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8:45 AM ET, May 21, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Washington Post:
Divided House GOP tries to push Trump's tax bill over the finish line  —  A key committee worked through the night on the legislation as Republican leaders sought agreement from various party factions.  —  House Republicans on Wednesday are set to try to push President Donald Trump's massive tax …
RELATED:
Paul Krugman:
A Liz Truss Moment for America?  —  Financial indicators are flashing yellow  —  Despite hitting a few speed bumps, Congress seems likely to pass Donald Trump's “big, beautiful bill” — legislation that combines big tax cuts for the rich with vicious cuts in social programs — within a few days.
Al Weaver / The Hill:
Senate unanimously approves bill to eliminate tax on tips
Ben Leonard / Politico:
Wealthy gain, low-income people lose from GOP megabill, analysis finds  —  The report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is already fueling Democratic accusations that the legislation is a giveaway to the rich.  —  Tax cuts in House Republicans' megabill would lead to increased assets …
Discussion: Bloomberg, Scripps News and HuffPost
RELATED:
New York Times:
U.S. Debt Is on Pace to Set a Record High, Going All the Way Back to 1790  —  If Republicans pass their tax and spending megabill, the record will arrive even sooner — putting America's debt at more than 113 percent of the size of its entire economy.  —  The United States hit its record debt level …
Camilo Montoya-Galvez / CBS News:
U.S. put Asian migrants on deportation flight to South Sudan, lawyers allege  —  Immigration lawyers told a federal judge on Tuesday that they received information indicating the U.S. government may have put migrants from countries like Myanmar and Vietnam on a deportation flight to South Sudan …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Judge Orders U.S. to Keep Custody of Migrants Amid Claims They Were Sent to South Sudan
Devlin Barrett / New York Times:
Justice Dept. Opens Inquiry Into Cuomo, Singling Out Another Political Target  —  After killing a criminal case against Mayor Eric Adams, the Trump administration has begun investigating his chief rival in the New York City mayoral race over his testimony about the pandemic.
Michael Gold / New York Times:
Noem Incorrectly Defines Habeas Corpus as the President's Right to Deport People  —  The right allows people to legally challenge their detentions by the government and is guaranteed in the Constitution.  —  Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, bungled answers on Tuesday about habeas corpus …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Official Pushed to Rewrite Intelligence So It Could Not Be ‘Used Against’ Trump  —  An assessment contradicted a presidential proclamation.  A political appointee demanded a redo, then pushed for changes to the new analysis, too.  —  New emails document how a top aide to Tulsi Gabbard …
Discussion: SpyTalk and Reuters
Freddy Brewster / The Lever:
CEO Says Trump's IRS Pick Promised Big Benefits  —  Former Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.), President Donald Trump's pick to head the Internal Revenue Service, was invited to attend Trump's inauguration as the guest of a financial services CEO who said Long promised him benefits for his company, according to a recording obtained by The Lever.
RELATED:
Tobias Burns / The Hill:
Democratic senator says he has recordings of favors ‘promised’ by Trump's IRS pick
Discussion: The United States …
Wall Street Journal:
Inside Kristi Noem's Polygraph Operation  —  The information that DHS employees are accused of sharing with media often isn't classified  —  WASHINGTON—In a small interrogation room in Virginia with a one-way mirror, employees from across the Department of Homeland Security are being summoned and hooked up to a polygraph machine.
Alexandra Hutzler / ABC News:
Trump to host South Africa's president amid tensions over US resettlement of white Afrikaners  —  Trump claims a “genocide” is taking place, which South Africa disputes.  —  South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the media during a press briefing at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, April 24, 2025.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Trump plans to press South African leader on ‘genocidal rhetoric’
Natalie Daher / Axios:
Trump's FEMA risks “flying blind” into hurricane season  —  President Trump's campaign to dismantle FEMA is on the verge of a high-stakes stress test, as the U.S. hurtles toward peak disaster season under uniquely dangerous conditions.  —  Why it matters: Extreme weather is growing deadlier and more destructive.
RELATED:
Niall Stanage / The Hill:
The controversy over Rep. LaMonica McIver's criminal charges, explained  —  Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) is being charged with assault after a melee outside an immigration detention facility in Newark on May 9.  —  The decision to charge McIver was announced on Monday evening by Alina Habba …
RELATED:
Leigh Kimmins / The Daily Beast:
Musk Insults Interviewer for Daring to Ask About His Big DOGE Promise  —  TOUCHY SUBJECT  —  Musk said the cost-cutting task force would save $2 trillion.  By its own estimate, just $160 billion has been saved.  —  A defensive Elon Musk shut down an interviewer by saying …
Discussion: Gizmodo, Blaze Media, RedState and Mediaite
