Check out Mini-memeorandum for simple mobiles or memeorandum Mobile for modern smartphones.
10:30 AM ET, May 20, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Bill Scher / Washington Monthly:
Joe Biden Has Nothing to Do With the 2028 Election  —  Democratic presidential aspirants should not feel obligated to self-flagellate to win back the public trust.  —  The what-did-they-know-and-when-did-they- know-it media frenzy was just getting started, with Democratic officeholders …
Discussion: National Review, HuffPost and Mediaite
RELATED:
Washington Examiner:
‘Dilbert’ creator announces he was diagnosed with same kind of prostate cancer as Biden
Wall Street Journal:
Latest Revelations About Biden's Acuity Put Democrats in a Tough Spot
James Kirchick / Politico:
All the President's Enablers  —  Three books on Joe Biden's presidency jointly paint …
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
New York Times:
Biden's Cancer Diagnosis Leaves Democrats With New Questions
Lawrence K. Altman / STAT:
I've reported on presidents' health for 53 years. No public evidence suggests Biden's doctors mishandled prostate cancer testing
Taiyler S. Mitchell / HuffPost:
Trump Goes Off Script And Says What He's Really Thinking About Biden's Cancer Diagnosis
The Hill:
Biden's cancer raises questions around screening, timing
Axios:
Trump's deference to Putin stunned European leaders on call  —  Ukrainian President Zelensky and five other European leaders joined a conference call with President Trump immediately after his call with Vladimir Putin on Monday hoping to hear that Putin had agreed to a ceasefire …
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Trump-Putin Call Yields No Breakthrough on Ukraine Cease-Fire  —  The leaders spoke by phone for two hours in their latest exchange over efforts to halt the fighting  —  WASHINGTON—Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to agree to an immediate cease-fire with Ukraine in a two-hour call Monday …
New York Times:
Trump Backs Off His Demand That Russia Declare a Cease-Fire in Ukraine
Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:
Putin's Still In Charge
Politico:
Feds charge New Jersey congressmember with assault  —  The charge against Rep. LaMonica McIver stems from a scuffle at a Newark migrant detention facility.  —  The Justice Department announced an assault charge Monday against Rep. LaMonica McIver, a New Jersey Democrat who was involved …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Democratic Rep. McIver charged with assault after skirmish at ICE center, New Jersey prosecutor says  —  Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver is being charged with assault after a skirmish with federal officers who arrested the Newark mayor outside an immigration detention center, New Jersey's top federal prosecutor announced Monday.
Luis Ferré-Sadurní / New York Times:
Rep. McIver Charged With Assault Over Clash Outside Newark ICE Center  —  The Department of Justice also announced it was dropping a trespass charge against the city's mayor stemming from the same episode.  —  The Justice Department charged a New Jersey congresswoman with assaulting federal agents during …
The Hill:
Live updates: Trump arrives on Capitol Hill to help break House GOP impasse  —  House Republicans can't come to agreement on various elements of the reconciliation bill that would fund President Trump's domestic agenda, so the president himself went to the Capitol on Tuesday to speak with them personally.
RELATED:
New York Times:   Republican Tax Plan Could Hurt at Least 58 Colleges
CNN:
Sources contradict Trump narrative about Qatar offering plane as ‘gift’  —  The Trump administration first approached Qatar to inquire about acquiring a Boeing 747 that could be used as Air Force One by President Donald Trump, four sources familiar with the discussions told CNN.
RELATED:
New York Times:
The Inside Story of Trump's Search for a New Air Force One  —  Qatar had been trying to sell off a luxury jet for years, with no luck.  Then President Trump's team set its sights on it.  —  The Boeing 747-8 from Qatar at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida after President Trump took …
Washington Post:
White House officials wanted to put federal workers ‘in trauma.’ It's working.  —  Federal workers describe struggling with panic attacks, depression, suicidal thoughts.  “Why doesn't anyone care?”  —  For this story, Post reporters interviewed more than 30 current and former federal employees.
Discussion: Raw Story
Alison Durkee / Forbes:
Supreme Court Won't Take Up Case Because Too Many Justices Recused Themselves  —  Topline  —  The Supreme Court declined Monday to take up a copyright dispute case because it lacked a quorum after five justices had to recuse themselves, a move that was cheered by ethics watchdogs as the high court …
Discussion: Washington Post
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Johnson offers $40,000 SALT deduction cap with income limits  —  House Speaker Mike Johnson offered GOP holdouts a detailed proposal on Monday to set the SALT deduction cap at $40,000 for anyone who makes less than $751,600 a year.  —  Why it matters: But Johnson (R-La.) …
Discussion: Politico
RELATED:
Paul Waldman / Public Notice:
Donald Trump and the power of the big (fake) number  —  🔌 🤖 💭 With corporate outlets obeying in advance, supporting independent political media is more important right now than ever.  PN is possible thanks to paid subscribers.  If you aren't one already …
Thomas Graham / The Guardian:
Lawyer for Venezuelans deported to El Salvador prison arrested  —  Ruth López held without access to lawyers at secret location accused of ‘embezzlement’ a decade ago  —  Thomas Graham and agencies in San Salvador  —  The head lawyer of a human rights group representing the families …
Politico:
Virginia Republicans worry about their gubernatorial candidate who invoked slavery when criticizing DEI  —  Winsome Earle-Sears has had a sluggish start to her campaign.  Republicans are urging her to turn it around — or face a bloodbath this fall.  —  Virginia Republicans are bracing for November with a growing sense of doom.
