memeorandum: House Republicans vote to rein in independent ethics office (Mike DeBonis/Washington Post)

9:30 AM ET, January 3, 2017

Top Items:

With No Warning, House Republicans Vote to Hobble Independent Ethics Office — House Republicans, defying their top leaders, voted Monday to significantly curtail the power of an independent ethics office set up in 2008 in the aftermath of corruption scandals that sent three members of Congress to jail.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Common Dreams, theGrio, The Resurgent, The Democratic Daily and Unqualified Offerings

John Bresnahan / Politico:

House Republicans gut their own oversight — In one of their first moves of the new Congress, House Republicans have voted to gut their own independent ethics watchdog — a huge blow to cheerleaders of congressional oversight and one that dismantles major reforms adopted after the Jack Abramoff scandal.

Discussion: RedState, The Guardian, ABC News, KWQC-TV, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Daily Kos and Raw Story

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:

House Republicans vote to rein in independent ethics office — Defying the wishes of their top leaders, House Republicans voted behind closed doors Monday night to rein the independent ethics office created eight years ago in the wake of a series of embarrassing congressional scandals.

Discussion: NPR, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, The Democratic Daily and The Week

CNN:

House GOP guts ethics panel — Washington (CNN)House Republicans voted Monday night in favor of a proposal that would weaken Congress' outside ethics watchdog and remove its independence. — Republican Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte's proposal would place the independent Office of Congressional Ethics …

Discussion: Raw Story, Politicus USA and Balloon Juice

Bloomberg:
House GOP Votes to Strip Ethics Office of Independent Status

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Caller and Hot Air

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
House Republicans Vote to Rein In Serious Investigation of Republicans

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite

New York Times:

To Stop Trump, Democrats Can Learn From the Tea Party — Today is the first day of the 115th United States Congress. In less than three weeks, this Congress will join with President-elect Donald J. Trump to claim a mandate they do not have for policies that most Americans do not support.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Richard Cowan / Reuters:

New Republican-led U.S. Congress lays groundwork for Trump era — The Republican-led U.S. Congress begins a new session on Tuesday where it will start laying plans for enacting President-elect Donald Trump's agenda of tax cuts, repeal of Obamacare and the rollback of financial and environmental regulations.

Discussion: The Geller Report

Rachana Pradhan / Politico: Dems, GOP get ready for showdown on Obamacare

Benjamin Siegel / ABC News:
Congress Prepares to Battle Over Obamacare

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire, TheBlaze and Associated Press

Melanie Zanona / The Hill:
Pelosi: Ball in GOP court on ObamaCare replacement

Discussion: TheBlaze and LifeNews.com

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Republicans Stonewalled Obama. Now the Ball Is in Their Court.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and No More Mister Nice Blog

Wall Street Journal:

Robert Lighthizer Is Expected to Be Named U.S. Trade Representative — Donald Trump is also considering ways to bring his daughter and son-in-law into the administration — Donald Trump is expected to name Robert Lighthizer, a former trade official under President Ronald Reagan …

Discussion: Washington Post and RedState

ABC News:
Trump Expected to Name Lawyer Lighthizer as Top Trade Rep

Discussion: Politico and Political Wire

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:
Trump Said to Pick Lighthizer for U.S. Trade Representative

Discussion: New York Times and The Week

Melanie Zanona / The Hill:

Remittances to Mexico spike after November election — Remittances to Mexico saw the biggest spike in more than a decade during the month that President-elect Donald Trump — was elected, Reuters reported Monday. — Mexican citizens in the U.S. sent home nearly $2.4 billion in transfers in November …

Alexandra Alper / Reuters:
Remittances to Mexico jump by most in 10 years after Trump win

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Ian Schwartz / RealClearPolitics:

Assange To Hannity: Source For WikiLeaks Was Not Russian Government — In an exclusive interview with FOX News Channel's Sean Hannity the founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange said Russia was not the source for the DNC and John Podesta hacks. — HANNITY: Can you say to the American people …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and The Last Tradition

Alex Stedman / Variety:
Fox News' Sean Hannity Lands Interview With WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Gateway Pundit

Oren Liebermann / CNN:

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu questioned in corruption probe — Jerusalem (CNN)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was interrogated Monday night on suspicion of corruption in a criminal investigation authorized by the nation's attorney general. — Netanyahu is suspected …

Discussion: The Week

Neri Zilber / The Daily Beast:
Police Grill Benjamin Netanyahu on Corruption Charges

Discussion: The Resurgent

BBC:
Israeli police question PM Netanyahu in corruption probe

Discussion: RedState

Timothy W. Martin / Wall Street Journal:

The Champions of the 401(k) Lament the Revolution They Started — The dominant vehicle for retirement savings has fallen short of its early backers' rosy expectations; longer life spans, high fees and stock-market declines — Herbert Whitehouse was one of the first in the U.S. to suggest workers use a 401(k).

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight

CNN:

Adviser contradicts Trump: Russians hacked the US — Washington (CNN)A top adviser to President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he thinks the Russians were involved in election-related hacking of the US — a very different view than that held by the incoming administration.

Discussion: Post On Politics, alan.com and The Week

Mike Wehner / BGR:
CNN uses screenshot from ‘Fallout 4’ to show how Russians hack things

Discussion: Infowars and Raw Story

Julia Edwards Ainsley / Reuters:

Exclusive: Trump team seeks agency records on border barriers, surveillance — In a wide-ranging request for documents and analysis, President-elect Donald Trump's transition team asked the Department of Homeland Security last month to assess all assets available for border wall and barrier construction.

Discussion: The Week

Deborah Cole / Yahoo:

Hitler's ‘Mein Kampf’ becomes German bestseller — Berlin (AFP) - The first reprint of Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf” in Germany since World War II has proved a surprise bestseller, heading for its sixth print run, its publisher said Tuesday. — The Institute of Contemporary History of Munich …

Discussion: Althouse

Steve Antony / The Hill:

Why Tillerson and Perry may fuel the uranium, nuclear sectors — In a world anxious about notable political shakeups, but hopeful about new paths for public policies both here at home and abroad, the U.S. nuclear sector may be reenergized under President-Elect Trump through his nomination of Rex Tillerson …

Discussion: Instapundit

Joe Scarborough / Washington Post:

The media's hypocrisy and hyperventilating in the age of Trump — Facts are stubborn things. Unfortunately in the age of Twitter journalism, too many reporters find such details to be both onerous and optional. — This past week, I met twice with President-elect Donald Trump attempting to secure an interview for inauguration week.

Discussion: Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Rebecca Morin / Politico:

Trump: North Korea will be stopped — President-elect Donald Trump tweeted Monday evening that North Korea won't reach the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon that will be able to hit the United States. — “North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing …

Discussion: ABC News and Political Wire