memeorandum: Republicans race to avoid another megabill setback (Meredith Lee Hill/Politico)

8:00 PM ET, May 18, 2025

Top Items:

Betsy Klein / CNN:

Biden diagnosed with ‘aggressive form’ of prostate cancer — Former President Joe Biden was diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer, according to a statement from his personal office Sunday, and it has spread to his bones. — “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Axios, Fox News, The Hill, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, ABC News, Raw Story, al.com, UPI, Variety, Twitchy, IJR, The Independent, Deadline, The Post Millennial and Advocate

Tyler Pager / New York Times:

Biden Is Diagnosed With an Aggressive Form of Prostate Cancer — The cancer has metastasized to the bone, according to a statement from Mr. Biden's personal office. — Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was diagnosed on Friday with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones …

Discussion: Business Insider, BBC, Axios, Washington Examiner, The Moderate Voice, Townhall and OutsideTheBeltway

Luke Garrett / NPR:

Former President Joe Biden diagnosed with prostate cancer — Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, which has metastasized to the bone, according to a statement from his personal office. — Biden was seen for further tests last week after a finding of a prostate nodule.

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, Deadline, Politico, TMZ.com, The Wrap, One America News Network, The Independent and Talking Points Memo

NBC News:

Former President Joe Biden diagnosed with aggressive form of prostate cancer — The cancer has metastasized to the bone, according to the former president's personal office. — Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, his personal office announced Sunday.

Discussion: CBS News, RedState, Roll Call, Daily Mail, Raw Story, Daily Caller News Foundation, Fox News, New York Daily News, The Guardian and The Independent

Fox News:
Trump wishes Biden ‘fast and successful recovery’ after prostate cancer diagnosis

Discussion: NOTUS, Mediaite, Newsweek and The Independent

James Fanelli / Wall Street Journal:
Biden Diagnosed With Metastatic Prostate Cancer

Discussion: New York Post

Josh Boak / Associated Press:
Biden has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer

Naftali Bendavid / Washington Post:

‘I own the store’: Trump seeks a direct role in the economy — From prices to tariffs to dealmaking, Trump's involvement in economic issues prompts both frustration and applause. — President Donald Trump is trying to force down drug prices to specific levels. He has directed tariff rates on virtually every country.

Discussion: Raw Story, Newsmax and Wall Street Journal

Amanda Friedman / Politico:
‘An economic fallacy’: Rand Paul doesn't see the benefits of tariffs

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Breitbart and Grabien

Josh Boak / Associated Press:
Trump's tariffs may mean Walmart shoppers pay more, his treasury chief acknowledges

Craig Stirling / Bloomberg: Midpoint of Trump Tariff Hiatus to Reveal Increasingly Unsettled World

Allison Morrow / CNN:
There's no denying it now: Tariffs are raising prices

Discussion: The Daily Wire, Townhall, Fox Business, Rolling Stone, The Independent, CNBC and UPI

Andrew Higgins / New York Times:

Nicusor Dan Beats George Simion in Romana's Presidential Election — Nicusor Dan, the mayor of Bucharest, defeated George Simion, a nationalist aligned with President Trump who had been seen as the front-runner. — In a setback for Europe's surging nationalist forces, Nicusor Dan …

Discussion: Politico, Breitbart, Newsweek, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg and Washington Post

Bloomberg:

Romanian Centrist Scores Victory Over Far-Right Trump Loyalist — The centrist mayor of Bucharest won Romania's presidential runoff on Sunday, quashing the ambitions of a far-right Donald Trump loyalist as voters came out in force to ensure that the Black Sea nation held steady on a pro-European path.

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, KDFX-TV, ZeroHedge News, Al Jazeera, The Kyiv Independent and Jacobin

Politico:
Russian interference claims hit Romania's critical election on voting day

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Kyiv Independent

Jonathan Cohn / The Bulwark:

How to Take Medicaid from Millions of Americans, in Less Than 72 Hours — THE REPUBLICAN EFFORT TO slash Medicaid stalled on Friday, when legislation cutting more than $625 billion from the program failed to get through a key House committee. — GOP leaders said they hope to try again on Sunday night.

Discussion: MSNBC and Fox News

Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:

Republicans race to avoid another megabill setback — Speaker Mike Johnson is negotiating with GOP holdouts ahead of a key Budget Committee vote late Sunday. — Speaker Mike Johnson and House leaders are racing to salvage their GOP megabill from another embarrassing setback just hours away from a rare 10 p.m. Sunday night vote.

