First Draft on Politics: Freedom for Chelsea Manning

View in [Browser] | Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. Wednesday, January 18, 2017 [The New York Times] [NYTimes.com/Politics »] [The New York Times] Wednesday, January 18, 2017 [President-elect Donald J. Trump at a dinner event in Washington on Tuesday.] President-elect Donald J. Trump at a dinner event in Washington on Tuesday. Doug Mills/The New York Times Good Wednesday morning. • President Obama commutes most of Chelsea Manning’s sentence. Mr. Obama on Tuesday vastly [reduced the remaining prison sentence] of Ms. Manning, the army intelligence analyst convicted of an enormous 2010 leak that revealed American military and diplomatic activities. The president also [granted a pardon] to Gen. James E. Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and one of the highest-ranking officials ensnared in the crackdown on leaks. Both moves were part of an 11th-hour wave of pardons and commutations. • A nonpartisan report raises the stakes for Obamacare repeal. Eighteen million people [could lose their insurance] within a year and individual insurance premiums would shoot upward if Congress repealed major provisions of the Affordable Care Act while leaving other parts in place, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday. A report by the office sharply increases pressure on Republicans to come up with a comprehensive plan to replace [the health care law]. • Two Trump cabinet nominees testify as confirmation battles continue. Betsy DeVos [vigorously defended her work] steering taxpayer dollars away from traditional public schools at her confirmation hearing to be education secretary. And Representative Ryan Zinke [pitched himself as a serious steward] of federal resources at his confirmation hearing to become interior secretary. • Unpopular, even before he starts. President-elect Donald J. Trump will take office on Friday with [less popular support than any new president] in modern times, according to an array of surveys. It is a sign that he has failed to rally Americans behind him, beyond the base that helped him win the election in November. — NICHOLAS FANDOS  Got a confidential news tip? Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. [Learn more »]  What We’re Watching • Mr. Trump will begin his day at Trump Tower, but is expected to travel back and forth to Washington as his inaugural festivities get underway. • The Senate will hold a slew of confirmation hearings again on Wednesday for Mr. Trump’s cabinet picks. They will include Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina (United Nations ambassador); Representative Tom Price (Health and Human Services); Scott Pruitt, attorney general of Oklahoma (Environmental Protection Agency); and Wilbur L. Ross (Commerce). • Mr. Obama will hold his final news conference as president in the afternoon. • The Presidential Inaugural Committee will hold a lunchtime “victory reception” for donors and host dinners honoring Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Mr. Trump’s cabinet picks.  ADVERTISEMENT  [President Obama embraced Eliana Pinckney at a memorial service for her father, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, in Charleston, S.C., in June 2015.] President Obama embraced Eliana Pinckney at a memorial service for her father, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, in Charleston, S.C., in June 2015. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times [The Obama Era] Catch up with a six-part series exploring the sweeping change that President Obama brought to the United States, and how the presidency changed him. - [PART 1 The Regulator in Chief] - [PART 2 The Threat to the Planet] - [PART 3 The “Good War”] - [PART 4 The Health Care Revolution] - [PART 5 Breaking the Racial Barrier] - [PART 6 A Changed Man] [Chelsea Manning’s 35-year sentence was by far the longest punishment ever imposed in the United States for a leak conviction.] United States Army [Chelsea Manning to Be Released Early as Obama Commutes Sentence] By CHARLIE SAVAGE The Army intelligence analyst convicted in a 2010 leak of security documents is set to be freed this May instead of in 2045. [President-elect Donald J. Trump in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan on Monday.] Hilary Swift for The New York Times White House Memo [Trump Heads for the White House Unbent and Unpopular] By PETER BAKER The incoming president will take office with less popular support than any predecessor in modern times, according to several polls. [The offices of Sunshine Health and Life Advisors inside a Miami mall. The company’s customers are worried about changes to the Affordable Care Act promised by President-elect Donald J. Trump.] Angel Valentin for The New York Times [Health Law Repeal Could Cost 18 Million Their Insurance, Study Finds] By ROBERT PEAR The Congressional Budget Office said millions would lose their insurance in the first year, with that number and costs rising over 10 years. [Biden in Washington on Dec. 14.] Erik Madigan Heck for The New York Times Feature [Joe Biden: ‘I Wish to Hell I’d Just Kept Saying the Exact Same Thing’] By JONATHAN ALTER The vice president looks back at the campaign and his decision not to run for the top job — and forward, to finding a cure for cancer and keeping the door open for 2020. What We’re Reading • The Atlantic looks at Mr. Trump’s [last remaining unfilled cabinet position], agriculture secretary, and what the fights over the post say about his incoming administration. • The Wall Street Journal, reporting from the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, writes that Anthony Scaramucci, a confidant of Mr. Trump, is serving as the president-elect’s [“ambassador to the global elite.”]  [James E. Cartwright, a retired Marine general, arriving at Federal District Court in Washington in October.] [Obama Pardons General Who Deceived F.B.I. in Leak Case] By CHARLIE SAVAGE The move saves James E. Cartwright, a retired Marine officer, from a possible prison sentence for lying about discussing Iran’s nuclear program with reporters. [A painting of Oscar Lopez Rivera in Humboldt Park in Chicago in 2011.] [Obama Commutes Sentence of Puerto Rican Nationalist] By CHRISTOPHER MELE Oscar Lopez Rivera was serving 70 years in prison on numerous charges, including seditious conspiracy for plotting to overthrow the government. [Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for education secretary, at her Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday.] [Betsy DeVos’s Education Hearing Erupts Into Partisan Debate] By KATE ZERNIKE AND YAMICHE ALCINDOR A Senate hearing for Ms. DeVos, a billionaire who did not attend public schools or send her children to them, became a debate over how to spend tax dollars on education. [Wilbur L. Ross, a billionaire investor whom President-elect Donald J. Trump chose for commerce secretary, reached a divestiture agreement posted on Tuesday by the Federal Office of Government Ethics.] [Commerce Pick Wilbur Ross to Divest at Least 80 Holdings] By MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN Mr. Ross, a billionaire, is likely to face questions at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday about his career buying and remaking troubled companies.  Al Drago/The New York Times [Republicans Look to Reince Priebus to Bring Stability] By GLENN THRUSH AND MAGGIE HABERMAN Party leaders hope the new chief of staff will transform the incoming president’s storm-the-gates campaign into a normal, functional White House. [Summer Zervos with her lawyer, Gloria Allred, during a news conference on Tuesday announcing the filing of a lawsuit against President-elect Donald J. Trump.] Mike Blake/Reuters [Ex-Contestant on ‘Apprentice’ Files Suit Against Trump] By MEGAN TWOHEY Summer Zervos and her lawyer, Gloria Allred, announced the lawsuit against the president-elect, alleging that he defamed her when he accused her of fabricating the sexual assault. [Donald J. Trump will soon occupy the White House. His chaos-sowing style has upended Washington’s rhythms and jangled nerves.] Al Drago/The New York Times [Angst Simmers in Washington as Trump Presidency Nears] By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG Most people in the capital are used to transitions of administrations, but many seem particularly unsteady and on edge with Donald J. Trump about to enter the White House. [President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at the Kremlin on Tuesday. He accused the departing United States administration of trying to undermine President-elect Donald J. Trump.] Pool photo by Alexei Druzhinin [Vladimir Putin Says Accusations in Trump Dossier Are ‘Clearly Fake’] By NEIL MACFARQUHAR The Russian president dismissed the allegations and said the effort to compile such a document was further evidence of the political decay of the West. [Mary T. Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, at a news conference in Detroit in December. The company said on Tuesday that new investments would add or retain a combination of 1,500 jobs at plants it did not identify.] Rachel Woolf/Getty Images [By Announcing New Jobs, Corporations Help Themselves Too] By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ AND BILL VLASIC In promoting plans to add workers, some of which have long been in the works, companies help position themselves favorably with the Trump administration. [Dennis Halaszynski, 81, is a retired police captain in McKeesport, Pa., who voted for Donald J. Trump. “It’s easier being a woman today than it is a man,” he said.] Tom M. Johnson for The New York Times Gender Inequality [Republican Men Say It’s a Better Time to Be a Woman Than a Man] By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER A survey shows 82 percent of women feel sexism is a problem today, while men underestimate the sexism felt by the women in their lives. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [washington-newsletter@nytimes.com].  FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK] [Twitter] [@NYTPolitics] Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »] | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »] ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's First Draft newsletter. [Unsubscribe] | [Manage Subscriptions] | [Change Your Email] | [Privacy Policy] | [Contact] | [Advertise] Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company | 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018