BUDGET/HOUSE OF REPS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Four months after President Trump proposed eliminating the cultural agencies altogether, a bill to continue to finance the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities won approval this week from the House appropriations committee. The House bill, part of the process of thrashing out the […]
7/20/2017
CRIME/RUSSIA/TREASURY: “The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday [7-20-17] imposed a $2 million fine on Exxon Mobil Corp. for what it called a ‘reckless disregard’ of U.S. sanctions on Russia while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the oil giant’s chief executive, a finding the company immediately said it would challenge. Exxon, under Mr. Tillerson, in […]
7/20/2017
GOP/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA: “The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee said he would issue subpoenas if witnesses refuse to appear at a Senate hearing next week that will largely focus on a June 2016 meeting between the president’s son, top Trump campaign advisers and a group of Russian advocates. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) said that […]
7/20/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/MEDICARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “Senate Republicans, scrambling to win support for their health-care bill, pushed a measure Thursday [7-20-17] that they said could ease the impact of the bill’s Medicaid cuts on low-income people. Advocating for the new direction is a little-known health official who is now at the center of the health-care fight: Seema Verma, head of […]
7/20/2017
FEDERAL RESERVE: “A Federal Reserve-sponsored task force is preparing to unveil proposals by financial institutions, payments providers, trade groups and others to improve the decades-old U.S. systems for moving money electronically. The faster payments task force, which is set to publish a summary report of the work on Friday [7-21-17], rated 16 proposals that met […]
7/20/2017
HOUSE OF REPS/LGBTQ/MILITARY: “Several House Republicans are working behind the scenes to revive a failed effort to bar the Pentagon from funding gender reassignment surgeries for troops. A mix of GOP defense hawks and conservatives are urging Speaker Paul Ryan and his team to use a procedural trick to automatically include the controversial proposal in […]
7/20/2017
IMMIGRATION/LABOR/TRUMP BUSINESS: “President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida has asked permission to hire 70 foreign workers this fall, attesting — in the middle of the White House’s ‘Made in America Week’ — that it cannot find qualified Americans to serve as cooks, waiters and housekeepers. Those requests were made to the Department of Labor in […]
7/20/2017
GOP/POLITICS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Billionaire health care mogul and GOP megadonor Mike Fernandez has one message to Republicans who don’t stand up to President Donald Trump: Grow a pair. ‘All the Republicans who hide behind the flag and hide the church, they don’t have the f—— balls to do what it takes,’ Fernandez told POLITICO Florida […]
7/20/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “The number of people without health insurance would rise by 22 million in a decade if a revised Senate Republican bill replaced large parts of the Affordable Care Act, while federal deficits would be cut by $420 billion, according to a report Thursday [7-20-17] from the Congressional Budget Office. The impact of the new […]
7/20/2017
DONALDISM: “I am asking all citizens to believe in yourselves, believe in your future, and believe, once more, in America. #AmericaFirst?? https://t.co/NOnhJyWp4J” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 20, 2017 03:08pm […]
7/20/2017
IMF: “The International Monetary Fund is failing to meet internal rules meant to increase transparency at the world’s emergency lender, according to a Wall Street Journal review of executive board documents. Missing from public view is potential insight into the fund’s high-level deliberations during one of the most eventful periods in its seven-decade history. The […]
7/20/2017
CRIME/FBI: “Two of the world’s largest online marketplaces for criminal goods have been shut down, law enforcement authorities said Thursday [7-20-17], in a global operation that also resulted in the arrest of their owners and the freezing of millions of dollars in alleged criminal proceeds. AlphaBay, which sold heroin, fentanyl, firearms, and other illicit goods […]
7/20/2017
TRUMP PEOPLE: “Departing The Pentagon after meetings with @VP Pence, Secretary James Mattis, and our great teams. #MAGA?? https://t.co/5d1MSzhjQS” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 20, 2017 12:27pm […]
7/20/2017
DRUGS/PHARMA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Thursday [7-20-17] announced a $500 million investment that Corning Inc is making with pharmaceutical giants Merck and Pfizer to manufacture a new kind of glass for injectable drug vials. At a White House event, Trump said the effort will create nearly 1,000 jobs at facilities in New York […]
7/20/2017
