memeorandum: Capitol agenda: Mike Johnson's shutdown gamble (Calen Razor/Politico)

8:30 AM ET, February 2, 2026

Top Items:

J. David McSwane / ProPublica:

Two CBP Agents Identified in Alex Pretti Shooting — The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.

Discussion: Meidas+, Townhall, LARRY VIP, emptywheel, The Guardian, Mediaite, The Parnas Perspective, NewsMax.com and Krassencast

Garrett M. Graff / Doomsday Scenario: Accountability for ICE and CBP

Jonathan Martin / Politico:
She Ran DHS. Now She's Watching It Mishandle Minnesota.

Discussion: Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:

Classified Whistleblower Complaint About Tulsi Gabbard Stalls Within Her Agency — Congress hasn't seen the complaint, which was filed eight months ago with the U.S. intelligence community's watchdog office — WASHINGTON—A U.S. intelligence official has alleged wrongdoing by Director …

Discussion: The Independent and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

The Government Published Dozens of Nude Photos in the Epstein Files — The photos, which showed young women or possibly teenagers with their faces visible, were largely removed after The New York Times began notifying the Justice Department. — The Justice Department published dozens …

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

How Trump Appears in the Epstein Files — The New York Times found more than 5,300 files with references to Mr. Trump and related terms. They include salacious and unverified claims, as well as documents that had already been made public. — The Justice Department looked …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Guardian and NOTUS

Wall Street Journal: Epstein Files Release Exposes Names of at Least 43 Victims, WSJ Review Finds

Camilo Montoya-Galvez / CBS News:

ICE halts “all movement” at Texas detention facility due to measles infections — Add CBS News on Google — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement halted “all movement” at a detention center in Texas for families and quarantined some migrants there after medical staff confirmed two detainees had …

Discussion: The Independent, Mediaite, Fox News and PBS NewsHour

Stephanie Koithan / San Antonio Current:

Source: Measles outbreak reported at ICE's Dilley family detention facility — After a week of public outcry over the South Texas Family Residential Center's treatment of young children behind its walls, the Dilley facility is experiencing a measles outbreak, according to immigration attorney Eric Lee.

Michelle L. Price / Associated Press:

Kennedy Center will close for 2 years for renovations in July, Trump says, after performers backlash — President Donald Trump says he will move to close Washington's Kennedy Center performing arts venue for two years starting in July for construction. Trump's announcement …

Discussion: NBC News, CNN, The Borowitz Report, Associated Press, New York Daily News, Business Insider, Raw Story, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Consequence, Variety, News Talk 105.9, Newsweek and Bloomberg

Washington Post:

Trump plans to close Kennedy Center for about two years, starting in July — Under the proposal, the Kennedy Center could close on July 4, coinciding with America's 250th anniversary. — President Donald Trump said Sunday that he plans to close the Kennedy Center for roughly two years to undergo construction.

Discussion: HuffPost, WLT Report, UPI, Axios, The Guardian, WAGA-TV, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, NewsMax.com, Washington Examiner, The Hill, NOTUS, The Independent and Mediaite

Annie Linskey / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Says Kennedy Center Will Close for Two Years for Renovations

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Times, Fox News, CBS News and Political Wire

New York Times:
Trump Says Kennedy Center Will Close for 2-Year Reconstruction Project

Discussion: El País, Los Angeles Times and Breitbart

Janna Brancolini / The Daily Beast:

Elite Law Firm Boss Who Bent the Knee to Trump Sucked Up to ‘Amazing’ Epstein — FANBOY — The embattled chairman of Paul Weiss has now had his embarrassing emails to Jeffrey Epstein exposed. — The chairman of a major law firm that sparked backlash by caving to President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Bloomberg Law

Financial Times:

Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp told Jeffrey Epstein: 'You're amazing' — Department of Justice documents detail relationship between head of Wall Street law firm and child sex offender — Just three months before he was arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges in 2019 …

Discussion: New York Post

Andrew Solender / Axios:

House Dem divisions over DHS funding spill out in private call — House Democrats splintered on a private call Sunday over whether to vote for legislation that would keep the Department of Homeland Security funded for two more weeks, a half dozen sources on the call told Axios.