Melissa Repko / CNBC:
Target cuts sales outlook as retailer blames tariff uncertainty and backlash to DEI rollback … Target on Wednesday cut its full-year sales outlook, as executives said weaker discretionary spending, consumer uncertainty about tariffs and backlash to the company's rollback of key diversity …
Theodore Schleifer / New York Times:
Democrats Throw Money at a Problem: Countering G.O.P. Clout Online  —  At private gatherings, strategists and donors are swapping ideas to help the party capture the digital mojo that helped President Trump win.  Yes, there's a price tag.  —  Six months after the Democratic Party's crushing 2024 defeat …
George Joseph / The Guardian:
Revealed: UnitedHealth secretly paid nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers  —  A Guardian investigation finds insurer quietly paid facilities that helped it gain Medicare enrollees and reduce hospitalizations.  Whistleblowers allege harm to residents  —  UnitedHealth Group …
New York Times:
Elon Musk Plans ‘a Lot Less’ Spending as He Edges Away From Politics  —  He spent hundreds of millions to elect President Trump.  But now he's less visible in Washington, says he'll spend less on future elections and is even posting less about Mr. Trump on social media.
Chiara Eisner / NPR:
Diseases are spreading.  The CDC isn't warning the public like it was months ago  —  To accomplish its mission of increasing the health security of the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that it “conducts critical science and provides health information” to protect the nation.
Eleanor Pringle / Fortune:
U.S. economy is experiencing ‘death by a thousand cuts’, says Deutsche Bank, as confidence in national debt management erodes  —  Trump has flagged national debt as a concern for the economy, but analysts are concerned by his spending bill  — America's soaring national debt …
Discussion: New Republic, Axios, CNN and Raw Story
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
National Science Foundation Ends 196 Grants To Harvard Amid Feud With Trump  —  “Pure retribution,” one NSF staffer said of the administration axing $46 million in unfinished research.  “We as a nation are shooting ourselves in both feet.”  —  WASHINGTON ― The National Science Foundation …
Rogé Karma / The Atlantic:
Trump's Plan to Cap Drug Prices Doesn't Exist  —  Instead, he seems content blaming foreign countries and hoping for the best.  —  For a moment, Donald Trump finally seemed to be on the verge of real economic populism.  The president announced last week that his administration would be instituting a …
Discussion: Washington Post
New York Times:
Why the ‘Big, Beautiful’ Tax Bill Is Worrying Bond Investors  —  Tax cuts pushed by President Trump are amplifying debt and deficit concerns among the powerful market players who influence interest rates.  —  For decades, budget hawks warned that America's debt load was unsustainable …
Reuters:
US to appoint Thomas Barrack as special envoy for Syria, sources say  —  The United States will appoint President Donald Trump's longtime friend and current U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Thomas Barrack, as a special envoy for Syria, a person with direct knowledge of the matter and a diplomat in Turkey said.
Politico:
Blue-state Republicans, GOP leaders land tentative deal for $40,000 SALT deduction  —  House Speaker Mike Johnson and a group of blue-state Republicans have reached a critical but tentative deal to boost the cap on state and local tax deductions to $40,000 in the GOP megabill …
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Chicago Sun-Times Prints AI-Generated Summer Reading List With Books That Don't Exist  —  Update: We have published a follow-up to this article with more details about how this happened.  —  The Chicago Sun-Times newspaper's “Best of Summer” section published over the weekend contains a guide …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
JD Vance on His Faith and Trump's Most Controversial Policies
Washington Post:
Musk was once a political force on X. Now he's back to business.
Reuters:
Donald Trump Jr says on running for president: ‘that calling is there’
Discussion: Reuters and CBS News
Bloomberg:
Germany Makes Arrests of Suspected Right-Wing Terrorist Cell
Discussion: Politico, Reuters and Al Jazeera
Farrah Tomazin / The Daily Beast:
Fury Over Musk Bid to Build Trump's ‘Golden Dome’ Defense Project
Kim Zetter / ZERO DAY:
UAE Recruiting US Personnel Displaced by DOGE to Work on AI for its Military
 Earlier Items: 
Hafiz Rashid / New Republic:
Marco Rubio Says No Judge Has Authority Over Him in Alarming Testimony
Le Monde:
EU pledges emergency funding for Radio Free Europe after US cuts
Rolling Stone:
Why Trump Is Threatening to Investigate Bruce Springsteen
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Netflix agrees to acquire WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash-and-stock deal, set to close after WBD splits into two companies in Q3 2026

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
The Chicago Tribune sues Perplexity for copyright infringement, alleging Perplexity's platforms lift Tribune content verbatim and divert traffic from the paper

David Pierce / The Verge:
Yahoo launches Game Breakdowns in beta, offering AI-generated game summaries, stats, and play recaps, all updated live, to Yahoo Fantasy Plus subscribers

 
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