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3:15 PM ET, July 17, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
Senate Approves Trump's Bid to Cancel Foreign Aid and Public Broadcast Funds  —  The bill to claw back $9 billion in congressionally approved spending passed over the objections of Republicans who said it abdicated the legislative branch's power of the purse.
RELATED:
Politico:
Looming Epstein vote has Republicans eager to leave Washington … Questions about the late convicted sex predator have exploded inside the GOP since the Justice Department announced earlier this month it had concluded there was no foul play involved in his 2019 death while in federal custody and there is no …
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Senate Votes to Strip $1.1 Billion From Public Broadcasting in Blow to PBS and NPR  —  The Senate voted narrowly early Thursday morning to strip $1.1 billion in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in a severe blow to 1,500 local public TV and radio stations as well as PBS and NPR.
NPR:
Senate approves cuts to NPR, PBS and foreign aid programs
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
Senate Dems protest committee vote to advance Trump's judicial pick
Mia McCarthy / Politico:
Capitol agenda: Brutal day ahead for Mike Johnson
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
A Crisis of MAGA Faith  —  How's this for a vibe check: A Quinnipiac University poll yesterday found that a whopping 63 percent of voters disapprove of how the Trump administration is handling the Epstein-files controversy, with a scant 17 percent approving.  Happy Thursday.  —  What Would William of Ockham Say?
RELATED:
Josh Fiallo / The Daily Beast:
Elon Musk Blows Major Hole in Trump's Epstein ‘Hoax’ Theory
Avery Lotz / Axios:
Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell's family attempts appeal to Trump
Discussion: Vanity Fair
Patrick Maguire / CBS News:
Mike Pence says “the time has come” to release the Epstein files
RELATED:
emptywheel:
Pam Bondi Fired the Avenger of Sex Trafficking Victims on Donald Trump's Personal Authority  —  I've often said that, this time, Donald Trump has chosen poorly of which people to make political martyrs.  —  Less than eight hours after proclaiming that the Jeffrey Epstein scandal was just some …
Erica Orden / Politico:
Maurene Comey, daughter of James Comey and prosecutor of Jeffrey Epstein, is fired
Kara Scannell / CNN:
Maurene Comey, federal prosecutor in Epstein case, fired from SDNY
Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Justice Dept. Asks for 1-Day Sentence for Ex-Officer Convicted in Breonna Taylor Raid  —  The move was a stunning reversal of Biden-era efforts to address racial disparities in local law enforcement.  —  The Justice Department's civil rights chief has asked a federal judge to sentence …
RELATED:
Perry Stein / Washington Post:
DOJ seeks one-day sentence for officer in raid that killed Breonna Taylor  —  In November, a federal jury found officer Brett Hankison guilty of violating Taylor's civil rights during a March 2020 police raid in which she was fatally shot.  —  Summary25  —  The Justice Department requested …
CNN:   Justice Department says former officer convicted in Breonna Taylor raid should get one day in jail
Matthew Goldstein / New York Times:
This Democrat Won't Let Go of the Jeffrey Epstein Case, Either  —  Senator Ron Wyden has found that four banks waited until Mr. Epstein's arrest on federal charges to flag $1.5 billion in suspicious transactions.  Mr. Wyden wants the documents made public.  —  President Trump and his administration …
Associated Press:
Trump administration hands over Medicaid recipients' personal data, including addresses, to ICE  —  Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will be given access to the personal data of the nation's 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including home addresses and ethnicities …
Makena Kelly / Wired:
DOGE Put Free Tax Filing Tool on Chopping Block After One Meeting With Lobbyists  —  A key operative from DOGE initiated plans to potentially kill Direct File, the free tax filing tool developed by the IRS, after offering assurances it would be spared from cuts.
