Check out Mini-memeorandum for simple mobiles or memeorandum Mobile for modern smartphones.
5:35 PM ET, May 16, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
NBC News:
Conservatives block Trump agenda bill from advancing in major setback for GOP leaders  —  The House Budget Committee voted down the massive party-line package, with a critical band of Republicans pushing for deeper spending cuts.  —  WASHINGTON — The GOP-led House Budget Committee voted …
RELATED:
Tony Romm / New York Times:
G.O.P. Tax Bill May Hurt the Lowest Earners and Help the Richest  —  Even though most Americans may see lower taxes, Republicans' spending cuts could outweigh those benefits and leave some worse off.  —  As Representative Jason Smith commenced a marathon session this week to consider …
The Hill:
GOP fiscal hawks sink key vote on Trump ‘big, beautiful bill’  —  Fiscal hawks on the House Budget Committee on Friday sunk a key vote on advancing the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that encompasses President Trump's legislative agenda, marking a stunning setback for the legislation.
Wall Street Journal:
Conservatives Block GOP Tax Megabill, Demand Changes  —  Republican holdouts in committee vote seek more savings from Medicaid, faster wind down of clean-energy breaks  —  WASHINGTON—House Republican spending hawks are demanding changes to the party's tax-and-spending bill …
Mike Allen / Axios:
Happy Friday afternoon! Today's newsletter, edited by Sam Baker, is 559 words, a 2-min. read. Thanks to Carolyn DiPaolo for copy editing.
Discussion: Reuters
Politico:   $40,000 SALT offer discussed with megabill holdouts
Jose Pagliery / NOTUS:
DOGE Is Now Targeting GAO, and the Congressional Agency Is Fighting Back  —  “We are not subject to DOGE or executive orders,” GAO staff were told in an internal email sent Friday.  — Copy  —  Elon Musk's DOGE team is now starting to target government agencies outside of the executive branch …
RELATED:
Chris Geidner / Law Dork:
Breaking: DOGE sought access to Congress's watchdog  —  Congress's watchdog told the Trump administration to stay away on Friday.  —  Law Dork has learned that, in the aftermath of recent Trump administration efforts to upend the leadership at the Library of Congress, officials …
NPR:
DOGE tried assigning a team to the Government Accountability Office. It refused
Heather Richards / Politico:   GAO rejects DOGE attempt to land at congressional watchdog agency
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
I Called the Constitution Police and They Say You're Going to Jail  —  We were going to lead off today with a joke about the faux MAGA outrage over an Instagram post from former FBI Director James Comey, who had posted a picture reading “86 47,” which some were ridiculously characterizing as a call to assassinate the president.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Comey under investigation for ‘threat’ to Trump on social media, officials say
CNN:
Prosecuting James Comey for social media posts may be fruitless, legal and security experts say
Rachel Treisman / NPR:
James Comey is under investigation for his ‘8647’ Instagram post. What does it mean?
Alex Gangitano / The Hill:
Trump: Comey post ‘meant assassination’
CNN:
Supreme Court blocks Trump from restarting Alien Enemies Act deportations  —  The Supreme Court on Friday blocked President Donald Trump from moving forward with deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act for a group of immigrants in northern Texas, siding with Venezuelans who feared …
RELATED:
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court rules Trump administration must give Venezuelans more time to challenge deportation under Alien Enemies Act
Wall Street Journal:
DHS Is Considering Reality Show Where Immigrants Compete for Citizenship  —  'This isn't ‘The Hunger Games’ for immigrants,' says the producer behind the pitch  —  The Department of Homeland Security is considering being part of a television show in which immigrants would compete …
RELATED:
Isabel Van Brugen / The Daily Beast:   Producer Swears ICE Reality Show for Citizenship Won't Be a Complete Dystopian Nightmare
Politico:
The Biden question hanging over the 2028 field  —  Some Democrats argue their leaders aren't owning up to the truth about Biden — and risk keeping the issue alive indefinitely.  —  Joe Biden may have cost Democrats the White House in 2024.  Their inability to admit it, some Democrats fear, could hobble them in 2028.
RELATED:
Stephen I. Vladeck / New York Times:
The ‘Modest’ Ruling That Could Kneecap Our Legal System  —  It is often difficult to persuade anyone other than lawyers to care about the more technical, procedural minutiae of Supreme Court decisions.  But Thursday's oral argument in three Supreme Court cases challenging President Trump's efforts …
NBC News:
Trump administration working on plan to move 1 million Palestinians to Libya  —  Details are murky and no final agreement has been reached, but the plan is under serious enough consideration that the administration has discussed it with Libyan leadership.  —  The Trump administration …
Discussion: Reuters
New Jersey Globe:
McIver set to be charged over Delaney Hall incident  —  Habba could announce charges against Newark Democrat as early as today  —  The Justice Department plans to bring charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) following a scuffle with federal immigration agents last week …
Adrian Carrasquillo / The Bulwark:
Exclusive: Trump's Losing the Latino Voters He Won in '24  —  DONALD TRUMP'S SUPPORT AMONG LATINO VOTERS, including those who voted for him in 2024, is fracturing, a new poll shared exclusively with The Bulwark found.  —  The poll by Equis Research, a Democratic group …
Discussion: New Republic
Reuters:
Exclusive: US aid cuts leave food for millions mouldering in storage  —  Food rations that could supply 3.5 million people for a month are mouldering in warehouses around the world because of U.S. aid cuts and risk becoming unusable, according to five people familiar with the situation.
Discussion: The Dispatch
Rolling Stone:
Sean Combs Allies Are Actively Working for a Trump Pardon  —  Longtime Combs associates have spent months cozying up to Trump officials to lay groundwork for clemency pleas … It may be on to something.  —  Combs, who was charged last September, is currently on trial in the Southern District …
Paul Krugman:
The Trade War Isn't Over  —  Monday morning I woke up to an urgent text from Robin, who is still visiting friends in Europe: “You have to look at the news NOW.”  Sure enough, Donald Trump had suddenly slashed his tariff on China from 145 percent to 30 percent.
Discussion: The Hill, CBS News, Al Jazeera and CNN
Josh Meyer / USA Today:
FBI moving 1,500 personnel from D.C., closing storied headquarters building: Patel  —  WASHINGTON − FBI Director Kash Patel announced in a Fox News broadcast Friday that he's redeploying 1,500 FBI agents, analysts and other personnel from Washington to posts throughout the country …
Anna Merlan / Mother Jones:
The Hyper-Aggressive, Comically Loyal Government Flacks Who Talk Like Trump  —  Spokespeople are defending the administration in a language pioneered by the president.  —  In March, Axios reported that Donald Trump's Oval Office had begun to resemble an Oscar night gift suite …
Steve Schale / The Bulwark:
I Worked for Joe Biden.  I Love Joe Biden.  He Must Rethink His Post-Presidency.  —  “My dad always used to say, ‘Champ, the measure of a man is not how often he is knocked down, but how quickly he gets up.’”  —  THERE IS NO PLAYBOOK FOR NAVIGATING the post-presidency, especially in this modern era.
Andrew Tangel / Wall Street Journal:
This Air-Traffic Controller Just Averted a Midair Collision.  Now He's Speaking Out.  —  Jonathan Stewart says controllers didn't walk off the job after recent FAA equipment outages; 'I don't want to be responsible for killing 400 people'  —  MALVERN, Pa.—Jonathan Stewart …
Charlotte Klein / New York Magazine:
The Opinion That Ate the Paper  —  Under Kathleen Kingsbury, the Times' “Opinion” section has doubled in size.  What kind of publication is she building?  —  In the summer of 2020, as James Bennet, the head of the New York Times' “Opinion” section, was being forced to resign, his deputy …
Josh Christenson / New York Post:
JD Vance clear favorite to win the GOP nomination in 2028: poll  —  Vice President JD Vance is the overwhelming choice to win the 2028 Republican presidential primary, according to a new poll, even with former contenders and allies of President Trump jockeying for position.
President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
The One, Big, Beautiful Bill is a Once-in-a-Generation Chance  —  Here are five reasons why President Donald J. Trump's One, Big, Beautiful Bill is a generational opportunity to deliver the long-term changes Americans voted for:  —  1. It's the largest tax cut in American history.
 
