Check out Mini-memeorandum for simple mobiles or memeorandum Mobile for modern smartphones.
12:55 PM ET, August 6, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Amanda Seitz / Associated Press:
RFK Jr. Cancels $500 Million In Funding For Vaccine Development  —  The mRNA vaccines are credited with slowing the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.  —  The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu.
RELATED:
Amanda Seitz / Associated Press:
RFK Jr. pulls $500 million in funding for vaccine development  —  The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu.  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. …
Aria Bendix / NBC News:
RFK Jr. cuts $500 million in mRNA vaccine contracts, dealing major blow to promising area of research  —  The cuts add to mounting evidence that Kennedy is pursuing an aggressive anti-vaccine agenda.  —  The Trump administration is terminating 22 contracts focused on developing mRNA vaccines …
Madeline Halpert / BBC:
RFK Jr cancels $500m in funding for mRNA vaccines for diseases like Covid
Discussion: Semafor
Helen Branswell / STAT:
STAT+: Health secretary RFK Jr. shuts door on U.S. investment in mRNA vaccine research
Discussion: Raw Story
CNN:
Top Trump officials will discuss Epstein strategy at Wednesday dinner hosted by Vance  —  Top Trump administration officials will gather at the vice president's residence Wednesday evening as they continue to weigh whether to publish an audio recording and transcript of Deputy Attorney General …
RELATED:
Katherine Faulders / ABC News:
Vance expected to host Epstein strategy dinner with Bondi, Blanche, Patel  —  Officials are considering releasing the Ghislaine Maxwell interview transcript.  —  Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks on the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” at Don's Machine Shop in West Pittston, Penn., on July 16, 2025.
Discussion: Raw Story
Jake Lahut / Wired:   Trumpworld Knows Epstein Is a Problem. But They Can't Solve It
Fox News:
Vance, Bondi, Patel to huddle at VP residence for Epstein strategy meeting
Discussion: WAGA-TV
Kelly Rissman / The Independent:
Ghislaine Maxwell told Justice Department she never saw Trump do anything concerning with Epstein, report says
Washington Post:
How Trump blunted the far-right furor over Jeffrey Epstein
NBC News:
Democrats draw up plans to retaliate if Republicans gerrymander Texas — but they face legal hurdles  —  California is eyeing a ballot initiative this fall to redraw its House map for 2026 — only if Texas Republicans redistrict to gain more seats.  New York Democrats may have to wait until 2028.
RELATED:
Tara Suter / The Hill:
Abbott sues to remove Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu from seat
Caroline Linton / CBS News:
Bomb threat prompts evacuation at Chicago hotel where some Texas Democrats are staying
Hadriana Lowenkron / Bloomberg:
Trump, Apple to Announce Fresh $100 Billion US Investment  —  President Donald Trump will announce that Apple Inc. will commit to spend another $100 billion on domestic manufacturing, the latest pledge by the tech giant to increase US production of its products as it seeks to avoid punishing tariffs on its flagship iPhones.
RELATED:
Luke Broadwater / New York Times:
Trump to Announce Additional $100 Billion Apple Investment in U.S.
Discussion: Axios, CBS News and AppleInsider
Luke Broadwater / New York Times:
A judge blocks FEMA from repurposing disaster mitigation funding.
Washington Post:
Trump threatens federal takeover of D.C. after attack on DOGE worker  —  Trump floats taking federal control of the city after the man known online as ‘Big Balls’ was injured in a carjacking.  Elon Musk also says city should be taken over.  —  A protégé of Elon Musk …
RELATED:
NBC News:
Trump threatens federal control of D.C. following attack on administration staffer known as ‘Big Balls’  —  Edward Coristine, the Trump administration employee nicknamed “Big Balls,” was the victim of a carjacking and assault in Washington over the weekend, police said.
President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
Addressing Threats to The United States by the Government of the Russian Federation  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)
RELATED:
David Dayen / American Prospect:
FEMA Employees Reassigned to ICE  —  Probationary employees who had been on paid leave were told to report to ICE within seven days or lose their jobs.  It could signal problems with ICE recruitment.  —  A number of employees with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) …
Discussion: Raw Story
Emily Cochrane / New York Times:
Senator Marsha Blackburn Will Run for Governor of Tennessee  —  A conservative Trump ally in the Senate, Ms. Blackburn will now try to become the first woman to serve as governor.  —  Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee announced on Wednesday that she would run for governor, less than a year after winning another term in the Senate.
Discussion: Marsha for Governor
RELATED:
Ben Kamisar / NBC News:
Sen. Marsha Blackburn announces she's running for governor in Tennessee
President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
Establishing the White House Task Force on the 2028 Summer Olympics  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in anticipation of the 2028 Summer Olympics, it is hereby ordered:  —  Section 1.  Purpose.
RELATED:
Department of Homeland Security:
Secretary Noem Unveils No Age Limit for Patriotic Americans to Join ICE Law Enforcement to Help Remove Worst of the Worst from U.S.  —  In less than one week since DHS launched its recruitment campaign, more than 80,000 Americans applied to join ICE  —  WASHINGTON — U.S. Department …
RELATED:
Department of Homeland Security:
The Speedway Slammer: A New Partnership with DHS and the State of Indiana to Expand Detention Space
FIRE:
LAWSUIT: FIRE challenges unconstitutional provisions Rubio uses in crusade to deport legal immigrants over protected speech  — The First Amendment trumps the statutes that the government is abusing to deport people for speech alone  — This lawsuit seeks a landmark ruling …
Discussion: Bloomberg, The Hill and New York Times
Molly Redden / ProPublica:
Trump's War on Big Law Means It's Harder to Challenge the Administration  —  Some of America's largest law firms are refusing to take pro bono and paid legal work from groups that seek to hold the government to account on issues like environmental protection, LGBTQ+ rights and police accountability.
Roger Sollenberger / Drop Site News:
Miss United States Files Restraining Order Against GOP Rep. Cory Mills  —  Lindsey Langston, a Florida Republican state committeewoman and the reigning Miss United States, has filed a restraining order against Florida Republican Rep. Cory Mills, after reporting him to local and state law enforcement …
Chloe Atkins / NBC News:
FBI crime report says violent crime decreased by 4.5% in 2024  —  Violent crime is defined as murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.  —  Statistics released Tuesday by the FBI indicate that violent crime decreased overall in the United States by 4.5% last year.
Jessica Finn / The US Sun:
The Howard Stern Show ‘to be canceled’ after nearly 20 years on SiriusXM as ‘$100m’ contract is up later this year  —  The King of All Media's lucrative deal ends in late 2025  —  THE ICONIC Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM is set to be canceled after a stunning 20-year run, sources exclusively told The U.S. Sun.
Will Saletan / The Bulwark:
The Banality of Weasel  —  Yesterday, the president of the United States appeared without explanation on the roof of the White House, walked aimlessly for a bit, shouted back-and-forth with reporters, said some hard-to-interpret things about nuclear weapons, gesticulated oddly, and then left.
Justin Ray / Columbia Journalism Review:
Glenn Kessler Believes Fact-Checkers Are Getting Easier to Ignore … Last week Glenn Kessler, the longtime writer of the Washington Post's Fact Checker column, announced that he had accepted a buyout, joining dozens of his former colleagues in walking away from the storied institution.
 
