memeorandum: White House declares $4.9B in foreign aid unilaterally canceled in end-run around Congress' funding power (Politico)

3:10 PM ET, August 29, 2025

Top Items:

Greg Sargent / New Republic:

Trump's Decapitation of CDC Takes Darker Turn—and Hands Dems a Weapon … This week, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker offered an extraordinary viral response to President Trump's vow to dispatch troops into Chicago. Critically, Pritzker cast Trump as a malignant, active threat to his Illinois constituents …

Discussion: CNN, Vox and The Hill

Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:

RFK Jr. is bad for your health — The Centers for Disease Control shitshow is a microcosm of the mismanagement of the Trump era. It also demonstrated some extraordinary courage among principled public servants, who were willing to lose their jobs to draw attention to damage being done to public health.

Discussion: MedPage Today, STAT, The Guardian, Washington Post, The Independent, Associated Press, Townhall, The Hill, MSNBC, New York Times and CT Mirror

The Bulwark:

Camelot for Crazies — RFK Jr. f*cked around. Now we get to find out. — No newsletter Monday—enjoy the holiday. Happy Friday. — The Dog that Caught the Car — The CDC may be in total meltdown, but Team MAHA isn't worried. If top officials are being fired or resigning en masse rather …

Discussion: Steady, The Independent and Politico

The Guardian:
Who is Jim O'Neill? CDC chief set to bolster RFK Jr plan to remake vaccine policy

Discussion: STAT, Newsweek, The Hill, Techdirt, WSVN-TV, Al Jazeera, The National Pulse, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Axios, WATN, ABC News, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, CBS News, WXIA-TV, Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post and New York Sun

Mike Stobbe / Associated Press:
With CDC in chaos, scientists and physicians piece together replacements for agency's lost work

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, Washington Post, Bloomberg Law and IJR

MedPage Today:
Read the Resignation Letters of Top CDC Officials

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story, twitchy.com, The Atlantic, STAT, The Gateway Pundit, Forbes, Slow Boring, Washington Post and New York Times

Politico:

White House declares $4.9B in foreign aid unilaterally canceled in end-run around Congress' funding power … The White House budget office said Friday morning that President Donald Trump has canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid by using a so-called pocket rescission — furthering …

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, CNN and New York Post

Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:

Democrats Predict Shutdown After Trump Tries to Snatch Congress' Most Important Power — Congressional Democrats point to skyrocketing odds of a government shutdown Friday after President Trump announced that he'll unilaterally take back money Congress had already appropriated for foreign aid, according to multiple outlets.

Discussion: The Daily Signal

Jennifer Jacobs / CBS News:

Joni Ernst won't seek reelection to Senate in 2026, sources say — Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has told confidantes she plans to reveal next week that she won't seek reelection in 2026, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News. — Ernst's announcement is scheduled for Thursday, the sources said.

Jeff Zeleny / CNN:

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst won't seek reelection to third term, sources tell CNN — Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst has decided not to seek reelection to a third term, two people familiar with the decison say, and is poised to make an announcement next week. — Ernst has been wrestling …

Patricia Lopez / Bloomberg:
Ernst Is Part of a Bigger Problem for Republicans in Iowa

Discussion: Heartland Signal

Katie Tarrant / Washington Post: A GOP lawmaker aims to define Trump's Big Beautiful Bill before Democrats

Edward-Isaac Dovere / CNN:

Trump cancels Kamala Harris' Secret Service detail that was extended by undisclosed Biden order — President Donald Trump revoked Kamala Harris' Secret Service protection on Thursday, according to a copy of a letter reviewed by CNN. — Former presidents receive Secret Service protection for life.

Discussion: Axios

Washington Post:
Trump revokes Secret Service detail for Harris that Biden had extended

Discussion: New York Times and Reuters

Seung Min Kim / Associated Press:
Trump revokes Secret Service protection for former VP Harris, AP sources say

Discussion: New York Times

Greg Jaffe / New York Times:

Pentagon Is Reinstalling Portrait of Confederate General at West Point Library — The Pentagon is putting back up a portrait of Gen. Robert E. Lee at the military academy, as the Trump administration seeks to restore honors for American figures who fought to preserve slavery.