Discussion: Raw Story and The Downballot
Andrew Duehren / New York Times:
Trump's Pick to Lead I.R.S. Promoted a Nonexistent Tax Credit  —  Billy Long's effort to promote the credit, along with his pushing of a fraud-ridden pandemic-era tax break, will be under close scrutiny during his Senate confirmation hearing.  —  Billy Long, a former Republican congressman …
Discussion: Rolling Stone
CNN:
KFile: Too toxic for Trump's first term, some officials are back in the fold  —  At least four people from Donald Trump's first term who were deemed too extreme or politically toxic to win Senate confirmation - or even keep their jobs - are now back in the fold and in some cases with more power than before.
Vivian Ho / Washington Post:
Trump administration pulls $60M in Harvard grants in third round of cuts  —  The cut to Harvard's federal funding was again linked to alleged failures to tackle antisemitism, and brings the total losses in recent weeks to over $2.7 billion.  —  The Department of Health and Human Services …
Ynetnews:
Qatar lobby reaches deep into US conservative media, documents show  —  Newly revealed DOJ documents show Doha's increasing efforts in right-wing outlets, including Fox News, to promote favorable narratives; critics warn of growing Qatari influence, after Trump's public praise for the emirate
John Drake / Forbes:
Trump's NIH And NSF Cuts Estimated To Cost The U.S. Economy $10 Billion Annually  —  John Drake is a professor at the University of Georgia.  —  SaveComment  —  America's long-term growth is at stake.  Congress is weighing sweeping FY2026 cuts to fundamental science …
Discussion: The Nation and Axios
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Golden running for reelection in Maine, forgoing statewide bid  —  Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) announced on Tuesday he is running for reelection in Maine's 2nd Congressional District, opting out of a statewide campaign.  —  “While I have considered many options for how best to continue serving …
Discussion: Roll Call
Curtis Morrison / The Hill:
Don't make immigrants pay just to enter a visa lottery  —  The House Judiciary Committee unveiled a budget bill last month containing a provision designed, much like poll taxes, to undermine access to the Diversity Visa Program and disproportionately impact immigrants of color.
New York Times:
Justice Dept. to Use False Claims Act to Pursue Institutions Over Diversity Efforts  —  The department's use of the law is all but certain to be met with legal challenges.  —  The Trump administration plans to leverage a law intended to punish corrupt recipients of federal funding …
Discussion: Reuters and KDFX-TV
Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
Words & Phrases We Can Do Without  —  Donald Trump has demanded a “big, beautiful” bill to slash taxes for the wealthiest Americans and dismantle government, At various times he has disclaimed efforts to cut Medicaid and Social Security (as congressional allies pursue the former …
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Fight or Don't Fight and Take the Consequences … It's become almost commonplace in recent years, and especially in the last four months, that the divisions among Democrats are less progressives vs. “centrists” or liberals than one between institutionalists and what we might call Team Fight.
Sophie Bates / Associated Press:
While Trump overhauls FEMA, Mississippi tornado survivors await assistance  —  More than two months after a tornado destroyed his home, Brian Lowery still looks through the rubble, hoping to find a tie clip his mother gave him, made from the center stone of her wedding band.  “I still have hope,” Lowery said.
Matt Towery / InsiderAdvantage:
InsiderAdvantage National Survey: Trump Approval Surges to Fifty-five Percent, Following Middle East Trip  —  An InsiderAdvantage survey of 1000 likely voters, conducted May 17-19 shows President Donald Trump with an 11 point advantage in his job approval rating.  The poll has a margin of error of 3.09%
New York Times:
Gulf Deal-Making Spree Also Benefited Elon Musk and His Family  —  The world's richest man inked new deals as he tagged along on Trump's tour of the Gulf.  —  President Trump's recent trip to the Persian Gulf was notable for the ways that American foreign policy overlapped with his family's business interests.
Sidney Blumenthal / The Guardian:
Trump can complain all he wants - but he can't stop his own economic mess  —  Between his tariffs and his regressive ‘big, beautiful bill’, the president is wreaking havoc - and he never learns  —  With his usual threats, Donald Trump is trying to ward off the dire reality that he has created and is bearing down on him.
 
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of memeorandum at 10:30 AM ET, May 20, 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: 
Paul Krugman:
How Trump Will Make the Tariff Shock Worse
Richard Luscombe / The Guardian:
Ron DeSantis's fall from grace: 'He's completely crashed to the ground'
Ron Filipkowski / Meidas+:
Today in Politics, Bulletin 134. 5/19/25
Bloomberg:
South Africa to Offer Musk Starlink Deal Before Trump Meet
Discussion: Reuters
Megan Lebowitz / NBC News:
RFK Jr. to testify before Congress again after last week's contentious hearings
Nette Nöstlinger / Politico:
Germany reports surge in extreme-right crime
Discussion: Reuters
Washington Post:
The fate of Trump's agenda rests with the House GOP's ‘five families’
Discussion: Punchbowl News
 Earlier Items: 
Victor Nava / New York Post:
Ex-FBI Director James Comey says he doesn't expect to be charged over ‘86 47’ Instagram post: ‘Ridiculous’
Discussion: RedState and Associated Press
Emily Feng / NPR:
Trump has imposed a lot of tariffs. But here's why collecting them can be hard
Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
The Trump-Supporting Christians Accusing Jews of Antisemitism
Discussion: CT Mirror
Dave Jamieson / HuffPost:
Missouri Republicans Vote To Repeal State's New Paid Sick Leave Law
Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:
Judge strikes down DOGE takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace
Chicago Tribune:
Justice Department investigating Mayor Brandon Johnson for alleged racially motivated hiring
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Trump's FBI bosses are angering the MAGA media bubble they once stoked
elysee.fr:
Joint statement from the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.