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of memeorandum at 12:55 PM ET, August 6, 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: 
Benjamin Mejias / Reuters:
US sanctions Mexican cartel figures, including popular rapper El Makabelico
Discussion: Washington Times and NewsNation
U.S. Department of the Interior:
Interior Department Moves to Cancel Reckless Biden-era Approval of Lava Ridge Wind Project
Sarkis Darbinyan / Financial Times:
Russia's internet crackdown is in a dangerous new phase
Discussion: WALV-TV
Meghan Leahy / Washington Post:
Adult son ‘canceled’ his grandma, uncle and cousin. We are heartbroken.
Tina Reed / Axios:
Trump teases stepwise tariff plan for pharma
Mark Hertling / The Bulwark:
America Is Blinding Itself
 Earlier Items: 
Karin Lips / Washington Examiner:
Sydney Sweeney could give conservative women courage
Discussion: American Thinker
Enjoli Liston / New York Times:
Trump Suggests Vance is MAGA Movement's Heir Apparent
Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:
The Most Nihilistic Conflict on Earth
David Ovalle / Washington Post:
Why Trump is targeting these programs that help keep drug users alive
Discussion: Roll Call
Axios:
MAGA expectations soar after DOJ orders Russia grand jury probe
 

 
From Mediagazer:

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

New York Times:
The New York Times sues Perplexity, claiming the AI startup violated its copyrights and kept using its content despite repeated demands over the past 18 months

Alexandra Steigrad / New York Post:
Sources: Forbes has cut ties with dozens of contributing writers; one exec said Forbes needs to ensure the contributor model is “financially sound”

 
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