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of memeorandum at 5:35 PM ET, May 16, 2025.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 See Also: 
memeorandum: site main
memeorandum River: reverse chronological memeorandum
memeorandum Mobile: for phones
memeorandum Leaderboard: memeorandum's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
memeorandum RSS feed
memeorandum on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Hassan Ali Kanu / Politico:
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow mass layoffs of federal workers
Maggie Miller / Politico:
Hegseth briefly paused cyber ops against Russia as part of negotiations, GOP Rep. Bacon says
Discussion: CBS News
Washington Post:
Consumers are getting hit by surprise tariff bills
Diane Taylor / The Guardian:
Senior faith leaders urge Starmer to tone down migration rhetoric
Discussion: The New European
Washington Post:
An isolated, angry Fetterman is yet another challenge for Democrats
Discussion: Grabien
Default:
The Law Firms' Deals with Trump are Even Riskier Than They Seem
Discussion: Politico, New York Times and E&E News
 Earlier Items: 
Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:
Gutfeld knocks Springsteen for Trump criticism in UK
Associated Press:
Russia-Ukraine peace talks end after less than 2 hours
Greg Olear / PREVAIL:
Ramble On: Sadness and the Sinking Ship (video)
New York Times:
9 Federally Funded Scientific Breakthroughs That Changed Everything
Discussion: UPI
Wall Street Journal:
Donors Promised ‘VIP Experience’ to Military Events With Trump
Discussion: Daily Kos and CBS News
Sarah Mervosh / New York Times:
Some Republicans Push to Put School Desegregation Officially in the Past
Discussion: Plain Dealer and Raw Story
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple says general counsel Kate Adams and policy chief Lisa Jackson will retire, and Jennifer Newstead, Meta's former chief legal officer, will replace Adams

Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Meta says it is shifting some of its investment from metaverse toward AI glasses and wearables, and “we aren't planning any broader changes than that”

A.J. Vicens / Reuters:
US and Canadian authorities warn that Chinese hackers are using the Brickstorm malware to install backdoor access within unnamed government and IT entities

 
Sister Sites:

Techmeme
 Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web
Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page