Discussion: Sludge
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
When institutions crumble, strongmen step in  —  Trump wants to be the sole authority.  With trust in institutions cratering, he sees his opportunity.  —  What would it take to put the swirling conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein to bed?  Nothing complicated; just an authoritative …
Discussion: Gallup, The Hill and KFTC-TV
Miami Herald:
Alligator Alcatraz isn't meant for minors.  A 15 year old ended up there anyway  —  In the rush to open a detention camp in the Florida Everglades for “some of the most vicious” migrants illegally in the country, state and federal officers detained a 15-year-old boy with no criminal record …
Discussion: Raw Story
Katherine Tully-McManus / Politico:
Russ Vought: Appropriations process ‘has to be less bipartisan’  —  Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought isn't interested in giving assurances to lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the White House will abide by any bipartisan spending agreements made this year.
NBC News:
Coca-Cola dodges after Trump says soda will switch back to cane sugar  —  Asked about the switch, a representative for Coca-Cola didn't explicitly say it would use cane sugar for products in the U.S.  —  President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Coca-Cola in the United States will begin …
RELATED:
Ben Berkowitz / Axios:
Trump's Coke push will cost thousands of farm jobs, corn group warns
Naomi Feinstein / Miami New Times:
Is Florida Quietly Removing Alligator Alcatraz Contracts from Public Database?  —  On Tuesday, Orlando lawmaker Anna Eskamani accessed the contract documents on the website.  The next day, they were gone.  —  Audio By Carbonatix … State contracts related to Alligator Alcatraz …
Becky Morton / BBC:
Voting age to be lowered to 16 by next general election  —  Sixteen and 17-year-olds would be able to vote at the next general election, under government plans to lower the voting age.  —  The pledge is part of a raft of measures being introduced through a new Elections Bill.
Rümeysa Öztürk / Vanity Fair:
“Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women's Prison  —  Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up for the first time about her shocking arrest and 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility.  She recalls the generous …
Discussion: ACLU
Charlie Nash / Mediaite:
Ex-Trump Casino President Tells CNN He Reprimanded Trump for Showing Up With ‘Best Friend’ Epstein and 19-Year-Old Girl  —  Jack O'Donnell, the former president of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, told CNN on Wednesday that he once reprimanded President Donald Trump in the 80s …
Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
Goodbye, separation of church and state  —  🗣️ Paid subscribers make Public Notice possible.  If you appreciate our fiercely independent coverage of American politics, please sign up and support us.  👇  —  The Trump administration last week handed a huge win …
Discussion: Deseret News
Paul Walsh / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Watch: Senior Trump adviser dumps on Minneapolis, prompting retort from Mary Moriarty  —  Stephen Miller's comments are the latest in a recent string from Trump loyalists targeting Minneapolis. … White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called Minneapolis an unsafe and violent city during …
Discussion: MSNBC and Raw Story
Tessa Stuart / Rolling Stone:
Democratic Voters Who Skipped 2024 Election Want Candidates Like Bernie, AOC  —  “The conventional wisdom is really wrong on these voters,” says pollster Celinda Lake.  “They want leaders who will fight for everyone” … But new research suggests the prevailing wisdom that has guided those efforts …
Discussion: Semafor
 
 
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 More Items: 
New York Post:
Trump discussing drone ‘mega deal’ with Ukraine — as US tech lags behind adversaries: ‘The people of America need this technology’
Discussion: The Hill and The Kyiv Independent
Bloomberg:
US Set to Impose 93.5% Tariff on Battery Material From China
Lindsey Holden / Politico:
California Dems brace for Bondi, Burgum to visit Alcatraz
Lauren Kaori Gurley / Washington Post:
Here legally since 1999, thousands of immigrants have 60 days to leave
David French / New York Times:
‘Superman’ Is MAGA Kryptonite
Discussion: Pharyngula
 Earlier Items: 
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Flight Manifests Reveal Dozens of Previously Unknown People on Three Deportation Flights to El Salvador
Discussion: Just Security
Chris Mirasola / Lawfare:
How Appropriations Are Transforming the Defense Department's Domestic Operations
Maureen Tkacik / American Prospect:
Meet the Disaster Capitalists Behind Alligator Alcatraz
Discussion: Bloomberg
Aziz Huq / The Atlantic:
The Court's Liberals Are Trying to Tell Americans Something
Popular Information:
A massive Trump scandal. Minuscule media attention.