AFGHANISTAN/MILITARY/NATIONAL SECURITY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump, arriving at the Pentagon to huddle with national security leaders Thursday, said ‘we’ll see’ if more U.S. troops are going to be sent to Afghanistan. Trump convened a closed ‘political-military’ meeting that lasted about 90 minutes and covered a range of national security topics, including a review of Afghanistan […]
7/20/2017
DODD-FRANK/SEC: “Several regulators have dropped pursuit of a long-running plan to restrict bonuses on Wall Street, as part of a wider effort to stop working on unfinished rules put in place after the financial crisis. Government agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and several banking regulators, were directed under the 2010 Dodd-Frank law to […]
7/20/2017
RUSSIA/TREASURY/TRUMP PEOPLE/REX TILLERSON: “The Treasury Department said Thursday [7-20-17] it is fining Exxon Mobil Corp. $2 million for violating sanctions related to Russia in 2014, when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was CEO of the company. In May of that year, the presidents of Exxon Mobil’s U.S. subsidiaries ‘dealt in services of an individual whose […]
7/20/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/NEW YORK: “President Trump has yet to sign a Republican health care bill, but New York’s attorney general vowed this week to challenge it in court. The same day, a government watchdog group urged a federal judge to block Trump’s voter fraud commission from gathering sensitive state data. Environmental groups were busy as well. The […]
7/20/2017
FBI/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday [7-20-17] unanimously approved the nomination of Christopher Wray to be FBI director following the dismissal of the agency’s former chief, James Comey, by President Donald Trump. All 20 members of the committee voted to approve Wray, a white-collar crime lawyer and former assistant attorney general […]
7/20/2017
CYBERWAR/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Moscow and Washington are in talks to create a joint cyber security working group, Russia’s RIA news agency reported on Thursday [7-20-17], citing Andrey Krutskikh, a special presidential envoy on cyber security. U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month he had discussed the idea of creating such a group with President […]
7/20/2017
ECONOMY/TAXES: “Hedge-fund managers for years accumulated offshore gains without paying federal and state taxes. Now Uncle Sam is going to get paid. Steven Cohen is one of many managers preparing to write huge checks in early 2018 due to a crisis-era decision to close a tax loophole that long benefited some of Wall Street’s wealthiest […]
7/19/2017
COMMERCE/TRUMP EXEC ORDERS: ” ‘Establishing a Presidential Advisory Council on Infrastructure’ The order creates a Presidential Advisory Council on Infrastructure within the Department of Commerce in order to ‘advance infrastructure projects that create high-quality jobs for American workers, enhance productivity, improve quality of life, protect the environment, and strengthen economic growth.’ The council will be […]
7/19/2017
CRIME/TRUMP MEMORANDA: “A Message to the Congress of the United States Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days of the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice […]
7/19/2017
CRIME/TRUMP MEMORANDA: “Notice Regarding the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations On July 24, 2011, by Executive Order 13581, the President declared a national emergency with respect to transnational criminal organizations pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701–1706) to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat […]
7/19/2017
IMF/TRUMP FAMILY/IVANKA/WORLD BANK/WOMEN: “A billion-dollar World Bank initiative to advance women’s entrepreneurship, funded in part by Saudi Arabia and championed by Ivanka Trump, might seem a laughably easy target for reproach. There is Saudi Arabia’s treatment of women — they aren’t even allowed to drive alone — and the growing role of the ‘first daughter’ […]
7/19/2017
JOHN MCCAIN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon. https://t.co/fONWVlmYyz” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 19, 2017 09:33pm […]
7/19/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump returned to Twitter on Wednesday [7-19-17] morning and said that Republican senators must keep their promise to America, but he was not specific about which promise on health care legislation he was discussing. Republicans have been promising for seven years to undo President Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act, but […]
7/19/2017
CLIMATE CHANGE/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/USDA: “President Trump on Wednesday [7-19-17] nominated Sam Clovis, a former college professor and talk radio host who has challenged the scientific consensus that human activity has been the primary driver of climate change, to serve in the Agriculture Department’s top scientific post. ‘Dr. Clovis was one of the first people through […]
7/19/2017
2016 ELECTION/CYBERWAR/DHS/TRUMP PEOPLE/JOHN KELLY: “Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Wednesday [7-19-17] that states that aren’t asking Washington for help in protecting their election systems from hackers are ‘nuts.’ But while Kelly said he supported the Obama administration’s decision to designate U.S. election systems ‘critical infrastructure,’ given threats from Russia and other entities, he also […]