Discussion: Punchbowl News, The Hill and Washington Examiner

Calen Razor / Politico:

Capitol agenda: Mike Johnson's shutdown gamble — House GOP leaders face an uphill battle to pass the revamped government funding package from the Senate, potentially dragging out the shutdown. Speaker Mike Johnson hopes to pass the five full-year funding bills and the two-week DHS stopgap Tuesday relying …

Discussion: Bloomberg, NOTUS, Washington Post, Associated Press, The Hill, Newsweek, Daily Mail, CNBC and Axios

Avery Lotz / Axios:
Johnson predicts end by Tuesday to partial shutdown as Dems fight DHS funding

Discussion: NBC News, Fox News, CBS News, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, The Guardian, The American Conservative, Bloomberg and The Hill

Paul Waldman / Public Notice:

The regime moves to make journalism a crime — Public Notice is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 🌅 Subscribe to PN 🌅 — Early in his first term, President Trump said that because he thought CNN and MSNBC were too critical of him, that meant “they're illegal, what they do is illegal.”

Ruth Ben-Ghiat / Lucid:
Arrests of Independent Journalists Reveal New Media Challenges to Autocrats

Discussion: How Things Work and NPR, more at Mediagazer »

Aidan Sadovi / The Daily Illini:

‘Fell the enemies:’ Illini Republicans support ICE amid Minnesota killings — In a post that included a stylized graphic of a presumed federal officer holding a gun to someone's head, Illini Republicans stated that they “stand with ICE” amid the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.

Jodi Kantor / New York Times:

How the Supreme Court Secretly Made Itself Even More Secretive — Amid calls to increase transparency and revelations about the court's inner workings, the chief justice imposed nondisclosure agreements on clerks and employees. — In November of 2024, two weeks after voters returned President Donald Trump …

Discussion: One First and Raw Story

Associated Press:

Mayor of Portland, Oregon, demands ICE leave the city after federal agents gas protesters — The mayor of Portland, Oregon, demanded U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leave his city after federal agents launched tear gas at a crowd of demonstrators — including young children …

Discussion: Fox News, Oregonian, Straight Arrow News and Mother Jones

Sami Edge / Oregonian:
‘Resign’: Portland mayor issues scathing statement after protesters gassed at Portland ICE building

Discussion: Fox News, City of Portland, Oregon and The Hill

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

A 1987 Proposal Could Help Hold ICE to Account for Constitutional Violations — A proposal in a 1987 law review article could address a gap that makes it all but impossible to sue federal officials for violating the Constitution. — The key to holding Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents accountable …

Emily Cochrane / New York Times:

Fear and Anger Grow as Thousands Remain Without Power in the South — More than 30 people have died across three Southern states in connection with last week's storm, and thousands remain without power. — The flurries, for a brief time, fell again on Sunday.

Bloomberg:

Trump to Launch $12 Billion Critical Mineral Stockpile to Blunt Reliance on China — President Donald Trump is set to launch a strategic critical-minerals stockpile with $12 billion in seed money, a bid to insulate manufacturers from supply shocks as the US works to slash its reliance on Chinese rare earths and other metals.

Thomas Pepinsky / Vox:

Donald Trump's ego might just save democracy — President Donald Trump is frequently accused of authoritarian ambitions. It's an image he often seems to relish, either sincerely or as trolling. “Usually they say, 'He's a horrible dictator-type person, I'm a dictator,” he said in Davos.

Jake Lahut / New York Magazine:

Nancy Mace Is Not Okay — “Something's broken. The motherboard's fried. We're short-circuiting somewhere.” — Right up until she lit the fire, some of Representative Nancy Mace's own staff and advisers didn't know what she was going to say on the House floor in February 2025 …

Discussion: HuffPost

Eric Levitz / Vox:

Trump has turned his biggest political asset into a liability — When President Donald Trump launched his deportation campaign last January, he had the American public at his back. — Under Joe Biden, unauthorized border crossings had soared to record levels — and threw America into a nativist mood.

Discussion: New Republic and The Philadelphia Inquirer

New York Times:

U.A.E. Firm Quietly Took Stake in the Trump Family's Crypto Company — The $500 million agreement raises new concerns about the propriety of the president negotiating foreign policy with his own business partners. — An investment firm tied to the United Arab Emirates purchased nearly half …