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5:20 PM ET, August 20, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Associated Press:
Both parties expect a GOP map in Texas to clear a big hurdle in a national fight over redistricting  —  Both parties expected Republicans to win an early round Wednesday in a growing national redistricting battle by pushing a new congressional map creating five new potential GOP seats past its biggest obstacle in the Texas Legislature.
RELATED:
Jim Saksa / Democracy Docket:
Texas Democrat Threatened With ‘Felony’ During Press Call  —  As the Texas House of Representatives prepared to vote on a mid-decade redistricting to give President Donald Trump the five more safe Republican seats he demanded, Democrats rallied the troops.  —  The Democratic National Committee …
Asher Price / Axios:
Texas Democrats plot to stall redistricting effort until Epstein files released
Discussion: Townhall, The Hill and NewsMax.com
Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:
Trump Uses Legal Threats to Push Federal Reserve Member To Resign  —  One trademark of an authoritarian regime is the use of the legal system to target political opponents and forgive friends.  This has the effect of undermining our basic conception of the law as a set of rules that is fairly and consistently applied.
RELATED:
Josh Wingrove / Bloomberg:
Trump Presses Fed's Cook to Quit After Mortgage Fraud Allegation  —  President Donald Trump called on Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to resign after a staunch ally called for an investigation of the board member's mortgages, intensifying his campaign on the central bank.
Neil Irwin / Axios:
Trump housing regulator accuses Fed governor Cook of mortgage fraud  —  Federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte accused Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud and referred her for criminal prosecution. … - She took out a mortgage on a house in Michigan represented …
New York Times:
The Democratic Party Faces a Voter Registration Crisis  —  The party is bleeding support beyond the ballot box, a new analysis shows.  —  Florida has had a significant shift of registered voters in the Republican direction, a remarkable inversion that explains the state's transformation …
RELATED:
Ali Bianco / Politico:   Playbook PM: Why neither party can bank on Latino voters
NPR:
Former national guard vice chief calls deployment into D.C. an ‘intimidation’ tactic  —  Several Republican-led states are deploying more National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. to address what President Trump has called a “crime emergency” in the nation's capital.
Discussion: The Intercept
RELATED:
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
National Guard Troops in Washington Stick to Tourist Areas
Discussion: Defense One
Washington Post:
Most D.C. residents oppose Trump's city police takeover, poll finds  —  Though crime continues to be a concern, most residents don't think Trump's actions will make D.C. safer, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll.  —  Washington, D.C., residents overwhelmingly oppose President …
RELATED:
Lara Jakes / New York Times:
Preparations for a Move on Gaza City Have Started, Israel's Military Says  —  Troops have reached the city's outskirts, an Israeli official said, adding that more reservists are being asked to report for duty to cover for other soldiers who will be involved in going into Gaza City.
RELATED:
Anat Peled / Wall Street Journal:
Israel to Call Up 60,000 Reservists for Gaza City Invasion
Washington Post:
Hegseth's expansive security requirements tax Army protective unit  —  The agency tasked with protecting Defense Department leaders is under significant strain, and the secretary's atypical needs are becoming untenable, officials say.  —  Just now  —  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's …
Ivan Pereira / Reuters:
Protesters heckle Vance, Hegseth at photo op to thank DC National Guard  —  The vice president and defense secretary bought troops lunch at Union Station.  —  White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, greet members …
RELATED:
Anemona Hartocollis / New York Times:
Trump's Tactics Mean Many International Students Won't Make It to Campus  —  Students from some countries won't make it to class this fall because of President Trump's travel ban.  Others can't get visa appointments.  Some are simply scared.  Universities are panicking.
Discussion: Boston.com and MeidasTouch News
Salvador Rizzo / Washington Post:
Pirro's office won't pursue gun charges over carrying rifles, shotguns  —  D.C.'s top prosecutor said her office would continue charging violent crimes and firearms trafficking that involve those weapons.  —  Federal prosecutors in D.C. have been instructed not to seek felony charges …
RELATED:
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:   Trump Pushes White Nationalist Agenda Across Multiple Fronts
Jessica Nix / Bloomberg:
RFK Jr. Blamed by HHS Staff for Misinformation That Sparked CDC Attack  —  A group of current and former staff members at the US Department of Health and Human Services are publicly blaming Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for spreading misinformation that led to a deadly shooting …
RELATED:
Patrick Reilly / New York Post:
Elon Musk reportedly eyeing JD Vance for 2028 as he hits the brakes on plans for a new political party  —  Elon Musk is reportedly putting the brakes on launching his new political party in order to maintain ties with prominent Republicans — especially Vice President JD Vance, whom the billionaire is eyeing to back in 2028.
RELATED:
Brian Schwartz / Wall Street Journal:
Elon Musk Pledged to Start a Political Party. He Is Already Pumping the Brakes.
