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2:05 PM ET, May 14, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Among the problems with Trump's ‘free’ luxury jet from Qatar: It's not actually free  —  Even if the jet from Qatar were free, this arrangement would still be a legal and ethical mess.  But the free plane also wouldn't be free.  —  On Sunday night, as the public first learned …
RELATED:
Ewan Palmer / The Daily Beast:
Carville Lectures Dems on How to Go After Trump for $400m Grift  —  ENOUGH IS ENOUGH  —  The veteran political strategist demands action on unusual deals involving the president, including the jet from Qatar.  —  James Carville is calling on Democrats to go on the offensive over what he calls the …
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Conduct oversight on Trump's graft — or censure James Comer  —  House Democrats must pressure Republicans to fulfill their constitutional duties.  —  President Donald Trump arrived in the Middle East on Tuesday as the representative of two different entities.
Wall Street Journal:
Republicans Raise Concerns Over Trump's Plane Gift as He Heads to Qatar  —  Some lawmakers flag potential security issues as the president doubles down on defending the offer, saying only a ‘fool’ would turn it down  —  WASHINGTON—Republican lawmakers on Tuesday expressed national-security concerns …
Washington Post:
White House eased China tariffs after warnings of harm to 'Trump's people'  —  The president has backtracked repeatedly on his tariff policies, creating a whiplash with downsides and few clear benefits so far.  —  Some of the president's top aides saw an opening.
RELATED:
New Republic:
Trump Tariff Fiasco Worsens as Brutal New Reports Expose a Fresh Scam  —  The White House has been boasting that President Trump's partial pause in the trade war with China is a historic breakthrough.  But two new reports, one from The New York Times and the other from the nonliberal Wall …
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Mike Johnson Just Wrecked Trump's Ugly “Working-Class GOP” Scam  —  We keep hearing that the GOP is deeply, existentially conflicted over whether to evolve into a “working-class party.”  Senator Josh Hawley declared as much in The New York Times, urging his party not to slash the safety net to fund …
RELATED:
Daniel Desrochers / Politico:
‘The Titanic’: Johnson predicts House's ‘big, beautiful’ bill will sink in the Senate  —  Sen. Ron Johnson said Wednesday he thinks House Republicans' reconciliation bill is “going down.”  And he's working to ensure its demise.  “The ‘big, beautiful bill,’ I think that's the Titanic,” …
Discussion: Semafor, Punchbowl News and Raw Story
Jordain Carney / Politico:
Ron Johnson is threatening to tank the GOP megabill. He's been here before.
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The Republican squirm is in full swing
Discussion: Bloomberg, NPR, Foreign Policy and NOTUS
Tom Dreisbach / NPR:
Multiple Trump White House officials have ties to antisemitic extremists  —  President Trump campaigned on a pledge to fight antisemitism.  —  “Antisemitic bigotry has no place in a civilized society,” Trump said at an event in 2024.  —  However, the president's critics question whether antisemitism …
Discussion: Raw Story
Associated Press:
Mexican security chief confirms cartel family members entered US in a deal with Trump administration  —  Mexico's security chief confirmed Tuesday that 17 family members of cartel leaders crossed into the U.S. last week as part of a deal between a son of the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Trump administration.
Warren P. Strobel / Washington Post:
Gabbard fires leaders of intelligence group that wrote Venezuela assessment  —  The director of national intelligence fired top officials weeks after their group authored an assessment contradicting President Donald Trump's legal rationale for deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members.
Discussion: CNN
Wired:
CFBP Quietly Kills Rule to Shield Americans From Data Brokers  —  Russell Vought, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has canceled plans to more tightly regulate the sale of Americans' sensitive personal data.
RELATED:
Wired:   CFPB Quietly Kills Rule to Shield Americans From Data Brokers
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
House GOP hard-liners digging in on Medicaid work requirements  —  House GOP hard-liners are livid over a move by leadership to delay implementation of new work requirements for Medicaid for several years.  It's one of the thorniest and politically explosive pieces of the GOP mega-bill …
RELATED:
Ben Jacobs / Politico:
The Republican Trainwreck of the 2026 Election Cycle  —  John Cornyn is one of the winningest politicians in Texas history.  But he might not even make it out of the GOP primary this time.  —  Sen. John Cornyn is anathema to many Republican primary voters.
RELATED:
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:   New poll: Americans oppose cuts to Medicaid, want Democrats to control the U.S. House
Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:
Washington Post editorial board says Pirro not ‘qualified’ to be DC attorney  —  The editorial board of The Washington Post is coming out against President Trump's decision to tap former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to serve as the top prosecutor in the District of Columbia.
