Today’s edition of quick hits:
* I’ll look forward to Trump’s tweets: “The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 1,175 points, as the market bet on more interest rate hikes, the same day that a new Federal Reserve chairman was sworn in. The Dow recovered after briefly dropping 1,500 points, the largest intraday drop in the index’s history, to break below the psychologically important level of 25,000.”
* I’ll have more on this tomorrow: “The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to stop Pennsylvania from having to draw new maps for its congressional elections, turning down an appeal from Republicans who said there wasn’t time to do it ahead of this year’s primary.”
* White House lawyers “have been reminding President Trump’s staff not to use encrypted messaging apps for official government business as the administration seeks to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of violating federal records laws.”
* Kathleen Hartnett White was a ridiculous choice: “The White House late Saturday confirmed plans to withdraw the nomination of a climate change skeptic with ties to the fossil fuel industry to serve as President Donald Trump’s top environmental adviser.”
* A worthwhile reminder: “A group of Democratic senators is warning President Trump that he lacks the ‘legal authority’ to carry out a preemptive strike on North Korea, amid questions over whether the White House is considering a risky ‘bloody nose’ attack.”
* An underappreciated detail: “Key points from the disputed GOP-Rep. Devin Nunes intelligence memo appeared to have been released to news outlets friendly to the White House before being widely available to other media organizations.” * The latest out of Las Vegas: “An ammunition dealer who had been named a person of interest in connection with the Las Vegas mass shooting was charged in a Nevada federal court Friday with manufacturing armor-piercing bullets.” * Another elections-have-consequences moment in New Jersey: “The state Senate opened its first session of the year Thursday by voting to restore $7.5 million in grants for family planning and health clinics former Gov. Chris Christie stripped from the budget in 2010.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