Jason Lalljee / Axios:
Sony will hike PS5 prices Thursday as a result of Trump's trade war  —  Sony is raising the price of its PlayStation 5 consoles by $50 each in the U.S. beginning Thursday, the company announced on Wednesday. … - “As a result, we've made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price …
Pooja Salhotra / New York Times:
Judge Halts Texas' Law Mandating the Ten Commandments in School  —  The state law had said public schools would have to display the Ten Commandments in a “conspicuous” location in every classroom in Texas by Sept. 1.  —  A federal judge in Texas temporarily halted on Wednesday a state law …
Zolan Kanno-Youngs / New York Times:
Trump Says Smithsonian Focuses Too Much on ‘How Bad Slavery Was’  —  The remark, made as the president has ordered a wide-ranging review of museum exhibits, added to his pattern of minimizing Black history.  —  President Trump accused the Smithsonian Institution on Tuesday of focusing too much on …
Paul Krugman:
ICEing the U.S. Economy  —  Mass deportations will hurt more than people realize  —  Donald Trump has been able to convert Immigration and Customs Enforcement (and Customs and Border Protection, which is effectively part of the same operation) into a huge secret police force …
Emily Hallas / Washington Examiner:
National Guard truck collides with civilian car in Trump DC police takeover  —  A National Guard vehicle on Wednesday collided with a civilian car in Washington, D.C., amid President Donald Trump's federal takeover of the district.  —  The accident, which occurred early Wednesday morning …
Nathaniel Meyersohn / CNN:
Target's CEO is stepping down as customers turn away  —  Video Ad Feedback  —  Why customers turned away from Target  —  Why customers turned away from Target  —  JFK Jr. explains his magazine's controversial Cindy Crawford cover  —  This three-Michelin-starred chef opened a restaurant in a Singapore car factory
Adam Bonica / On Data and Democracy:
Spam PACs Raise Money by Deceiving Seniors  —  One 89-year-old woman made 7,532 donations totaling $68,666  —  In a recent article, I broke down how the spam PACs flooding our phones and inboxes spend exorbitant amounts on fundraising and consulting fees.  The kind of Democratic fundraising …
Sharon Lerner / ProPublica:
RFK Jr. Vowed to Find the Environmental Causes of Autism.  Then He Shut Down Research Trying to Do Just That.  — Slashed Autism Funding: RFK Jr. promised to identify the causes of autism but has eliminated parts of his agency actively investigating them and has cut millions in funding for autism research.
Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner and WBUR
Richard L. Hasen / New York Times:
Would You Trust This Man With Your Elections?  —  With Republicans potentially losing their current seven-vote majority in the House in next year's midterm elections (or, less likely, their six-vote majority in the Senate), President Trump has been sending clear signals of his intent to interfere …
Discussion: Semafor and Washington Examiner
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
Government Staffing Cuts Have Fueled an Ant-Smuggling Boom  —  “It's getting out of hand,” one seller says.  “They realize the US market is a gold mine.”  —  It's hard to keep track of all the ways that the United States has changed since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.
Julian E. Barnes / New York Times:
N.S.A.'s Acting Director Tried to Save Top Scientist From Purge  —  Vinh Nguyen, an expert in artificial intelligence and advanced mathematics, was among the current and former officials whose security clearances were revoked by the president.  —  The acting director of the National Security Agency tried …
Liz Dye / Public Notice:
Dan Bongino's babysitter  —  Public Notice is reader funded.  Support us by becoming a paid subscriber 👇  —  🕵️ Subscribe to PN 🕵️  —  On Monday, the Trump administration announced that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey will be appointed …
Discussion: The Hill and Kansas City Star
William J. Burns / The Atlantic:
A Letter to America's Discarded Public Servants  —  You all deserved better.  —  Dear colleagues,  —  For three and a half decades as a career diplomat, I walked across the lobby of the State Department countless times—inspired by the Stars and Stripes and humbled by the names of patriots etched into our memorial wall.
Ryan Cooper / American Prospect:
Robert Kennedy Has Gutted Our Best Defense Against Future Pandemics  —  mRNA technology saved America's bacon in 2020.  Now RFK Jr. is defunding it.  —  Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears before a Senate committee, May 14, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington.
Discussion: Advocate
Avery Lotz / Axios:
Hillary Clinton predicts SCOTUS will eventually overturn same-sex marriage  —  Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton predicted that the Supreme Court will “do to gay marriage what they did to abortion” and send it back to states to decide. … While the court could surprise legal experts …
Discussion: The Hill and Washington Times
Ketrin Jochecová / Politico:
Russia wants ... Russia to have veto over Western security guarantees for Ukraine  —  The Kremlin's recalcitrant comments indicate the Trump administration's whirlwind diplomacy has yielded little in the way of results.  —  Moscow isn't shifting on what it considers to be acceptable security guarantees …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Fox News:
Hillary Clinton slapped with ethics complaint targeting her law license over role in Russiagate scandal
Discussion: RedState
Julia Ainsley / NBC News:
Kristi Noem is pushing for ICE to buy and operate a fleet of deportation planes, sources say
Discussion: New York Times
CNN:
Judge rejects Trump administration request to release Jeffrey Epstein grand jury documents
Politico:
‘Heartbreaking’ transportation cuts hit home in GOP districts
Discussion: KAJ-TV and Raw Story
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard / Telegraph:
European rearmament is pushing Trump into irrelevance on Ukraine
 Earlier Items: 
Matt Burgess / Wired:
Phone Searches at the US Border Hit a Record High
Discussion: TechCrunch
Cara Lombardo / Wall Street Journal:
Bill Ackman's New Pet Project Is a School That Embraces AI and Rejects DEI
Janan Ganesh / Financial Times:
Trump's ambiguity is the worst of all worlds
Steve Kopack / NBC News:
Trump bought more than $100 million in bonds since January, filings show
Discussion: The Hill, CNBC and UPI
Perry Bacon / New Republic:
The Democratic Establishment's Shunning of Mamdani Is Disqualifying