7/19/2017
ECONOMY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration says it is moving forward with its aggressive plans to shred government rules and regulations. The White House on Wednesday [7-19-17] released its first official report on its rollback efforts, claiming that during President Trump’s first five months in office it had brought about savings for the economy rather […]
7/19/2017
BANKING/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP BUSINESS: “During the presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump pointed to his relationship with Deutsche Bank to counter reports that big banks were skeptical of doing business with him. After a string of bankruptcies in his casino and hotel businesses in the 1990s, Mr. Trump became somewhat of an outsider on Wall Street, […]
7/19/2017
SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump has ended the clandestine American program to provide arms and supplies to Syrian rebel groups, American officials said, a recognition that the effort was failing and that the administration has given up hope of helping to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The decision came more than a month […]
7/19/2017
TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VOTER FRAUD: “President Trump’s commission investigating voter fraud held its first meeting Wednesday [7-19-17] amid a swirl of partisan acrimony and questions about whether it is looking for facts or has already decided which facts it is trying to find. The session featured an early statement by Mr. Trump, whose baseless claim that […]
7/19/2017
ATTORNEY GENERAL/JEFF SESSIONS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump said on Wednesday [7-19-17] that he never would have appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions had he known Mr. Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation that has dogged his presidency, calling the decision ‘very unfair to the president.’ In a remarkable public break with one of […]
7/19/2017
INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE/PAUL MANAFORT/UKRAINE: “Financial records filed last year in the secretive tax haven of Cyprus, where Paul J. Manafort kept bank accounts during his years working in Ukraine and investing with a Russian oligarch, indicate that he had been in debt to pro-Russia interests by as much as $17 million before he joined Donald J. […]
7/19/2017
MIKE PENCE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VOTER FRAUD: “President Donald Trump called on states to turn over voter records sought by his recently formed election-integrity commission at the panel’s first official meeting on Wednesday [7-19-17]… The panel, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence and formally called the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, has run into early legal […]
7/19/2017
FEDERAL RESERVE: “The Federal Reserve is likely to stand pat on policy when it concludes a two-day meeting next week, but it faces a debate about the future path of interest-rate increases because of a deepening puzzle over inflation. Officials will likely leave short-term rates unchanged and wait until September before announcing plans to slowly […]
7/19/2017
NAFTA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “The Trump administration on Wednesday [7-19-17] tapped a veteran trade official involved in the original North American Free Trade Agreement to lead new talks with Canada and Mexico on an overhaul of the agreement starting next month. John Melle, the current assistant U.S. trade representative for the Western Hemisphere, will […]
7/19/2017
2016 ELECTION/CAMPAIGN/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR/JARED KUSHNER/TRUMP PEOPLE/PAUL MANAFORT: “President Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and former campaign manager Paul Manafort have been asked to appear before U.S. Senate committees next week to answer questions about the campaign’s alleged connections to Russia, officials said on Wednesday [7-19-17]. The three men are the closest […]
7/19/2017
MILITARY/PAUL RYAN/POLITICS: “The congresswoman behind repeated attempts to debate repealing the 9/11-inspired Authorization for Use of Military Force says Rep. Paul Ryan foiled her latest bid ‘in the dead of night.’ In a pair of exasperated tweets, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) blamed the House Speaker for killing an amendment that could have reversed the President’s […]
7/19/2017
HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/PHARMA: “Fresh from battling the White House and Republicans in Congress over a now-sidelined repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the nation’s hospitals are ramping up for a new fight to keep lucrative pharmaceutical subsidies. A Trump administration proposal that could take effect in 2018 would cut a subsidy Medicare has given certain hospitals for […]
7/19/2017
ARMY/MILITARY/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration plans to name Mark Esper as its nominee for Army secretary, administration and congressional sources confirmed to CNN. Esper is the third person the Trump administration has named as its pick for Army secretary after the first two picks both dropped out — one over financial vetting issues and […]
7/19/2017
AFRICAN AMERICANS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump has declined an invitation to address the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Wednesday [7-19-17]. The White House did not offer any details on why Trump would not speak to the 108-year-old civil rights group… […]
7/19/2017
FBI/TRUMP FAMILY/IVANKA: “Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia assembled a group of more than 20 Democratic members of Congress to send a letter to the FBI on Wednesday [7-19-17] requesting the agency look into Ivanka Trump’s security clearance. In the letter, the Democrats ask that the FBI examine potential discrepancies in Trump’s SF-86 form, which […]
7/19/2017
ATTORNEY GENERAL/CRIME/DRUGS/JEFF SESSIONS: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ methodical dismantling of the Obama administration’s criminal justice policies rolled forward Wednesday [7-19-17] as the Justice Department announced plans to step up efforts to seize property and money suspected of being used in crime or obtained through illegal activity. Sessions encouraged a return to the broader use of […]
7/19/2017
LABOR/NAFTA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A day after the Trump administration unveiled its objectives for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, U.S. businesses and a major labor coalition sparred over the merits of an international arbitration system embedded in the agreement with Canada and Mexico. The arbitration provision, contained in Nafta’s Chapter 11 and known as […]
7/19/2017
DHS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The United States has ended a four month ban on passengers carrying laptops onboard U.S. bound flights from certain airports in the Middle East and North Africa, bringing to an end one of the controversial travel restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration. Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport was the last of […]
7/19/2017
BORDER/TAXES/TRADE DEALS: “An aggressive corporate lobbying effort to derail a Republican-backed border tax has forced lawmakers working on tax reform to seek alternatives, Kevin Brady, chairman of the tax-writing U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, said on Wednesday [7-19-17]. The proposed border adjustment tax on U.S. companies that move jobs abroad and import products back […]
7/19/2017
IMMIGRATION/SUPREME COURT/TRAVEL BAN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Wednesday [7-19-17] a bid by President Donald Trump to include grandparents and other relatives in his travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority countries. But in a partial win for Trump, the court gave the government more leeway to enforce a separate ban on […]
7/19/2017
BUDGET/MILITARY/SECRET SERVICE: “The U.S. government is paying more than $130,000 a month to lease space in Trump Tower for the military office that supports the White House, even though Donald Trump hasn’t spent a night at the New York skyscraper since becoming president. The government signed a $2.39 million lease to rent a 3,475 sq. […]
7/19/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “The Republicans never discuss how good their healthcare bill is, & it will get even better at lunchtime.The Dems scream death as OCare dies!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 19, 2017 07:46am […]
7/19/2017
ECONOMY/FEDERAL RESERVE: “Bond yields around the world have surged since the European Central Bank hinted last month that its bond buying was coming to an end, a replay of the ‘taper tantrum’ in 2013 when the Federal Reserve caught markets off guard with similar plans. Both episodes are fodder for a view widespread in markets, […]
7/19/2017
BANKING/CONGRESS/POLITICAL FIGURES/TOM COTTON: “The U.S. Congress could act within weeks to kill a new rule that bars financial companies from blocking consumers who wish to file class-action lawsuits, according to a key Republican senator. Senator Tom Cotton, a member of the Senate Banking Committee writing legislation to tackle the rule, said Wednesday [7-18-17] he was […]
7/19/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “I will be having lunch at the White House today with Republican Senators concerning healthcare. They MUST keep their promise to America!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 19, 2017 07:30am […]
7/19/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/POLITICS: “As their seven-year effort to repeal and replace Obamacare derailed in the U.S. Senate, Republicans faced the prospect of doing the once unthinkable: working with Democrats to make fixes to former President Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare law. Bipartisan breakthroughs would likely come in the form of individual bills targeted at issues such as stabilizing […]
7/19/2017
AMBASSADOR/NOMINATIONS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump announced his intention Tuesday [7-18-17] to nominate former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman to be U.S. ambassador to Russia. If confirmed, the former 2012 GOP presidential candidate would take over a high-profile post amid ongoing investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential contacts between Russian officials and the […]
