The Hill reports: The Trump administration is proposing to repeal completely Obama-era standards governing hydraulic fracturing on federal land. The proposal from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is due to be published Tuesday in the Federal Register. The landmark 2015 regulation set standards in areas such as disclosure of fracking chemicals and integrity of well casing. It …

CNN reports: Among those who viewed the President’s public rebuke of Sessions as unprofessional, according to several sources, is Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former Exxon-Mobil CEO. Tillerson has a growing list of differences with the White House, including a new debate over Iran policy and personnel. His frustration is hardly a secret and it has spilled out publicly …

The Daily Beast reports: President Trump kicked off Monday morning with a tweet that seemed to reflect his open hostility towards Jeff Sessions, his own appointee as attorney general. “So why aren’t the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?” the president wrote, describing his long-time supporter Sessions as troubled. …

Politico reports: The New York Times on Sunday took the unusual step of requesting an apology from a competitor, asking “Fox & Friends” to retract a report that the Times was to blame for the 2015 escape of an ISIS leader. Fox subsequently updated the story on its website with the NYT letter. “I am writing on behalf of The …

Via Mediaite: “Republicans need to get a backbone,” Chaffetz started, defiantly. “Every time the Democrats say they need to call up Jared Kushner or Don Jr. — call up Chelsea Clinton, call up the Clintons.” “There we have an inspector general who issues a report stating an actual crime. You have Bill Clinton, the former president, taking millions and millions …

Gallup reports: President Donald Trump, who has averaged 40% job approval since his inauguration, received approval ratings of 50% or higher in 17 states in the first half of 2017. Residents in an equal number of states gave him approval ratings below 40%. In 16 states, his ratings ranged between 40% and 49%. Consistent with the broader geographic patterns of …

Talking Points Memo reports: The President began the week claiming that Washington, D.C. is “much worse than anyone ever thought,” taking to Twitter to make yet another jab at the news media. Using one of his campaign tag-lines “Drain the Swamp,” President Donald Trump said the phrase should be changed to “Drain the Sewer” instead, saying it “begins with the …

The Washington Post reports: Jared Kushner, President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, plans to detail four meetings he had with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign and transition period — including one set up by Donald Trump Jr. with a Russian lawyer — but will deny any improper contacts or collusion in testimony to a congressional panel on Monday. Kushner …

CBS News reports: President Trump tweeted Sunday a complaint that Republicans aren’t doing enough to protect him. “It’s very sad that Republicans, even some that were carried over the line on my back, do very little to protect their President,” he tweeted. It’s not clear what he’s referring to, although a tweet just before decried the “phony Russian Witch Hunt.” …

CBS News reports: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation Friday requiring the state to give guidance to public schools about policies for transgender students, including blocking the schools from forcing the students from using bathrooms that conflict with their gender identities. The civil rights group Garden State Equality applauded the Republican governor for signing the measure saying that Christie …

The Wrap reports: He may have won the White House, but Donald Trump apparently lost out on another coveted honor: voicing a character on “The Simpsons.” During the animated show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel on Saturday, a fan asked if the long-running Fox series has ever turned down a celebrity’s request to join the Springfield fray. After pausing for a …

Propaganda Minister Kellyanne Conway appeared on CNN’s Reliable Sources this morning to scream at host Brian Stelter for 26 minutes, at one point taunting him to name “one big scandal” of the Trump administration. More from Mediaite: With Conway rattling off a number of issues that she would like CNN to cover more while saying that it is “an outlet …

The Hill reports: White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on Sunday said that President Trump does not have to pardon anyone in connection with the Russia investigation. During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Scaramucci was asked about Trump’s tweet in which he said: “While all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon, why …

The Associated Press reports: The Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, a prominent figure in the controversy over Russia’s possible involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, has ended his assignment in Washington. The Russian Embassy in Washington announced on Twitter that Kislyak’s tenure ended on Saturday. Kislyak’s successor has not been announced, although it is widely expected …

TOO easy. Politico reports: The U.K. government invited U.S. President Donald Trump for talks with Prime Minister Theresa May in a “dummy run” ahead of an official visit, the Daily Mail reported. Trump will be offered a state visit next year, but only if his low-profile trip is a success, the newspaper said. The dummy visit is in response to …

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: About 30 people gathered outside CNN’s Atlanta headquarters Saturday to protest the network’s coverage of President Donald Trump. “Beware fake news” and “CNN. Criminal News Network” were some of the messages they delivered to people walking nearby and to fellow political conservatives watching the demonstration via live feed on Breitbart.com. The protest was the second recently …

Newly hired White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci this afternoon announced that he’s deleting all his old tweets that disagree with Trump’s agenda. Much to the pain of the haters, yesterday liberal Twitter took joy in sharing Scaramucci’s apparently now-discarded progressive positions on climate change, immigration, abortion, and same-sex marriage. And if there was any doubt that Scaramucci has sold …

ABC News reports: John Heard, known for his memorable roles in the “Home Alone” movies and “The Sopranos,” died on Friday, the Santa Clara County medical examiner’s office confirmed to ABC News. Heard was 71, the medical examiner said. Heard’s rep did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment, and the details of his death remain unknown. Born …

NBC News reports: President Trump has announced plans to spend 18 days vacationing at his “summer White House” in Bedminster, New Jersey, in August, and while some residents look forward to the commander in chief’s stay, others see days of protests and added inconveniences, including a miles-wide flight restriction on the area. Starting August 3, Trump will stay at his …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s eldest son and his former campaign chairman won’t testify publicly next week and are instead discussing being privately interviewed by a Senate committee investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, the panel said. The committee initially called for Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort to appear publicly Wednesday. But the top Republican and …