memeorandum: IRS watchdog reveals Lois Lerner missing emails now subject of criminal probe (Stephen Dinan/Washington Times)

11:20 PM ET, February 27, 2015

Top Items:

STUNNER: House GOP Votes Down Own Bill To Avert Shutdown — WASHINGTON — In a huge embarrassment for Republican leaders, the House voted down their bill Friday to avert a Homeland Security shutdown hours before the midnight deadline. — The House GOP plan was to pass a three-week stopgap bill …

Discussion: The Mahablog

Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:

Chaos in House as lawmakers reject DHS bill; shutdown nears — A short-term funding measure to keep the Department of Homeland Security open (DHS) was defeated on Friday in a stunning vote that could result in a partial government shutdown at midnight. — The bill failed 203-224 …

Discussion: Politico

Politico:

John Boehner scrambles for Plan B — Boehner and the GOP leadership searching for a way to keep DHS from shutting down at midnight. — What's the Plan B? — After 52 GOP lawmakers brought down a three-week spending bill for the agency, House Speaker John Boehner and his leadership team …

Emma Dumain / Roll Call:

House GOP Fails to Advance 3-Week DHS Funding Bill — House Republicans fell short of votes to advance a three-week bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security Friday evening, 203-224. — Just hours before the agency is set to shut down, GOP leaders must now decide whether to risk …

Discussion: FreakOutNation

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Obama Prepares For DHS Shutdown — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama convened a meeting with key administration officials on Friday evening to prepare for an expected shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security after the House rejected a bill in the afternoon to fund the department.

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Ashley Parker / New York Times:
House Passes One-Week Funding Extension for Homeland Security

Discussion: Political Wire

CNN:
DHS funding expected to run out as key House vote fails

Discussion: PJ Media

The Hill:
House will vote Friday to prevent Homeland Security shutdown

Discussion: Politico, The Nation, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, Foreign Policy, Washington Post, RedState, PoliticusUSA and Hot Air

Politico:
Uncompromising Reid still in command

Discussion: The Hill, The Moderate Voice, PoliticusUSA and Daily Kos

Virginia Heffernan / New York Times:

Leonard Nimoy, Spock of ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 83 — Leonard Nimoy, the sonorous, gaunt-faced actor who won a worshipful global following as Mr. Spock, the resolutely logical human-alien first officer of the Starship Enterprise in the television and movie juggernaut “Star Trek,” …

Terry Flores / Variety:
Leonard Nimoy, 'Star Trek's' Spock, Dies at 83

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week, Business Insider, Ed Driscoll, BuzzFeed, Boing Boing, abc30.com, Mediaite and Bleeding Cool Comic Book …

Natasha Vargas-Cooper / Jezebel:

Scott Walker Wants Colleges to Stop Reporting Sexual Assaults — Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's proposed budget—which would cut $300 million dollars out of the state's beloved public university system—has a non-fiscal bombshell tucked in between its insane pages.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, FreakOutNation, Raw Story and The Week

Featured stories:

Boy, Blowing Up A DNC Media Hit Job On Scott Walker In Realtime Sure Is Fun! — The Latest Attempt To Launch A New Walker Smear Crashes & Burns On The Launch Pad. And There Was Much Rejoicing — Embed

Discussion: Hot Air

David Weigel / Bloomberg Business:
Ronald Reagan, Scott Walker, and the ISIS Gaffe

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Slate and Hit & Run

Zach Noble / TheBlaze.com:
Scott Walker Pulls Thunderous Applause at CPAC — Here's How He Responded to Lone Heckler

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Common Dreams, CNN, ThinkProgress and Fox News

Kasie Hunt / msnbc.com:
Rick Perry calls Scott Walker's ISIS-labor comparison ‘inappropriate’

Discussion: Reuters, The Atlantic Online, Associated Press, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, Althouse, Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller, prospect.org/blogs …, Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly and JSOnline

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

Jeb Bush was very, very good at CPAC today — Did people walk out when Jeb Bush started speaking at CPAC today in Maryand? Sure. Did he get heckled and booed at times during his q and a with conservative commentator Sean Hannity? Sure. Did Bush more than hold his own with an audience …

Discussion: Mediaite, OnPolitics, RH Reality Check, Washington Monthly and Weekly Standard

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:

Rubio: I've learned lesson on immigration — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that he's learned he was wrong on his approach to immigration reform. — Rubio, a onetime Tea Party favorite whose support for a comprehensive immigration reform package hurt …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, PoliticusUSA, Washington Monthly, The Week and Hot Air

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Jeb Bush: 'I'm not backing down' from immigration stance — PALM BEACH, Fla. — In perhaps his most campaign-style speech so far, not-yet-official GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush vowed Thursday not to alter his views on immigration despite intense opposition among some parts of the Republican base.

Discussion: Hot Air and The Daily Caller

BBC:

Russia opposition politician Boris Nemtsov shot dead — A leading Russian opposition politician, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, has been shot dead in Moscow, Russian officials say. — An unidentified attacker in a car shot Mr Nemtsov four times in the back as he crossed a bridge in view of the Kremlin, police say.

Discussion: Guardian, The Atlantic Online, New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg View, Gawker, Mashable, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Mediaite and New York Magazine

Washington Post:

Putin critic, Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov killed in Moscow — MOSCOW — Boris Nemtsov, a longtime Russian opposition leader and sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot and killed in central Moscow, the Russian Interior Ministry said early Saturday.

Discussion: Guardian, Fox News and Hit & Run

Adam Rogers / Wired:

The Science of Why No One Agrees on the Color of This Dress — The original image is in the middle. At left, white-balanced as if the dress is white-gold. At right, white-balanced to blue-black. swiked — Not since Monica Lewinsky was a White House intern has one blue dress been the source of so much consternation.

Jonathan Mahler / New York Times:
The White and Gold (No, Blue and Black!) Dress That Melted the Internet

Discussion: The Huffington Post, VentureBeat, Hot Air, Fox News Insider, The Daily Caller, Poynter, Business Insider, abc30.com, Bloomberg View, Washington Post, Patterico's Pontifications, Mashable and Whoa wow wow!

Houstonherald.com:

Eight killed, including suspect, in apparent murder-suicide

Discussion: CNN, FreakOutNation, Daily RFT, FOX2now.com and NPR

Doug Stanglin / USA Today:
8 shot dead at multiple crime scenes in rural Missouri

Discussion: Topeka Capital-Journal, WBNS-TV, Scared Monkeys, ThinkProgress and Booman Tribune

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

GOP scrambles to keep Obamacare subsidies flowing in case of Supreme Court victory — What happens if Republicans win the Supreme Court case against Obamacare? They might end up like the dog that caught the car. — Next Wednesday the court will hear oral arguments in King v. Burwell …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, prospect.org/blogs …, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller and Wall Street Journal

Abbe R. Gluck / Politico:
King v. Burwell isn't about Obamacare

Discussion: ACS Blog, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Balkinization

Joel Gehrke / National Review:

CPAC Hails ‘President Paul’ — CPAC activists waited an hour-and-a-half for Senator Rand Paul after congressional votes delayed his speech, and the pent-up energy made for a rowdy welcome. — “President Paul! President Paul! President Paul!” the attendees chanted in the middle …

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online: Does Hillary Clinton Have Anything to Say?

Ken Silverstein / Politico:

Where Journalism Goes to Die — Glenn Greenwald, Pierre Omidyar, Adnan Syed and my battles with First Look Media. — My first day at First Look Media was December 30, 2013. I was thrilled to go to work at what seemed like it was going to be the most exciting place in journalism.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs