memeorandum: House Passes Strict Voter ID Bill, Amplifying Trump's Claims of Fraud (Annie Karni/New York Times)

3:30 AM ET, February 12, 2026

Top Items:

House passes SAVE America Act, sending Trump-backed election bill to the Senate — The legislation would overhaul federal election laws in all 50 states by imposing new voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements. But it faces a daunting path in the Senate. — Listen to this article with a free account

Discussion: Washington Examiner, MS NOW, UPI, The Daily Signal, Townhall and CNBC

Annie Karni / New York Times:

House Passes Strict Voter ID Bill, Amplifying Trump's Claims of Fraud — The measure had no path forward in the Senate, where Democrats are all but certain to block it and Republicans have said they will not try to skirt filibuster rules to ram it through. — The House on Wednesday passed …

Discussion: New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit

Associated Press:

House faces showdown vote over Trump's tariffs on Canada — The House is preparing to potentially slap back President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada in what would be a symbolic rebuke of the White House agenda after Democrats, with support from a few Republicans, forced the issue to a vote over the objections of GOP leadership.

Discussion: Axios, ABC News, CNN, CNBC, New York Daily News, IJR, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, NewsMax.com, Deseret News, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, Newsweek, CBS News, New York Post, Fox News, The Independent and Asia Times

Wall Street Journal:

GOP-Led House Rejects Trump's Tariffs on Canada — The vote in the chamber is a significant but largely symbolic repudiation of the president's signature economic policy — WASHINGTON—The GOP-led House passed a resolution Wednesday designed to roll back President Trump's tariffs on Canada …

Discussion: The Hill, UPI, NewsMax.com, Al Jazeera, NBC News and Politico

Sudiksha Kochi / The Hill:
6 Republicans join Democrats to rebuke tariffs on Canada in blow to Trump

Discussion: Reuters, RedState, Washington Examiner, Mediaite and CBS News

Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
House passes GOP elections overhaul

Discussion: Democracy Docket and The Guardian

Megan Messerly / Politico:
White House expects ‘substantial’ GOP defections on Canada tariff vote in House

Discussion: New York Times, NOTUS, Reason, NewsMax.com, Raw Story and American Prospect

Mark Leibovich / The Atlantic:
The Democrats Aren't Built for This … ken martin has one of those resting dread faces …

Discussion: CBS News, NewsMax.com and Fox News

Ari Berman / Mother Jones:
The GOP's “Show Us Your Papers” Bill Is the Latest Effort to Help Trump Take Over Elections

Discussion: The Contrarian, CBS News, NewsMax.com, Washington Times, The Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Fox News, Democracy Docket, The 19th, Deseret News, Roll Call, ABC News, Magnolia Tribune, Bloomberg and PBS NewsHour

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:

Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years — Gallup will no longer track presidential approval ratings after more than eight decades doing so, the public opinion polling agency confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday. — The company said starting this year …

Discussion: New York Times, New Republic, Townhall, New York Sun, The Independent, UPI, KUSA-TV, NewsMax.com, Washington Examiner, Deadline and Mediaite

Sara Braun / The Guardian:
Gallup to stop tracking presidential approval ratings after 88 years

Discussion: Axios and NBC News

Ben Penn / Bloomberg Law:

Pirro Enlists Dance Photographer-Lawyer in Lawmaker Video Case — Washington's US Attorney Jeanine Pirro tapped a dance photographer who worked for her decades ago as one of the prosecutors who tried—and failed—to convince a grand jury to indict six Democratic lawmakers Tuesday, said two people familiar with the situation.

Discussion: Lawfare, The Hill, The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, Denver Post, The Independent, Cronkite News, Courthouse News Service, Bloomberg, Esquire, New York Sun, The National Pulse and The Bulwark

NBC News:
No grand jurors found the Trump DOJ met low probable cause threshold in failed indictment of Democratic lawmakers

Discussion: Mediaite, The Philadelphia Inquirer, New Republic, Politico, The Hill, The Guardian, Reuters, Joe.My.God., CNN, MS NOW and Mother Jones

Jacob Wendler / Politico:
Rep. Jason Crow asks Pirro to preserve evidence related to failed indictment

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Roll Call, NewsMax.com, CBS News and Daily Mail