7/19/2017
ECONOMY/ENVIRONMENT/INFRASTRUCTURE/JOBS/TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS: “By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Policy. It shall be the policy of the executive branch to advance infrastructure projects that create high-quality jobs for American workers, enhance productivity, improve […]
7/18/2017
RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a second, previously undisclosed talk on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg earlier this month, a White House official said Tuesday [7-18-17]. The conversation took place on the same day that the two leaders met earlier for more […]
7/18/2017
HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “With their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in tatters, Senate leaders on Tuesday [7-18-17] pushed to vote on a different measure that would repeal major parts of President Barack Obama’s health law without a replacement — but that plan appeared also to collapse. Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Shelley Moore […]
7/18/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump was fed up with the grind of health care legislation, and at a dinner with Republican senators on Monday [7-17-17] at the White House, he let them know it. He told the lawmakers how annoyed he was with one Republican who was not there, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who […]
7/18/2017
CLIMATE CHANGE/ENERGY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/RICK PERRY: “On his first official visit to this coal-seam state that voted overwhelmingly for Donald J. Trump, Energy Secretary Rick Perry praised the work of the scientists at a federal laboratory devoted to figuring out how to burn more coal with less pollution. ‘You and your predecessors have really worked […]
7/18/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “For the health-care system, it’s back to square one. Insurers, hospitals and state officials are facing the prospect that the Affordable Care Act will remain the law of the land for now at least, but they also are left with huge questions about how key aspects of the law will be handled under the […]
7/18/2017
STATE/TRUMP PEOPLE/REX TILLERSON: “The State Department office charged with combating war crimes may become the latest casualty of Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson’s plans to restructure his department, former American officials said on Tuesday [7-18-17]. Human rights advocates seized on the proposal as another example of what they assert is the Trump administration’s indifference […]
7/18/2017
FAKE NEWS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest! Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 18, 2017 07:59pm […]
7/18/2017
FAKE NEWS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is ‘sick.’ All G 20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 18, 2017 07:53pm […]
7/18/2017
CHINA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “As the Trump administration prepares for its first formal economic talks with China here Wednesday [7-19-17], Chinese officials highlighted their ability to quell trade tensions with the new American president, while some U.S. business groups expressed concern their government might not push Beijing hard enough. After Donald Trump’s November election, ‘many […]
7/18/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VENEZUELA: “The Trump administration said it was prepared to impose ‘strong and swift’ economic sanctions on Venezuela, including banning its crude-oil exports to the U.S., if its president moves ahead with a plan to rewrite the country’s constitution. A senior U.S. administration official said Tuesday [7-18-17] that the White House was considering […]
7/18/2017
TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP FAMILY/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Following the biggest legislative debacle of President Donald Trump’s first six months in office, the White House on Tuesday [7-18-17] was some hands on deck. The president’s most senior aides appeared eager to move on from the health care loss, busying themselves with their own pet projects. Counselor Kellyanne Conway […]
7/18/2017
BORDER/DHS/WALL: “President Donald Trump may have a vision of what his border wall should look like, but he’s not involved in the process to make those decisions, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Despite Trump’s recent comments on how the wall will take shape, including references to it including solar panels and transparency, Customs […]
7/18/2017
NOMINATIONS/SEC/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate former Senate Republican aide Hester Maria Peirce to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the White House said on Tuesday [7-18-17]. Peirce is a former Senate Banking Committee staff member and currently is the director of the Financial Markets Working Group at […]
7/18/2017
EPA/ETHICS/TRUMP PEOPLE/SCOTT PRUITT: “A Democratic member of the U.S. Senate committee that conducted confirmation hearings for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a letter Tuesday [7-18-17] that Oklahoma’s former attorney general presented ‘inconsistent and contradictory statements’ to the panel. Pruitt’s ‘misleading answers, evasiveness, and stonewalling’ had stymied the committee’s ability to provide oversight […]
