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Top Stories
Bannon’s Booting From NSC May Not Mean Much After All
The Gist: White House observers anxiously awaiting a pivot toward tradition from the Trump administration took relief in Wednesday’s sudden announcement that Chief Strategist Steve Bannon had been removed from the National Security Council’s Principals’ Committee.
Kushner Left Out Meetings With Russian Officials From Security Clearance Docs
The Gist: Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, failed to note two meetings with Russian officials, as well as other conversations with foreign officials, on his application for a security clearance, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
Lawmakers Warn Trump To Consult Congress Before Military Action In Syria
The Gist: After the Trump administration ordered missile strikes on a Syrian air base on Thursday night, many members of Congress approved of the move. But President Donald Trump faced some criticism for launching the strikes, and some members warned the President to seek authorization from Congress before escalating action in Syria further.
From The Reporter’s Notebook
Gold retailer Rosland Capital, the biggest advertiser on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor,” has no plans to pull its commercials from the show amid sexual harassment allegations against host Bill O’Reilly, TPM’s Esme Cribb reported. “At this time, we have no plans to change our advertising strategy,” the company told CNN Money. “Around 10% of our ad spend with the network is for advertising that runs on that particular program.”
Agree or Disagree?
Josh Marshall: “If this action is meant to draw a line saying that the US will exact a price for any use of chemical weapons it may be effective and even worthwhile. But we are already hearing what sounds like a commitment to regime change – in the face of realities that make that ambition seem rather far-fetched. As I said, particularly because Trump is so mercurial, so changing from one moment to the next, there’s a very good chance this isn’t really ‘about’ anything, not a part of any strategy or real goal. It may just be blowing stuff up. “
Say What?!
“I think we’ve had one of the most successful 13 weeks in the history of the presidency.”
– President Donald Trump reflected on his first weeks in office. He seems to have miscounted: The presidential inauguration took place on Friday, Jan. 20. Friday, April 7 will mark the end of Trump’s 11th week in office.
BUZZING: Today in the Hive
From a TPM Prime member: “I am all in favor of getting rid of the filibuster. So much the better if the Republicans get rid of it. The filibuster is predominantly a conservative tool for obstructing progressive reforms. Historically, it has been used to support slavery. Later it was used to obstruct civil rights legislation and things like anti-lynching laws. One of the reasons the Affordable Care Act did not include a public option or more stringent price controls is because of the filibuster. The Democrats had to make a lot of concessions to meet the 60 vote threshold. Without the filibuster, the Affordable Care Act would have been a much better law. With respect to the Obamacare repeal, it is important to remember many of the tax and subsidy portions of the Affordable Care Act were passed through reconciliation. That means, they are set to expire after ten years, just in time for the 2020 general election. Guess when the Republican’s repeal of those same provisions were going to kick in? 2020. That means the Republicans’s so called Obamacare repeal was meaningless, because the very provisions they were going to repeal were going to sunset at the very same time. With respect to the Gorsuch nomination, the filibuster is pretty meaningless anyway. At least for the next four years, the Democrats are not going to pass any legislation the Court will want to overturn. In fact, I suspect the Court will be supporting a lot of Trump’s executive actions, and in the process create a lot of precedents in favor of a strong executive. Keep in mind, any decision benefiting a Republican president, can be used by a future Democratic president. At the worst, a future Democratic government can amend the judiciary act to increase the number of justices.”
Related: Flake: GOP Has ‘No Stomach At All’ To Change Legislative Filibuster
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What We’re Reading
How Richard Simmons Got Trapped In His Own Mythology (BuzzFeed)
How To Mourn A Space Robot (The Atlantic)
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