Julianna Bragg / Axios:
Trump's retribution campaign hits a losing streak

Discussion: MS NOW, The Daily Caller, The Hill and The Daily Signal

Jennifer Jacobs / CBS News:

Airspace closure followed spat over drone-related tests and party balloon shoot-down, sources say — Add CBS News on Google — The unexpected but brief airspace closure in the Texas border city of El Paso stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials …

New York Times:
Border Officials Are Said to Have Caused El Paso Closure by Firing Anti-Drone Laser

Discussion: CNN, Oregonian, The Daily Caller, Ars Technica, NewsNation, Fox News, Associated Press, Military and Veteran …, Daily Mail, Forbes, The Daily Signal, CBS News, KUSA-TV, KVIA-TV, Breitbart and The Daily Wire

Joshua Keating / Vox:
What we know about the mysterious closure and reopening of the El Paso airport

Discussion: New York Times, The Texas Tribune, IJR, Associated Press, NewsNation, Axios, NewsMax.com, The Intercept, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Fortune, Fox News, Breitbart, KVIA-TV, RedState, CNN, Al Jazeera, PBS NewsHour and Newsweek

Sam Levine / The Guardian:

'You're a washed-up loser lawyer': Pam Bondi taunts Democrats over Epstein — US attorney general goes on attack during questioning by House judiciary committee over handling of files — The US attorney general Pam Bondi attacked and insulted Democrats during a House judiciary committee hearing …

Discussion: Axios, Washington Examiner, Blaze Media, CBS News, The Hill, The Next Gen Business, Newsweek, Mediaite, NewsMax.com and Joe.My.God.

Brady Knox / Washington Examiner:
Democrats rip Bondi over handling of Epstein case in rowdy House hearing

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Bondi dodges questions about Lutnick's connections with Epstein

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, Tampa Free Press, IJR, Townhall, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Hill, Advocate, New Republic, Bloomberg, Washington Times, CBS News and Mediaite

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Lawmakers Question Bondi Over Justice Dept. Under Her Watch

Donald J. Trump / The White House:

Strengthening United States National Defense with America's Beautiful Clean Coal Power Generation Fleet — Section 1. Purpose. The United States must ensure that our electric grid — upon which military installations, operations, and defense-industrial production depend …

Discussion: New York Times, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, Ars Technica, Axios, Florida's Voice, The Independent, The Hill and E&E News

Jasmine Baehr / Fox News:

Trump directs military to strike new deals with coal-fired power plants: ‘Going to be buying a lot of coal’ — President touts ‘more reliable power and stronger and more resilient grid power’ while criticizing wind energy as ‘crazy windmills’ — President Donald Trump signed …

Discussion: The White House, Breitbart, Axios, The Daily Caller and The Hill

New York Times:

Trump Says He Will Now Invite Democrats to Governors' Meeting — Even as he reversed course on excluding Democrats, the president repeatedly attacked a Republican governor who had planned to oversee the meeting. — Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma told Democratic governors on Wednesday …

Discussion: Bloomberg, CBS News, Raw Story, The Independent, Wall Street Journal, GV Wire, Politico, Scripps News, KVIA-TV, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Joe.My.God. and The Hill

Joey Garrison / USA Today:
Trump agrees to meet at White House with all governors, including Democrats

Discussion: Washington Post and NBC News

Reuters:

Canadian police identify 18-year-old woman as suspect in mass school shooting — The suspect in a deadly school shooting in western Canada was an 18-year-old woman with mental health issues who killed her mother and stepbrother before attacking her former school, police said on Wednesday …

Discussion: The Guardian, UPI, Boston.com, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Caller News Foundation, New York Post, France 24, The Daily Caller, LGBTQ Nation, The Daily Signal, New York Sun, Associated Press, The Japan Times and New York Times

New York Times:
Here's the latest. — Canada was reeling on Wednesday, a day after a shooter killed nine people …

Discussion: CTV News, Associated Press, Reuters, GV Wire, Blaze Media, KVIA-TV, One America News Network, Newsbusters, Breitbart, Townhall, The Guardian, HotAir, Courthouse News Service and New York Post

Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:

CFPB Fires Employee Over a Confrontation With DOGE a Year Ago — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fired an employee for disrupting and documenting a 2025 meeting between the agency and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, according to emails reviewed by Bloomberg News.

