Today’s edition of quick hits:
* There’s no link available just yet, but the House approved new sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea this afternoon, following a 419-to-3 vote. The bill now heads to the Senate.
* The latest on Manafort: “Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was subpoenaed to testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee as part of its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, the panel’s top members said.”
* The Boy Scouts are on the defensive after Donald Trump turned one of their national events into a partisan political rally.
* Some House drama: “House Democrats sank two key bills on the House floor Monday, embarrassing Republican leaders who were banking on the noncontroversial legislation sailing through — in a new sign of the opposition party’s frustration with the majority’s approach. Kicking off a busy week in the House, most Democrats and a handful of Republicans joined forces to deny GOP leaders big-enough majorities to pass an annual intelligence policy bill and legislation to restore funding for a key veterans health care program.”
* It sounds like he’s steadily making progress: “A group of House Republicans got a surprise pep talk Monday from their missing man: Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), who continues to recover from a gunshot wound suffered in last month’s baseball-practice shooting.” * Shouldn’t Priebus be playing some role in this? “Anthony Scaramucci spent his third day as White House communications director telling reporters he will ‘fire everyone’ in the press office if leaks from the administration don’t stop…. Assistant Press Secretary Michael Short seemed to be the first part of Scaramucci’s overhaul — he resigned on Tuesday.” * Powerful findings: “Research on 202 former football players found evidence of brain disease in nearly all of them, from athletes in the NFL, college and even high school. It’s the largest update on chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a brain disease linked with repeated head blows.” 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
