BUDGET/CABINET/STATE/TRUMP PEOPLE/REX TILLERSON: “Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will defend the Trump administration’s proposal to cut almost one third of the State Department budget in the face of tough questioning from lawmakers on Tuesday and Wednesday [6-14-17]. Mr. Tillerson’s congressional appearances, beginning Tuesday morning before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will be the first time he […]
6/13/2017
FAKE NEWS/MEDIA: “Fake News is at an all time high. Where is their apology to me for all of the incorrect stories???” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 13, 2017 07:48am […]
6/13/2017
ATTORNEY GENERAL/HILLARY CLINTON: “A.G. Lynch made law enforcement decisions for political purposes…gave Hillary Clinton a free pass and protection. Totally illegal!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 13, 2017 07:45am […]
6/13/2017
TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration on Monday [6-12-17] threw out a new rule intended to limit the numbers of endangered whales and sea turtles getting caught in fishing nets off the West Coast, saying existing protections were already working. Economically, the new rule would have had ‘a much more substantial impact on the fleet […]
6/13/2017
HEALTHCARE/OBAMCARE(ACA): “State officials and public-health groups are pushing the Senate to preserve billions of dollars that go to local health programs, from vaccines to antismoking campaigns, that would be halted under the House Republican bill to topple the Affordable Care Act. Officials from states led by both parties are rattled because the House-approved health-care overhaul […]
6/13/2017
IMMIGRATION/TRAVEL BAN: “Well, as predicted, the 9th Circuit did it again – Ruled against the TRAVEL BAN at such a dangerous time in the history of our country. S.C.” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 13, 2017 05:44am […]
6/13/2017
FAKE NEWS/MEDIA: “The Fake News Media has never been so wrong or so dirty. Purposely incorrect stories and phony sources to meet their agenda of hate. Sad!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 13, 2017 05:35am […]
6/12/2017
FEDERAL RESERVE/TREASURY: “The Federal Reserve, which holds more bonds than any other investor, is planning how to shed some of them starting this year. And no one is too worried about it. The Fed is expected to announce in the near future a plan to gradually reduce its $4.5 trillion portfolio of Treasuries and mortgage-backed […]
6/12/2017
IMMIGRATION/TRAVEL BAN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A second federal appeals court on Monday [6-12-17] ruled against President Trump’s revised travel ban. The decision, from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, was the latest in a string of court rulings rejecting the administration’s efforts to limit travel from several predominantly Muslim […]
6/12/2017
TRUMP FAMILY/MELANIA: “With a single tweet on Sunday [6-11-17] evening, Melania Trump made it official: the White House is no longer operating with a first lady in absentia. FLOTUS has moved in. ‘Looking forward to the memories we’ll make in our new home! #Movingday,’ read the tweet, which featured a picture from inside the Executive […]
6/12/2017
CONFLICT OF INTEREST/ETHICS/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “In a new legal challenge to President Trump, Maryland and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Monday [6-12-17] alleging that his failure to shed his private businesses has undermined public trust and violated constitutional bans against self-dealing. The lawsuit, filed in a Maryland federal court, makes many of the […]
6/12/2017
IMMIGRATION: “The Trump administration is shuttering a program designed to keep vulnerable asylum seekers — mainly mothers and young children, including pregnant and nursing women — out of detention. The program was piloted by the Obama administration after a 2014 crisis in detention centers brought on by a surge of families and unaccompanied minors trying […]
6/12/2017
CABINET/INTERIOR/TRUMP PEOPLE/RYAN ZINKE: “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Monday proposed significantly scaling back the borders of a national monument in southeastern Utah, in a legally unprecedented move that opponents say violates a century-old law signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. Bears Ears National Monument is a 1.3-million-acre conservation area that was designated by President Barack Obama […]
6/12/2017
TRUMP FAMILY/IVANKA: “Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand called off a deal with a major Japanese apparel company after learning that it was backed by the Japanese government, Ms. Trump’s company said in a letter made public on Monday [6-12-17]. The New York Times reported in December that Ms. Trump’s company was finalizing the agreement when Ms. […]
6/12/2017
CYBERWAR: “America’s fast-growing ranks of secret cyberwarriors have in recent years blown up nuclear centrifuges in Iran and turned to computer code and electronic warfare to sabotage North Korea’s missile launches, with mixed results. But since they began training their arsenal of cyberweapons on a more elusive target, internet use by the Islamic State, the […]
6/12/2017
HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “Ohio’s influential Republican governor, John R. Kasich, said on Monday [6-12-17] that he could accept a gradual phaseout of the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, but only if Congress provides states with more money than the House health care bill included and more flexibility to manage the health program for the […]
6/12/2017
STEVE MNUCHIN/TREASURY/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday [6-12-17] that the U.S. government can be funded through ‘the beginning of September’ and urged lawmakers to raise the federal borrowing limit before they leave for their summer recess. He reiterated remarks he made last week that if Congress doesn’t raise the federal borrowing limit before […]
6/12/2017
NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump began on Monday [6-12-17] to nominate replacements for dozens of United States attorneys whom he fired shortly after taking office, sending eight names to the Senate for confirmation as chief federal prosecutors in their regions. Mr. Trump purged most of the nation’s top federal prosecutors in March, demanding their immediate […]
6/12/2017
EPA/FOREIGN POLICY/TRUMP PEOPLE/SCOTT PRUITT: “The Trump administration’s top environment official left a meeting with international counterparts early, boarding a plane home to tell President Donald Trump the US position was ‘received well.’ ‘I actually arrived back this morning at 1 o’clock from Italy, the G7 focused on the environment,’ Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt […]
6/12/2017
CABINET/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Finally held our first full @Cabinet meeting today. With this great team, we can restore American prosperity and br… https://t.co/b0roksHTFE” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 12, 2017 04:10pm […]
6/12/2017
CHINA/TRUMP BUSINESS/TRUMP FAMILY/IVANKA: “The Ivanka Trump brand is pushing to protect intellectual property in China, winning approvals for four more trademarks since April 20 despite repeated questions from lawmakers about whether she is using her position in the White House to help her company. On Monday, Democratic lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee said the […]
6/12/2017
CHINA/FOREIGN POLICY/NORTH KOREA: “The Trump administration has asked Beijing to take action against nearly 10 Chinese companies and individuals to curb their trading with North Korea, according to senior U.S. officials, as part of a strategy to decapitate the key networks that support Pyongyang’s nuclear-weapons program. Although there is no firm deadline, the U.S. has […]
6/12/2017
CLIMATE CHANGE/FOREIGN POLICY: “Rifts between the United States and its leading industrial allies over climate change deepened on Monday [6-12-17] when Washington refused to subscribe fully to a Group of Seven statement on the environment. The U.S. said it would not sign up to a pledge by Italy, Canada, Japan, France, Britain and Germany which […]
6/12/2017
JOBS: “Congratulations! ‘First New Coal Mine of Trump Era Opens in Pennsylvania’ https://t.co/aIRllxNLQA” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 12, 2017 12:59pm […]
6/12/2017
BANKING/TREASURY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration will recommend limits on the U.S. consumer-finance regulator and a reassessment of a broad range of banking rules in a report to be released as early as Monday [6-12-17], according to people familiar with the matter. The report from the Treasury Department, drafted in response to a February executive […]
6/12/2017
IMMIGRATION/SUPREME COURT: “The Supreme Court on Monday [6-12-17] struck down a federal law that treats children born overseas to unmarried parents differently for purposes of citizenship depending upon whether the biological father or mother is a US citizen. Under the law, US citizen fathers have to spend at least five years in the states before […]
6/12/2017
ATTORNEY GENERAL/LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE/JEFF SESSIONS: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify at a public hearing of the Senate intelligence committee Tuesday [6-13-17] afternoon, the committee said in a statement. This will be the first time Sessions has testified in Congress since he recused himself from the Justice Department’s probe into Russian meddling in last year’s election […]
6/12/2017
HHS/MEDICARE: “Medicare erroneously paid an estimated $729 million to doctors and other health professionals under a multibillion-dollar federal initiative designed to shift the health-care system from paper records to computer files, according to a new federal audit. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, which conducted the audit, said Medicare, […]
6/12/2017
POLITICS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “According to the White House website, the role of the Office of Communications is to ‘craft the message’ President Trump delivers to the world. But that’s obviously total crap. Trump crafts his own message and delivers it himself to the world every day via Twitter. The role of his entirely superfluous communications […]
6/12/2017
LGBTQ: “We will NEVER FORGET the victims who lost their lives one year ago today in the horrific #PulseNightClub shooting.… https://t.co/7lZGgDJkxZ” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 12, 2017 11:58am […]
6/12/2017
