Sebastian Gorka’s Path To WH Aide, Spicer Defends Trump’s Nordstrom Tweet And When Things Go Missing

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February 9, 2017

Top Stories


The Devil Is In The Details Of Latest GOP Obamacare Repeal Plan

The Gist: Congressional Republicans are inching closer to cementing an approach to dismantling the Affordable Care Act that reportedly will include some replacement measures in the repeal legislation. The effort marks a victory for the GOP lawmakers who lobbied against repealing the law without a replacement, but it’s by no means the end of the intra-party battles

Graham On Rebuke Of Warren: ‘It Was Long Overdue With Her’

The Gist: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) does not have a problem with Senate Republicans move to silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for calling attention to Jeff Sessions’ civil rights record on the Senate floor.

How Did Sebastian Gorka Go From The Anti-Muslim Fringe To White House Aide?

The Gist: Sebastian Gorka never became a household name among the counterterrorism experts who populate K Street think tanks and university international relations departments during his years in Washington, D.C. Now he is President Donald Trump’s deputy assistant.

From The Reporter’s Notebook


President Donald Trump attacked department store Nordstrom on Wednesday for dropping his daughter Ivanka Trump’s clothing and accessories line, saying that brand treated her “so unfairly,” TPM’s Kristin Salaky reported. “My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!” Trump tweeted. Nordstrom’s stock appeared to take a bit of a hit around the time that the tweet was published Wednesday.

Agree or Disagree?


David Kurtz: “The political challenge for Republicans has always been how to mask their ideological preference not to spend much (or any) on health care. To do that, they’ve mounted a sustained decades-long attack on any reform efforts as too costly, inefficient, unworkable, and a threat to liberty. At the same time, they’ve had to come up with a proposals of their own to make it sound like they actually have a workable health care policy: tax credits, health savings accounts, high risk pools, etc. Those conservative policy proposals are not in and of themselves entirely bad ideas. In theory, they are trying to achieve the same ends as progressive health care policies. Again, to bang the drum: There’s not that much disagreement over what health care policy needs to accomplish. But conservatives tend to want to underfund their own policies, too, and that means in general that they can’t possibly accomplish what their progressive policy counterparts would in terms of coverage or care.”

Say What?!


“I think anybody who undermines the success of that raid owes an apology and … [it’s] a disservice to the life of Chief Owens.”

– White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday that anybody questioning the success of a counterterrorism raid in Yemen is doing “a disservice” to the U.S. commando killed during the operation.

BUZZING: Today in the Hive


From a TPM Prime member: “I believe that someone in the GOP caucus and McConnell just lost it. They cannot stop themselves when confronted with a powerful woman. In the past, the GOP could erode norms and the Dems would make nice because Dems believe in governing and being constructive. Because the Dem party is a coalition, it finds it harder to unite and fight as one, but DJT has gotten them united and fighting. With unity, the Dems are playing the McConnell “run the clock game” back at him.”

Related: Dems Read King Letter On Senate Floor After GOP Silences Warren

Have something to add? Become a Prime member and join the discussion here.

What We’re Reading


Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus Want You to Know They Are Friends (New York Magazine)

When Things Go Missing (The New Yorker)


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