House GOP Bill To Impose Major Social Security Cuts, Trump Nominates Secretary Of State, And Teen Vogue

December 13th, 2016 Top Stories --------------------------------------------------------------- [5 Points On House GOP Bill To Impose Major Cuts On Social Security] The Gist: Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX) (pictured), the chair of the House subcommittee on Social Security, introduced a bill last week to little fanfare that would impose major cuts to the program. [Trump Announces He'll Nominate Rex Tillerson To Be Secretary Of State] The Gist: Trump on Tuesday morning formally announced that he will nominate ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state. [Trump: 'No New Deals Will Be Done' By My Business While I'm President] The Gist: After postponing a press conference to discuss how he will approach his business when he takes office as president, Trump tweeted a few details about how he will leave his companies. From The Reporter's Notebook --------------------------------------------------------------- House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes [will not launch a new probe into Russian hacking], TPM's Caitlin MacNeal reported. Nunes instead focused on reports that the CIA and FBI are in disagreement over Russia’s motives for meddling in the U.S. election, and he asked the director of national intelligence for a new briefing in a Monday letter. Agree or Disagree? --------------------------------------------------------------- Josh Marshall: "Bottom line: as ranking member of the House Committee which oversees the entire intelligence community, Schiff has about as much access as anyone can. It's all inconsequential in a way, just one more random nonsensical remark. But it shows the casual disregard for the truth or even basic commonsense that is pervasive with all of the President-Elect's leading sycophants. And of course, let's be honest, the President-Elect himself. [It's a culture of casual lying and nonsense.] It's an empire of word salad. " Say What?! --------------------------------------------------------------- "You never would have done that to Colin Powell." — After he dismissed allegations of Russian hacking into the election on Monday, "Fox and Friends" put former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton [on a "fit board"] for a bit of a laugh. BUZZING: Today in the Hive --------------------------------------------------------------- From a TPM Prime member: "We have witnessed one after the other of Trump's adversaries recant and cave under and then endorse Trump and like Romney agree to go talk to Trump for SOS. They (Republicans) are willing to sell their souls and any integrity they may still have for any more power and control they may gain. Romney should have told Trump to go to hell, but now finds himself rebuffed again. It is still early in the process, but with McConnell in leadership of the senate I really have my doubts any real opposition will form. McConnell would like to just sweep everything under the rug and move forward with the right wing agenda." Related: Even some of the ideas surrounding an [overhaul of Social Security] that have been supported by Republicans in the past may face fiercer resistance now. Have something to add? Become a [Prime] member and join the discussion [here]. What We're Reading --------------------------------------------------------------- If you're shocked Teen Vogue is great, you're not paying attention. ([Jezebel]) An open letter to fellow minority journalists. ([Jay Caspian Kang]) [unsubscribe from this list] | [update subscription preferences] | [view email in browser]