Eric Levitz / Vox:
House Republicans just exposed the limits of Trump's power
House Republicans just exposed the limits of Trump's power
Discussion:
New York Times, Axios, Regular Order, Fortune, Source New Mexico, Raw Story, New York Magazine, Semafor, Washington Examiner, Politico, Washington Times, Business Insider, WSVN-TV, NPR, Reuters and Reason
Washington Post:
Trump's claims of a mandate run into reality of narrow majorities
Trump's claims of a mandate run into reality of narrow majorities
Discussion:
Politico, Fortune, Talking Points Memo, LewRockwell and New York Times
Melissa Goldin / Associated Press:
Musk helped kill a congressional spending bill. But much of what he spread was misinformation
Musk helped kill a congressional spending bill. But much of what he spread was misinformation
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, PJ Media, Fortune, Semafor, Slate and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »
Eric Lutz / Vanity Fair:
Republicans Own This Government Shutdown S—t Show
Republicans Own This Government Shutdown S—t Show
Discussion:
The i Paper, Semafor, Al Jazeera, New Republic, The Independent, Associated Press, Daily Kos, Truthout, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Blue Virginia, El País, Politico and Washington Post
David Dayen / American Prospect:
The Government Is Shutting Down Because Elon Musk Has Factories in China
The Government Is Shutting Down Because Elon Musk Has Factories in China
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Reuters, The Hill, New Republic, Newsweek, Fox News and Washington Examiner
Annie Karni / New York Times:
Meet the 38 Republicans Who Defied Trump on the Spending and Debt Deal
Meet the 38 Republicans Who Defied Trump on the Spending and Debt Deal
Discussion:
Fortune, acecomments.mu.nu, The Post Millennial, The Guardian and Politico
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Justice Thomas Did Not Disclose Additional Trips, Democrats Say — The revelation was included in a report by Democratic staff members on the Senate Judiciary Committee who had conducted a 20-month investigation into ethics practices at the Supreme Court. — Justice Clarence Thomas failed …
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Associated Press:
New ethics inquiry details more trips by Clarence Thomas paid for by wealthy benefactors — Investigation by Senate Democrats found that Thomas accepted gifts and travel worth more than $4.75m since 1991 — A nearly two-year investigation by Democratic senators of supreme court ethics details …
Chris Geidner / Law Dork:
Breaking: Senate Dems' report on SCOTUS ethics inquiry decries “culture of misconduct” — Judiciary Dems' majority staff report calls for Congress to act given that “the justices have allowed ethical misconduct to persist for decades.” — For the past 20 months, the Senate Judiciary Committee's Democrats …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill and Rolling Stone
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Senate Democrats blast Supreme Court's ‘ethical crisis’ as investigation concludes — With Republicans about to take control of the Senate, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee issued a report detailing alleged ethical lapses by justices. — WASHINGTON — A lengthy investigation …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.
Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Senate confirms Biden's 235th judge, beating Trump's record — It's an important milestone for Joe Biden as he tops his predecessor Donald Trump's total number of judicial nominees confirmed before handing the White House back over to him. — WASHINGTON — The Democratic-led Senate confirmed …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Hill, Raw Story, Alternet.org, HuffPost, Utah News Dispatch, The White House, Axios and The Japan Times
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Nate Raymond / Reuters:
Biden secures 235th confirmed judicial appointee, one more than Trump — Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden secured his 235th appointment to the federal judiciary on Friday, narrowly surpassing President-elect Donald Trump's first-term tally by one with a record number of women and people of color named to the bench.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CBS News, The Leadership Conference …, The White House and San Diego Union-Tribune
Tobi Raji / Washington Post:
Senate confirms 2 Biden judicial nominees, boosting total over Trump
Senate confirms 2 Biden judicial nominees, boosting total over Trump
Discussion:
San Diego Union-Tribune and The Hill
Kevin Freking / Associated Press:
Senate approves 235th judge of Biden's term, beating Trump's tally
Senate approves 235th judge of Biden's term, beating Trump's tally
Discussion:
Law Dork, WNYW-TV, Washington Examiner and Politico
Kate Connolly / The Guardian:
Outrage as Elon Musk claims ‘only AfD can save Germany’ — German health minister calls US billionaire's intervention weeks before election ‘undignified and problematic’ — Elon Musk has caused outrage in Berlin after appearing to endorse the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Joe.My.God., Mother Jones, Politico and Reuters
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Alex Nguyen / Mother Jones:
Elon Musk Applauds the German Neo-Nazi Party
Elon Musk Applauds the German Neo-Nazi Party
Discussion:
BizPac Review, The Daily Sceptic, Raw Story, NBC News, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, RedState, New York Magazine, Semafor, HuffPost, Truthout, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, New Republic, Washington Examiner, The Times of Israel, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Gateway Pundit, Joe.My.God., Lawyers, Guns & Money and Deadline
Gary Legum / Wonkette:
Elon Musk Boosting German Fascists, What Could Possibly Go Wrong
Elon Musk Boosting German Fascists, What Could Possibly Go Wrong
Discussion:
Axios, Futurism, CNBC, UPI, Washington Post, New York Times and Financial Times
Jason Wilson / The Guardian:
He's anti-democracy and pro-Trump: the obscure ‘dark enlightenment’ blogger influencing the next US administration — Key figures in the incoming administration follow Curtis Yarvin, who's pushing for an autocratic takeover of the US — Curtis Yarvin is hardly a household name in US politics.
Wall Street Journal:
Biden Weighs Commuting Sentences of Death Row Inmates — Amid pleas from religious and civil-rights groups, president is considering whether to convert death sentences to life without parole — WASHINGTON—President Biden is considering commuting the sentences of most, if not all …
Discussion:
RedState, New York Post, Breitbart, Fox News, Twitchy, Raw Story, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit and NPR
Robert Tait / The Guardian:
Trump's ‘stunningly unqualified’ diplomatic team shapes up at breakneck speed — Trump is hardly the first US president to introduce miscast nominees, but he has nominated ambassadors at a rate not recalled in recent memory — They seem an unlikely, almost motley, crew of emissaries.
Discussion:
Alternet.org
Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir / Bloomberg:
Iceland's Social Democrats Reach Deal for New Government — Three-party coalition vows prudent budgets, war on inflation — Referendum on resuming EU entry talks seen before 2027 — Iceland's new ruling coalition agreed on a platform of budget restraint to fight inflation …
Discussion:
Reuters