Jonah E. Bromwich / New York Times:

U.S. Attorney Chosen to Replace Trump Pick Is Quickly Fired by White House — Federal judges had appointed Donald Kinsella, a veteran litigator, as top prosecutor in the Northern District of New York after the Trump administration's nominee was found to be serving unlawfully.

Discussion: CBS News, Raw Story, Mediaite and Election Law Blog

Gene Weingarten / The Gene Pool:

Three Million Reasons to Facepalm — So. — The image above was given to us by Deb Milbrath, a freelance cartoonist in Atlanta. I love it. — Here's something I don't love: — I just was shown a government document listing the 2025 salaries of Washington Post employees …

Greg Sargent / New Republic:

Trump Tirade Over Bridge to Canada Backfires, Handing Dems 2026 Weapon — In addition to providing regular comic relief, President Trump's eruptions over imagined slights provide opportunities for his advisers to engage in rank, devious manipulation. This may be happening with Trump's latest tirade …

Discussion: The Detroit News

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Kennedy Center fundraising in deep turmoil after Trump takeover … Dale, Lake's best friend, who also served as her campaign aide in 2022 and 2024, has little experience in development. — She often exaggerates financial commitments, has blown off meetings with top potential donors …

Discussion: Daily Mail and Wall Street Journal

John Knefel / Media Matters for America:

CBS Evening News inverts its network's own reporting on ICE arrestees' low rates of violent criminal histories — CBS reported that less that 14% of people in ICE custody have charges or convictions for violent criminal conduct, but CBS Evening News distorted the data to suggest the opposite

Discussion: The Daily Caller

TMZ.com:

New Nancy Guthrie Note, Sender Demands 1 Bitcoin for Info On Kidnapping Suspect — There's a new note in the Nancy Guthrie case, but this one doesn't seem to be from the kidnapper ... instead, it's from someone offering to give up information on the kidnapper. — ANOTHER MYSTERIOUS LETTER

Discussion: New York Post, HotAir, NewsNation, The American Spectator, IJR, Mashable, Page Six, Fortune, The Daily Caller, Straight Arrow News, RADAR, Fox News and The Hill

Minyvonne Burke / NBC News:

Idaho families sue over immigration raid that swept up hundreds, including U.S. citizens — About 400 people, including children and U.S. citizens, were detained for four hours while they were denied food and water in the raid, according to the lawsuit. — Listen to this article with a free account

Discussion: twitchy.com

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:

Meet the ‘Cabal’-Hating ‘Special Government Employee’ Involved in the Fulton County FBI Raid — The newly revealed White House employee says he is fighting ‘pure evil’ — Clay Parikh does not want to talk about who he is working with inside the White House.

Discussion: CBS News and MS NOW

Christina Jewett / New York Times:

U.S. Health Officials Defend Rejection of Moderna's Flu Vaccine — The F.D.A.'s refusal to examine the company's mRNA shot drew widespread criticism from doctors and was divisive within the agency. — The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday backtracked on its refusal …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, STAT, Al Jazeera, National Review, Raw Story, NewsMax.com, Washington Post, One America News Network, The Hill, New York Post, Forbes, Gizmodo, Scientific American and Agence France-Presse

David Wallace-Wells / New York Times:

Affordability and the ‘Epstein Class’ Will Define American Politics — The San Francisco Bay Area is home to at least one-third of the value of the entire U.S. stock market. Late last year, you couldn't escape a chilling billboard campaign, meant to be cheeky, from an artificial intelligence start-up: “Stop Hiring Humans.”

Discussion: New York Post

Cindy Hernandez / Chicago Sun Times:

Chicago man cleared of Bovino murder plot still in detention after judge denies bail — At a bond hearing Wednesday, Judge Matthew Beese said Department of Homeland Security prosecutors presented “substantial” evidence that Juan Espinoza Martinez could pose a danger despite being acquitted by a jury last month.

Discussion: Chicago Tribune

Reuters:

Exclusive: Trump's ‘Stop the Steal’ lawyer pushed for voter fraud evidence from US intelligence agency — A lawyer leading efforts to bolster U.S. President Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” pushed a U.S. intelligence contractor to search for evidence …