7/18/2017
NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Senate on Tuesday [7-18-17] confirmed Patrick Shanahan to be the No. 2 official at the Pentagon, in a 92-7 vote. The final vote sailed through the Senate, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing for Shanahan on Capitol Hill. He was excoriated during his confirmation hearing last month by Sen. John McCain, […]
7/18/2017
TAXES/TREASURY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Treasury Department’s tax policy office said he wished he had acted differently when the accounting firm he helped lead was marketing aggressive tax shelters. David Kautter was director of Ernst & Young LLP’s national tax practice when the firm was selling sophisticated tax shelters to […]
7/18/2017
ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “Special counsel Robert Mueller has contacted an eighth attendee at a meeting arranged by Donald Trump Jr. between top campaign aides and a Russian lawyer, in the first public sign that Mr. Mueller’s probe will include the gathering last June at Trump Tower in New York. Mr. Mueller, who is investigating […]
7/18/2017
DEBT/EDUCATION/TRUMP PEOPLE/BETSY DEVOS: “One of the nine companies that manages the federal government’s $1.2 trillion portfolio of education loans is fighting to stop the Education Department from handing the job to a single contractor. The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, commonly known as MOHELA, filed a protest this month with the Government Accountability Office over […]
7/18/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “Senate GOP leaders gave up their effort to dismantle and simultaneously replace much of the Affordable Care Act, after the defections of two more Republican senators left the party short of the votes needed to pass President Donald Trump’s top legislative priority of his first seven months in office. In a stinging defection for […]
7/18/2017
NAFTA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration released its road map for remaking the North American Free Trade Agreement that aims to preserve ‘Buy America’ provisions and reduce the U.S. trade deficit, but steps back from some of President Donald Trump’s most fiery campaign rhetoric on trade with Mexico and Canada. The blueprint for a […]
7/18/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/INTELLIGENCE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Russia and the Trump administration are still at odds after a high-level meeting over the United States’ returning two diplomatic compounds to Russian control, a Kremlin official said today, while the United States was mum on the issue. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov met Monday [7-17-17] evening with U.S. Under […]
7/18/2017
HEALTHCARE/MIKE PENCE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “Vice President Mike Pence warned Republican lawmakers on Tuesday [7-18-17] that ‘inaction is not an option’ on Obamacare, urging Republicans to ‘do their jobs’ by passing legislation to undo former President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement. ‘Congress needs to step up,’ Pence said Tuesday in remarks at a National Retail Federation summit in […]
7/18/2017
INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “Special counsel investigators are seeking information from the still-publicly unidentified eighth person who attended the June 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower, this person’s attorney Scott Balber said Tuesday [7-18-17]. ‘The eighth person has been identified by prosecutors and we are cooperating fully with prosecutors as a result of […]
7/18/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/SUDAN: “In the capital of a country widely deemed a pariah state, the hustle is always on… But nearly two decades of U.S.-led international economic sanctions, which the U.S. delayed lifting last week, have locked this nation of 40 million people out of the Western financial system and spooked many investors. The financial isolation—along […]
7/18/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/IRAN/NATIONAL SECURITY/NUCLEAR: “The Trump administration on Tuesday [7-18-17] levied additional sanctions on Iran targeting its elite military unit and ballistic missile program. The move follows a late-night notification to Congress that Iran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal between six world powers and Iran, after some officials in the Trump administration made a […]
7/18/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “The Senate must go to a 51 vote majority instead of current 60 votes. Even parts of full Repeal need 60. 8 Dems control Senate. Crazy!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 18, 2017 08:26am […]
7/18/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “Two more Senate Republicans have declared their opposition to the latest plan to overhaul the nation’s health-care system, potentially ending a months-long effort to make good on a GOP promise that has defined the party for nearly a decade and been a top priority for President Trump. Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Jerry Moran […]