CABINET/INTERIOR/TRUMP PEOPLE/RYAN ZINKE: “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke informed President Donald Trump on Monday [6-12-17] that he was delaying his decision on the controversial Bears Ears National Monument, putting off the final decision until later in 2017. In a memo to the President, Zinke says he has produced at ’45-day interim report’ on the national monument […]
6/12/2017
TRUMP FAMILY/IVANKA: “Ivanka Trump said Monday [6-12-17] she is surprised by the ‘viciousness’ of the media covering her father’s presidency, referring to the growing ‘cloud’ of distractions resulting from the Russia probe. President Donald Trump’s daughter and top adviser also said on ‘Fox & Friends’ that her father felt ‘vindicated’ by James Comey’s testimony last […]
6/12/2017
HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Iowa officials are seeking federal permission to implement a plan that would alter major aspects of the Affordable Care Act in the state, an effort that will draw close attention from other states facing a meltdown of their health-insurance marketplaces next year. Trump administration officials said they were aware of the Iowa […]
6/12/2017
GOP/LEGAL/POLITICS; “Montana’s next congressman, Greg Gianforte, avoided jail time Monday [6-12-17] after pleading guilty to assaulting a reporter the day before he was elected. Gallatin County Justice of the Peace Rick West sentenced the Republican technology entrepreneur to 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management counseling and ordered him to pay a […]
6/12/2017
CALIFORNIA/CHINA/CLIMATE CHANGE: “In the space of 24 hours, California Gov. Jerry Brown flew out of China after signing bilateral climate change deals and meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing and returned home to host the German environment minister in San Francisco. Showing almost no sign of jet lag, the governor, 79, punctuated every word […]
6/12/2017
JOHN MCCAIN/OBAMA/POLITICS: “Sen. John McCain — who once called former President Barack Obama’s foreign policy ‘feckless’ — insisted that his 2008 presidential rival still provided more American global leadership than the current president. The Arizona Republican was asked in an interview published Sunday if America’s standing on the global stage was better under Obama than […]
6/12/2017
GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/POLITICS/PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS: “Donald Trump’s top campaign promise of repealing Obamacare remains unfinished as the President heads into Washington’s sweltering summer months. With the Republican Party’s most pressing undertaking stuck in limbo, GOP senators and aides are beginning to wonder about one undesirable outcome: that the Senate takes a vote on a health care bill in […]
6/12/2017
COMMERCE/LABOR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration intends to unveil this week a plan to trim regulations it believes constrain U.S. manufacturing growth, potentially affecting environmental permits, worker safety and labor rules, an administration official said. The U.S. Commerce Department’s regulations ‘hit list’ recommendations follow more than three months of study and consultation with industry on […]
6/11/2017
DRUGS/HHS/PHARMA/TRUMP PEOPLE/TOM PRICE: “Five years ago, Vivitrol was a treatment for opioid addiction that was struggling to find a market. Now, its sales and profile are rising fast, thanks to its manufacturers’ shrewd use of political connections, and despite scant science to prove the drug’s efficacy. Last month, the health and human services secretary, Tom […]
6/11/2017
LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Marc E. Kasowitz, a New York civil litigator who represented President Trump for 15 years in business and boasts of being called the toughest lawyer on Wall Street, has suddenly become the field marshal for a White House under siege. He is a personal lawyer for the president, not a government […]
6/11/2017
MILITARY: “The United States military said on Sunday [6-11-17] that it had carried out a drone strike in southern Somalia against the Shabab, the Qaeda-linked insurgent group — apparently the first such strike since President Trump relaxed targeting rules for counterterrorism operations in that country in March. The strike, which the military said targeted a […]
6/11/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/UK: “President Trump is considering scrapping or postponing a planned visit to Britain this year amid a billowing backlash over comments he made after the recent terrorist attack in London, two administration officials said. Over the past week, Mr. Trump has expressed increasing skepticism to aides about the trip after coming under […]
6/11/2017
POLITICS/PUERTO RICO/VOTING: “With schools shuttered, pensions at risk and the island under the authority of an oversight board in New York City, half a million Puerto Ricans voted overwhelmingly on Sunday [6-11-17] to become America’s 51st state, in a flawed election most voters sat out. With nearly all of the precincts reporting, 97 percent of […]
6/11/2017
ECONOMY/TRUMP EXEC ORDERS: “Great numbers on the economy. All of our work, including the passage of many bills & regulation killing Executive Orders, now kicking in!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 11, 2017 09:14pm […]