Discussion: Washington Post
RELATED:
Jennifer Bowers Bahney / Raw Story:
‘What the holy hell?’  MAGA has a meltdown over House GOP post written in Spanish  —  MAGA Republicans are losing their minds over an innocent social media post that includes a Spanish translation, according to The Daily Beast.  —  The House Republicans' X post claimed …
Discussion: Mediaite
RELATED:
Taryn Luna / Los Angeles Times:
Newsom calls for walking back free healthcare for eligible undocumented immigrants  — Facing a budget deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing changes to California's program to provide free healthcare coverage to low-income undocumented immigrants.  — The cost of coverage for immigrants …
RELATED:
Adam Edelman / NBC News:
In reversal, Gavin Newsom proposes cutting health care benefits for undocumented immigrants
Discussion: Associated Press
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
The Professors Are Using ChatGPT, and Some Students Aren't Happy About It  —  Students call it hypocritical.  A senior at Northeastern University demanded her tuition back.  But instructors say generative A.I. tools make them better at their jobs.  —  In February, Ella Stapleton …
Discussion: Fortune
Breanne Deppisch / Fox News:
Milwaukee judge indicted for helping immigrant evade ICE faces up to 6 years in prison  —  Facing federal charges, Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of helping an immigrant evade arrest  —  A Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge arrested in April for allegedly helping …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Wisconsin Judge Indicted on Charges That She Helped Immigrant Evade Agents
J. Michael Luttig / The Atlantic:
The End of Rule of Law in America … The president of the united states appears to have long ago forgotten that Americans fought the Revolutionary War not merely to secure their independence from the British monarchy but to establish a government of laws, not of men, so that they and future generations …
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Scoop: Trump impeachment called “idiotic” in House Dem meeting  —  A rogue Trump impeachment push was criticized as “idiotic” and “horrible” in a closed-door House Democratic meeting Wednesday, Axios has learned.  —  Why it matters: The comments from Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) …
Bertrand Benoit / Wall Street Journal:
Germany Foils Alleged Russian Plot to Mail Incendiary Devices  —  The conspiracy, if confirmed, shows Moscow continues to target the West with acts of sabotage despite Trump's arrival in the White House  —  BERLIN—German police detained three men suspected of planning to mail packages laden …
Jake Pearson / ProPublica:
Musk Adviser May Make as Much as $1 Million a Year While Helping to Dismantle Agency that Regulates Tesla and X  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  One of Elon Musk's employees …
Associated Press:
Democrats are deeply pessimistic about the future of their party, an AP-NORC poll finds  —  Six months after Donald Trump's presidential victory, Democrats remain deeply pessimistic about the future of their party, although neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party is viewed favorably by a majority of U.S. adults.
Discussion: IJR
New York Times:
We Study Fascism, and We're Leaving the U.S.  —  The decision by these three Yale professors to move to Canada is both a warning and a call to action.By Francesca Trianni and James Robinson  —  Legal residents of the United States sent to foreign prisons without due process.
Washington Post:
White House bans U.S. agencies from all work on G-20 in South Africa  —  President Donald Trump previously suggested a boycott of the G-20 convention over South Africa's “land confiscation” law.  —  The White House National Security Council has ordered U.S. agencies and departments …
Discussion: The Daily Wire
ABC News:
Trump calls for new Iran nuclear deal  —  In his final open remarks during his time in Riyadh, President Donald Trump echoed his calls for a nuclear deal with Iran and again touted his closeness with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.  —  “The whole world is watching the Middle East …
Jeff Singer / The Downballot:
Democrats just flipped Nebraska's biggest city  —  Democrat John Ewing unseated Republican Mayor Jean Stothert in Tuesday's officially nonpartisan election to lead Omaha, a victory that ends the GOP's 12-year hold on Nebraska's largest city.  —  Stothert conceded the race after 9 PM local …
David Gilbert / Wired:
Violent Threats Against US Judges Are Skyrocketing Online  —  Threatening social media posts targeting US judges have increased by more than 300 percent since last year, a new report shows.  —  Violent threats and calls for impeachment on social media platforms against US judges have skyrocketed …
NBC News:
Kennedy sidesteps vaccine questions: 'I don't think people should be taking medical advice from me'  —  The health secretary appeared before the House Appropriations Committee this morning.  This afternoon he'll go before the Senate's Health, Labor, Education and Pensions committee.
Andrew Egger / The Bulwark:
Trump Gushes with Envy Toward the House of Saud  —  Good morning to everyone except whoever did the president's makeup today:  —  Happy Wednesday.  —  Autocrats, Kleptocrats, Plutocrats... Oh My!  —  by William Kristol  —  What a spectacle!  There they were yesterday, assembled in Riyadh …
NBC News:
Marco Rubio working on major changes to National Security Council  —  Under the plan, the NSC would shrink and shift from making recommendations to the president to carrying out his orders.  —  Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in his new add-on role of national security adviser …
Discussion: Raw Story
Marist Poll:
NYC Mayor's Race, May 2025  —  Cuomo Breaks 50% in Fifth Round of Ranked Choice Voting  —  In the Democratic primary race for New York City Mayor, Andrew Cuomo is the first choice of nearly four in ten likely Democratic primary voters, including those who are undecided yet leaning toward a candidate.
Paul Bois / Breitbart:
Ocasio-Cortez Warns: Trump Admin Will Have a ‘Problem’ if More Democrats Arrested  —  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has warned the Trump administration that they will be in for a “problem” if they arrest any more Democrats.  —  The congresswoman issued her warning in an Instagram video posted …
Discussion: The Hill and Twitchy
 
 
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 More Items: 
Jen Rice / Democracy Docket:
What Could Go Wrong? Texas May Allow Guns at the Polls
Discussion: The Texas Tribune and Townhall
Washington Post:
They stormed the Capitol. Now they're selling merch.
Politico:
Dems go after GOP online fundraising after Trump attacks ActBlue
Discussion: The Intercept
Edwin Heathcote / Financial Times:
Trump's casino rococo White House and the politics of ornamentation
 Earlier Items: 
Beth Wallis / NPR:
Oklahoma education standards say students must identify 2020 election ‘discrepancies’
Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
The anti-woke right won in 2024. Now they're turning on each other.
Discussion: Blaze Media
Financial Times:
What has Elon Musk's Doge actually achieved?
Discussion: CBS News
Richard Primus / The Atlantic:
Trump's Third-Term Ambitions Are Very Revealing
Elena Giordano / Politico:
Orbán's Fidesz party proposes Russia-style crackdown on Hungary's civil society
Discussion: Telex, Reuters and Bloomberg