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8:50 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:
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 …
Politico:
Supreme Court extends block on Trump's deportation bid under Alien Enemies Act  —  The justices faulted the administration for its attempt last month to carry out swift deportations just one day after providing a bare-bones deportation notice to the detainees.
Discussion: CBS News and Raw Story
Wall Street Journal:
Conservatives Block GOP Tax Megabill, Demand Changes
Jacob Knutson / Democracy Docket:
SCOTUS Says Trump Violated Venezuelan Migrants' Rights With Attempted Removals
Discussion: Law Dork and Newsweek
Politico:
$40,000 SALT offer discussed with megabill holdouts
Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story
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
Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to resume quick deportations of Venezuelans under 18th-century law
CNN:
Former FBI Director James Comey is being interviewed by the US Secret Service  —  Former FBI Director James Comey was escorted by US Secret Service agents to their Washington Field Office on Friday afternoon for an interview, according to law enforcement sources.
RELATED:
Rachel Treisman / NPR:
James Comey is under investigation for his ‘8647’ Instagram post. What does it mean?
William Kristol / The Bulwark:   I Called the Constitution Police and They Say You're Going to Jail
Alex Gangitano / The Hill:
Trump: Comey post ‘meant assassination’
Washington Post:
Comey under investigation for ‘threat’ to Trump on social media, officials say
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:
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 with the non-department Department …
Discussion: Politico
NPR:
DOGE tried assigning a team to the Government Accountability Office.  It refused  —  The Department of Government Efficiency is continuing its attempts to expand its reach beyond executive branch agencies, this time seeking to embed in an independent legislative watchdog that finds waste, fraud and abuse in the government.
Matt Wirz / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Loses Last Triple-A Credit Rating  —  Moody's downgrades the U.S. government, citing large fiscal deficits and rising interest costs  —  The U.S. lost its last triple-A credit rating.  —  Moody's Ratings downgraded the U.S. government on Friday, citing large fiscal deficits and rising interest costs.
RELATED:
Rachel Lerman / Washington Post:
Moody's downgrades U.S. credit as Congress considers bill that could add to deficits
Discussion: Bloomberg
New York Times:
Moody's Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating Below Triple-A
Discussion: Bloomberg and Reuters
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
Axios:
Exclusive: Prosecutor's audio shows Biden's memory lapses  —  Amid long, uncomfortable pauses, Joe Biden struggled to recall when his son died, when he left office as vice president, what year Donald Trump was elected or why he had classified documents he shouldn't have had …
RELATED:
Politico:
The Biden question hanging over the 2028 field
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
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 …
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 …
Discussion: Raw Story and The Independent
NBC News:
Trump attorneys draw judge's ire by saying ‘state secrets’ keep them from sharing details on Abrego Garcia's return  —  U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said the government's refusal to provide certain information in the case has been “an exercise in utter frustration.”
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 …
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 …
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 …
New York Times:
Trump Appointee Pressed Analyst to Redo Intelligence on Venezuelan Gang  —  The move followed a disclosure that intelligence agencies disagree with a key factual claim Trump made to invoke a wartime deportation law.  —  A top adviser to the director of national intelligence ordered …
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: Daily Kos and New Republic
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.
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
 
 
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 More Items: 
Michael S. Rosenwald / New York Times:
Ed Smylie, Who Saved the Apollo 13 Crew With Duct Tape, Dies at 95
Steve Vladeck / One First:
151. The Supreme Court's (Alien Enemies Act) Patience is Wearing Thin
Jonathan Chait / The Atlantic:
The New MAGA World Order
Politico:
Army to place large metal plates on DC streets to protect them from tanks during June parade
Jesse Pound / CNBC:
Consumer sentiment slides to second-lowest on record as inflation expectations jump after tariffs
Ron Filipkowski / Meidas+:
Dems Must Not Let Media Make 2026/28 About Biden
Washington Post:
Consumers are getting hit by surprise tariff bills
 Earlier Items: 
Diane Taylor / The Guardian:
Senior faith leaders urge Starmer to tone down migration rhetoric
Steve Schale / The Bulwark:
I Worked for Joe Biden. I Love Joe Biden. He Must Rethink His Post-Presidency.
Default:
The Law Firms' Deals with Trump are Even Riskier Than They Seem
Discussion: Politico and New York Times
Anna Merlan / Mother Jones:
The Hyper-Aggressive, Comically Loyal Government Flacks Who Talk Like Trump
Discussion: Grabien
Charlotte Klein / New York Magazine:
The Opinion That Ate the Paper
Discussion: City & State New York
Paul Krugman:
The Trade War Isn't Over  —  Monday morning I woke up to an urgent text from Robin …
Discussion: The Hill and CBS News
Wall Street Journal:
Donors Promised ‘VIP Experience’ to Military Events With Trump
Discussion: Daily Kos
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Netflix agrees to buy WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash and stock deal; the transaction is expected to close after Q3 2026

The Guardian:
Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, and the Netherlands exit Eurovision after Israel received an all-clear to compete; the BBC and Germany's SWR plan to participate

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
The EU fines X €120M for breaching online content rules, the first fine under the DSA, citing issues including the deceptive design of its blue checkmarks

 
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