7/18/2017
DEMS/GOP: “With only a very small majority, the Republicans in the House & Senate need more victories next year since Dems totally obstruct, no votes!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 18, 2017 08:15am […]
7/17/2017
LABOR/LOBBYING/NAFTA/WTO: “The U.S. dairy lobby is ratcheting up the pressure on Canada as talks to renegotiate NAFTA draw closer, demanding concessions the Canadian government looks unwilling to grant, according to people familiar with the file. The result could be a brawl that sours efforts to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement, under which Canada […]
7/18/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 18, 2017 06:58am […]
7/18/2017
DEMS/GOP: “We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republicans were loyal, terrific & worked really hard. We will return!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 18, 2017 06:53am […]
7/18/2017
BUDGET/GOP/TAXES: “House Republicans unveiled a 2018 budget plan Tuesday [7-18-17] that would pave the way for ambitious tax reform legislation — but only alongside a package of politically sensitive spending cuts that threaten to derail the tax rewrite before it begins. GOP infighting over spending, health care and other matters continues to cast doubt on […]
7/18/2017
GOP/HOUSE OF REPS/TAXES: “House Republicans are unveiling an ambitious fiscal plan on Tuesday [7-18-17] that could let them rewrite the tax code, revamp medical malpractice laws, change federal employees’ retirement benefits and partially repeal the Dodd-Frank financial regulations—all in a single law without any votes from Democrats. The strategy, embedded in the House GOP fiscal […]
7/17/2017
STATE/TRUMP PEOPLE/REX TILLERSON: “Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson is moving ahead with plans to restructure his department, and has hired two consulting groups to assist with the process, according to a cable sent to embassies around the world. In the cable, Mr. Tillerson said he had hired Deloitte and Insigniam to help oversee the […]
7/17/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 17, 2017 09:17pm […]
7/17/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/IRAN/NATIONAL SECURITY/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump agreed on Monday [7-17-17] to certify again that Iran is complying with an international nuclear agreement that he has strongly criticized, but only after hours of arguing with his top national security advisers, briefly upending a planned announcement as a legal deadline loomed. Mr. Trump has repeatedly condemned […]
7/17/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS: “In the end, Republicans relearned a lesson that has bedeviled them since the New Deal: An American entitlement, once established, can almost never be retracted. Since the day the Affordable Care Act passed Congress, Republicans have vowed to overturn it. In the beginning, many voters were with them, handing the Republican Party some […]
7/17/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “The White House has met with at least three actual or prospective primary challengers to Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake in recent weeks, a reflection of Donald Trump’s strained relations with the senator and the latest sign of the president’s willingness to play hardball with lawmakers who cross him — even Republican incumbents. Flake, a […]
7/15/2017
2016 ELECTION/ECONOMY/SPORTS: “Just got to the #USWomensOpen in Bedminster, New Jersey. People are really happy with record high stock market – up over 17% since election!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 15, 2017 03:29pm […]
7/17/2017
CAMPAIGN/POLITICS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “He ran on a promise to end politics as usual. But on Monday [7-17-17] morning, President Trump posted a defense on Twitter of his son’s meeting with a Russian lawyer promising sensitive government information that could be damaging to Hillary Clinton by saying that it was simply politics as usual. […]
7/17/2017
AFGHANISTAN/MILITARY/UN: “The long war in Afghanistan continues to set records for civilian casualties, the United Nations mission in the country said on Monday [7-17-17], even as the violence is expected to intensify in the coming months with no hope of peace talks anytime soon. In the first six months of 2017, 1,662 civilians were killed, […]
7/17/2017
TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VOTER FRAUD: “Thousands of peeved voters are removing themselves from state voter rolls, prompted by a fear that their personal information could be revealed by President Donald Trump’s vote fraud commission. The number of those ‘unregistering’ ranges from several thousand in Colorado to hundreds in Vermont and a handful in some other states, […]
7/17/2017
ETHICS/POLITICAL FIGURES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALTER SHAUB: “Actions by President Trump and his administration have created a historic ethics crisis, the departing head of the Office of Government Ethics said. He called for major changes in federal law to expand the power and reach of the oversight office and combat the threat. Walter M. Shaub Jr., who […]