Brittany Bernstein

writer, editor, crazy cat lady @NRO

[Brittany Bernstein @brittybernstein]

@jameslynch32 @NRO We’ll miss you at NR, James. You did great work.

[National Review @NRO]

Symposium on Antisemitism https://t.co/aX1aLhcGZn

[Brittany Bernstein @brittybernstein]

@StrackHaley @christopherrufo @CityJournal City Journal is lucky to have you!

[Carrie Goldberg @cagoldberglaw]

Today in WA State Supreme Court: 28 families sue Amazon for profiting off death—selling teens and vulnerable adults a lethal chemical alongside instructions on how to use it.

Read more from @brittybernstein in @NRO below.
https://t.co/0qRtUwyGLa

[National Review @NRO]

Luther Abel: Trump going out of his way to stress the recruiting surge that has occurred since his election win...it’s good to see.

If you haven’t read it yet, there’s an excellent report on it by our @brittybernstein.

Read here: https://t.co/IiT793ugx1

https://t.co/DQviBc9I6h

[Jim Geraghty @jimgeraghty]

It turns out that for the past three years, the Kansas City Chiefs offensive line was funded by USAID.

[Ryan Mills @RyanAMills77]

A combination of persistence, timing, messaging, and a grassroots ground game finally helped bring universal school choice to the Volunteer State after two decades of work on the issue, writes @brittybernstein @NRO https://t.co/33WoKuDh49

[Collin Rugg @CollinRugg]

Youth ice partners Angela Yang and Sean Kay were among the victims in the horrific DC plane crash last night.

They were children. The video below is one of their final performances before the tragedy.

Rest in peace.

[John McCormack @McCormackJohn]

McConnell statement on voting against confirming Hegseth:

“The most consequential cabinet official in any Administration is the Secretary of Defense. In the face of the gravest threats to U.S. national security interests since World War II, this position is even more important today.

“Major adversaries are working closer together to undermine U.S. interests around the world. And America’s military capabilities and defense industrial capacity are increasingly insufficient to deter or prevail in major conflict with China or Russia, especially given the real risk of simultaneous challenges from other adversaries like Iran or North Korea.

“Stewardship of the United States Armed Forces, and of the complex bureaucracy that exists to support them, is a massive and solemn responsibility. At the gravest moments, under the weight of this public trust, even the most capable and well-qualified leaders to set foot in the Pentagon have done so with great humility – from George Marshall harnessing American enterprise and Atlantic allies for the Cold War, to Caspar Weinberger orchestrating the Reagan build-up, to Bob Gates earning the wartime trust of two Commanders-in-Chief, of both parties.

“Mere desire to be a ‘change agent’ is not enough to fill these shoes. And ‘dust on boots’ fails even to distinguish this nominee from multiple predecessors of the last decade. Nor is it a precondition for success. Secretaries with distinguished combat experience and time in the trenches have failed at the job.

“Effective management of nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel, an annual budget of nearly $1 trillion, and alliances and partnerships around the world is a daily test with staggering consequences for the security of the American people and our global interests.

“Mr. Hegseth has failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass this test. But as he assumes office, the consequences of failure are as high as they have ever been.

“The United States faces coordinated aggression from adversaries bent on shattering the order underpinning American security and prosperity. In public comments and testimony before the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Hegseth did not reckon with this reality.

“President Trump has rightly called on NATO allies to spend more on our collective defense. But the nominee who would have been responsible for leading that effort wouldn’t even commit to growing America’s defense investment beyond the low bar set by the Biden Administration’s budget requests.

“In his testimony before the Committee, Mr. Hegseth provided no substantial observations on how to defend Taiwan or the Philippines against a Chinese attack, or even whether he believes the United States should do so. He failed, for that matter, to articulate in any detail a strategic vision for dealing with the gravest long-term threat emanating from the PRC.

“Absent, too, was any substantive discussion of countering our adversaries’ alignment with deeper alliance relationships and more extensive defense industrial cooperation of our own.

“This, of course, is due to change. As the 29th Secretary of Defense, Mr. Hegseth will be immediately tested by ongoing conflicts caused by Russian aggression in Europe and Iranian-backed terror in the Middle East. He will have to grapple with an unfinished FY25 appropriations process that – without his intervention – risks further harming the readiness of our forces.

“By all accounts, brave young men and women join the military with the understanding that it is a meritocracy. This precious trust endures only as long as lawful civilian leadership upholds what must be a firewall between servicemembers and politics. The Biden Administration failed at this fundamental task. But the restoration of ‘warrior culture’ will not come from trading one set of culture warriors for another.

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[Audrey Fahlberg @AudreyFahlberg]

McConnell, Murkowski, and Collins all vote no on Trump’s pick to lead pentagon. Vance’s tie-breaking vote means he’ll get thru.

But tough to imagine tonight’s margin is great news for Trump’s DNI pick Tulsi Gabbard, whose confirmation hearing is next week. Read more in @NRO:

[Olivia Reingold @Olivia_Reingold]

what you are seeing is Eric Adams taking questions from reporters while getting his eyebrows done in Corona, Queens

[National Review @NRO]

After ditching a controversial proposal to ban menthol cigarettes last year, the Biden administration is working in its final days to push through yet another contentious tobacco proposal. | @brittybernstein

https://t.co/WGL4PBmT7J

[National Review @NRO]

Facebook’s Defunct ‘Fact-Checking’ Program Led to Years of Censorship | @brittybernstein

https://t.co/GUNBif4EXQ

[National Review @NRO]

In one respect, the WH comms team was successful: They convinced the press to cover for Biden's decline for years after his collapse became clear. | @brittybernstein's Forgotten Fact Checks

https://t.co/OY25iAFWoX

[Philip Melanchthon Wegmann @PhilipWegmann]

When it looked like Johnson would fail on the first ballot, Nancy Mace called Trump and put him on speakerphone.

Just off the floor, Trump leaned into the holdouts, Reps. Norman and Self.

“I won all these swing states," he said, telling them "you two are screwing it all up."

[Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur]

91-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley, who has served in Congress for 50 years (House from 1975-1981, Senate from 1981-present) is sworn in as Senate president pro tempore. That puts him third in line to the presidency.

[National Review @NRO]

From sympathizing with campus radicals to insisting that Biden is still in his prime, the media covered itself in glory this year. | @brittybernstein's Forgotten Fact Checks (Special Edition!)

https://t.co/kRZzVZ7TCp

[National Review @NRO]

Influencer marketing agencies were big winners this election season, thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris’s losing campaign. | @brittybernstein

https://t.co/Va3Mvo2Grg

[Kathryn Watson @kathrynw5]

Things a shutdown can do other than loom:

Approach
Advance
Close in
Hang
Hover
Near
Threaten

[Andrew Kaczynski @KFILE]

Esquire wrote an entire piece saying that people should “ shut the fuck up” about Hunter Biden’s pardon claiming that George H.W. Bush pardoned his son Neil.

The entire story has now been corrected to note this is not a thing that happened.

“ Esquire regrets the error.”