Discussion: Mediaite and NewsNation

Devlin Barrett / New York Times:

Emil Bove Continued to Work at Justice Dept. After Judicial Confirmation — The code of conduct for federal judges does not appear to apply to Mr. Bove, who has yet to be sworn in. But his continued presence at the department has raised eyebrows. — Emil Bove III, a senior Trump …

Andrew Feinberg / The Independent:

EXCLUSIVE: Trump and ‘Special Attorney for Mortgage Fraud’ Ed Martin are speaking as often as four times per week as the GOP activist prepares to seek indictments against prominent Democrats … A series of investigations into some of President Donald Trump's political adversaries run by …

Felicia Schwartz / Politico:

Steve Witkoff's go-it-alone diplomacy is frustrating US and European officials — President Donald Trump's surprise Anchorage summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin could have been a signature achievement for Steve Witkoff, the developer-turned-diplomat who facilitated the meet up.

Discussion: Raw Story and The Atlantic

Zoë Schiffer / Wired:

The White House Apparently Ordered Federal Workers to Roll Out Grok ‘ASAP’ — A partnership between xAI and the US government fell apart earlier this summer. Then the White House apparently got involved, per documents obtained by WIRED. — The White House appears to have instructed leaders …

more at Techmeme »

Tom Hals / Reuters:

Exclusive: Military feared mistakes in LA deployment could have ‘far-reaching’ implications, records show — As President Donald Trump began his push to send the National Guard and Marines to U.S. cities, military leaders privately questioned whether the troops had received proper training and warned of the …

Nina Agrawal / New York Times:

Pediatric Brain Cancer Trial Group to Be Phased Out — A network of hospitals and cancer centers dedicated to early phase trials of novel treatments will no longer receive federal funding. — A respected network of hospitals and cancer centers is halting enrollment in clinical trials …

Stuart Anderson / Forbes:

Trump Deals A New Immigration Blow To International Students — Stuart Anderson writes about immigration, business and globalization. — SaveComment — The Trump administration has proposed a new rule to limit international students to fixed periods of entry, making enrolling at U.S. universities more precarious.

Discussion: Daily Kos, masslive.com, The European Conservative, IJR, Reason and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »

E.J. Dickson / The Cut:

An Astrologer's Messy Affair With a Trump Pentagon Official — Amy Tripp advertises herself as “the internet's most notorious astrologer.” Under the professional name Starheal, she offers her followers wisdom such as “Moon opposite Chiron at 3:04pm ET exposes where old wounds meet current vulnerabilities.

Anne Caprara / Finding Gravity:

Trump's military occupation of American cities is unpopular. The media is trying to manufacture consent for it. — Donald Trump's military assault on America's cities has been denounced by legal and national security experts as an “authoritarian power grab” that is “dangerous for liberty” …

Discussion: CNN and San Diego Union-Tribune

Stephen Robinson / Public Notice:

Alert the media: The White House is lying about Trump's health — PN is supported by paid subscribers. Become one 👇 — 🤝 Subscribe to PN 🤝 — Donald Trump held a bonkers press conference last Friday during which he lied about his authoritarian occupation …

Discussion: New York Magazine

New York Times:

CVS Holds Off on Offering Covid Vaccines in 16 States — The country's largest pharmacy chain said it needed a C.D.C. panel to recommend the shots before it could offer them nationwide. — CVS, the country's largest pharmacy chain, is currently not offering Covid vaccines in 16 states …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and New Jersey Online

Wall Street Journal:

Higher Prices Are Coming for Household Staples — Companies from Hormel to Ace Hardware forecast prices rising as the costs of Trump's tariffs are passed on to consumers — U.S. companies have an unwelcome message for inflation-weary consumers: Prices are going up.

Associated Press:

DOJ drops charges against another client of AG Pam Bondi's brother Brad — A DOJ spokesperson says AG Pam Bondi “had no role” in the decision. — Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks with reporters during a briefing with President Donald Trump in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington.

NBC News:

GOP Rep. Barry Moore exits through back door after he is heckled at Alabama town hall — Moore did not offer concluding remarks or bid good night to the rowdy crowd, as they chanted “Shame!” during his exit. — Rep. Barry Moore, R-Alabama, exited a town hall in his home district through …

Discussion: Yellowhammer News

Ryan Grenoble / HuffPost:
Alabama Republican Booed Out Of Town Hall While Attempting To Defend Trump

Discussion: al.com, New Republic, Raw Story and Reason

Shane Galvin / New York Post:

Minneapolis school shooter Robin Westman's mother Mary Grace not cooperating with cops, hires criminal defense attorney — The mother of transgender Minneapolis mass shooter Robin Westman is not cooperating with police in the investigation — and has hired a criminal defense attorney in the wake …

Discussion: twitchy.com, Fox News, Time, The Gateway Pundit and NewsMax.com