Elizabeth Crisp / The Hill:
Virginia Dem: GOP tax cuts would be on ‘backs of millions of Americans’

Discussion: Rolling Stone

Katie J.M. Baker / New York Times:

The Group Behind Project 2025 Has a Plan to Crush the Pro-Palestinian Movement — Even before President Trump was re-elected, the Heritage Foundation, best known for Project 2025, set out to destroy pro-Palestinian activism in the United States. — In late April, the Heritage Foundation dispatched …

Discussion: New York Times, PoliticusUSA and Raw Story

Daniel Kreps / Rolling Stone:

Bruce Springsteen Again Calls Out ‘Unfit President’ Trump at Second Manchester Concert — “Things are happening right now that are altering the very nature of our country's democracy, and they're too important to ignore,” singer says, days after president's threatening social media tirade

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Wall Street Journal:
Springsteen, Undeterred by Trump, Keeps Up War of Words From Foreign Stage

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Corbin Bolies / The Daily Beast:

Pope Leo Snubs JD Vance After Inaugural Mass — GODLY PASS — The pope gave the vice president the short shrift. — Pope Leo XIV spurned JD Vance on Sunday, offering him a quick greeting after his inaugural mass while holding extensive private meetings with other world leaders.

Discussion: CNN, Reuters, RedState, The Independent, Washington Examiner, NBC News, Al Jazeera and Associated Press

Elizabeth Dias / New York Times:
JD Vance and Pope Leo: The Backdrop to an Inauguration

Discussion: Raw Story, MSNBC, The American Spectator, RNS, WBUR, KDFX-TV, USA Today and The Daily Register

NBC News:

FBI links California fertility clinic bombing to anti-natalist ideology — The attack left one dead on Saturday and injured four others. — The car bombing outside a California fertility clinic that killed one person and injured four others appears to have been driven by anti-natalist ideology …

Ruth Igielnik / New York Times:

One Thing Helping Trump's Approval Rating: Some People Are Not Paying Attention — Voters were more likely to approve of President Trump's job performance if they had not been following some of the major news stories of his first 100 days in office, a recent New York Times/Siena College poll found.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

New York Times:

Russia Unleashes One of Its Largest Drone Barrages of the Ukraine War — The bombardment, which Ukrainian officials said mostly targeted Kyiv, came just a day before President Trump was expected to talk with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. — Russia targeted Ukraine on Sunday …

Discussion: CNN, Euromaidan Press, Politico, Associated Press, The Kyiv Independent and Reuters

Washington Post:

Trump orders the government to stop enforcing rules he doesn't like — Critics say the administration is breaking the law and sidestepping the rulemaking process that presidents of both parties have routinely followed. — At the Transportation Department, enforcement of pipeline safety rules …

Discussion: The Mahablog

Peter Wade / Rolling Stone:

Van Hollen: The U.S. Is ‘Complicit’ in Starving the People of Gaza — “Two million Palestinians are starving. This is collective punishment that is clearly illegal under international law,” the senator said … When asked on CBS's Face the Nation about photographs of starving children in Gaza …

Discussion: Middle East Monitor, CBS News and Al Jazeera

MSNBC:

Big Donald Is Watching You: Sliding into autocracy under Trump 2.0 — A giant banner featuring Donald Trump's photo just went up at the front of the Department of Agriculture. A military parade is being planned for his birthday, which coincides with the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.

Associated Press:

Mexican tall ship strikes Brooklyn Bridge, snapping masts and fatally injuring 2 crew members — A Mexican navy sailing ship on a global goodwill tour struck the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday night, snapping its three masts, fatally injuring two crew members and leaving …

Alex Gangitano / The Hill:

Bessent warns tariffs will return to ‘Liberation Day’ rates if negotiations aren't in good faith — Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday warned that tariffs on trading partners could go back to the rate slapped on them on “Liberation Day” last month if they don't engage in good-faith negotiations.

Discussion: Axios, Bloomberg, Business Insider and Grabien

Jessica Guynn / USA Today:

Trump says he killed DEI. So why isn't it dead yet? Cracks emerge in war on ‘woke’ — With the swirl of a black Sharpie marker, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day back in the White House, cracking down on what he calls “illegal and radical” diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

Discussion: Deadline