6/11/2017
CONFLICT OF INTEREST/ETHICS/TRUMP BUSINESS: “Government lawyers said Friday [6-9-17] that the U.S. Constitution permits President Donald Trump’s hotels and other businesses to accept payments from foreign governments, in response to a lawsuit alleging such payments violate the Constitution. Instead of divesting after he was elected president, Mr. Trump put his business assets into a trust […]
6/11/2017
TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “Donald Trump Jr. on Saturday [6-10-17] seemed to back up former FBI Director James Comey’s claim that President Donald Trump asked him to drop the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. ‘When he tells you to do something, guess what? There’s no ambiguity in it,’ Trump Jr. said on Fox […]
6/11/2017
DRUGS/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “The nation’s worsening opioid crisis has become another sticking point in Republican plans to dismantle major portions of the Affordable Care Act, with key GOP senators hesitating to support a bill that could threaten addiction treatment for millions of people. Several provisions of the ACA, also known as Obamacare, allowed millions of Americans seeking […]
6/11/2017
DEMS: “The Democrats have no message, not on economics, not on taxes, not on jobs, not on failing #Obamacare. They are only OBSTRUCTIONISTS!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 11, 2017 07:49am […]
6/11/2017
JAMES COMEY/LEAKS: “I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very ‘cowardly!’ “ -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 11, 2017 07:29am […]
6/11/2017
ECONOMY/FAKE NEWS/MEDIA: “The #FakeNews MSM doesn’t report the great economic news since Election Day. #DOW up 16%. #NASDAQ up 19.5%. Drilling & energy sector… way up. Regulations way down. 600,000+ new jobs added. Unemployment down to 4.3%. Business and economic enthusiasm way up- record levels!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 11, 2017 07:22 to 07:23am […]
6/10/2017
LABOR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump next week will make expansion of apprenticeship programs the center of his labor policy, aimed at filling a record level of open jobs and drawing back Americans who have left the workforce. Apprenticeships are an underused form of workforce training in the U.S. compared with European countries and have […]
6/10/2017
INFRASTRUCTURE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “America is going to build again. Under budget and ahead of schedule. Time to put #AmericaFirst! #InfrastructureWeek… https://t.co/D5TbbjXcN3” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 10, 2017 03:52pm […]
5/31/2017
CLIMATE CHANGE/FOREIGN POLICY: “I will be announcing my decision on Paris Accord, Thursday at 3:00 P.M. The White House Rose Garden. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 31, 2017 08:05pm […]
6/9/2017
ECONOMY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Time to start building in our country, with American workers & with American iron, aluminum & steel. It is time to… https://t.co/rGZCRyeCMZ” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 9, 2017 08:38pm […]
6/9/2017
HEALTHCARE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “Not long after President Trump took the oath of office, a busload of women’s health advocates made the first of a series of 860-mile round trips from Las Vegas to the Nevada capital, Carson City. Their mission: to push state legislators to expand insurance coverage for contraception. It worked. On Saturday [6-3-17], […]
6/9/2017
JAMES COMEY/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “After remaining mute on Thursday [6-8-17] during harsh testimony from the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey accusing him of lying, President Trump tweeted early Friday that Mr. Comey had given him ‘vindication’ in the Russia investigation. ‘Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication,’ he wrote at […]
6/9/2017
GOP/PAUL RYAN/POLITICS: “Speaker Paul D. Ryan sought to excuse President Trump’s overtures to James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, about pulling the plug on an investigation as a stumble by a political novice unfamiliar with the strict conventions of the capital. ‘He’s just new to this,’ said Mr. Ryan, noting that Mr. Trump ‘wasn’t […]
6/9/2017
DONALDISM: “It is time to rebuild OUR country, to bring back OUR jobs, to restore OUR dreams, & yes, to put #AmericaFirst! TY O… https://t.co/2b2bXwxGkA” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 9, 2017 05:52pm […]
6/9/2017
TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A great honor to host and welcome leaders from around America to the @WhiteHouse Infrastructure Summit.… https://t.co/5f6cN3HboQ” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 9, 2017 01:48pm […]
6/9/2017
RELIGION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “An honor to join the @FaithandFreedom Coalition yesterday. In America, we don’t worship government. We worship God.… https://t.co/1ds8BrzUQe” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 9, 2017 01:28pm […]
6/9/2017
ATTORNEY GENERAL/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE/JEFF SESSIONS: “Former FBI Director James Comey told senators in a closed hearing Thursday afternoon that Attorney General Jeff Sessions may have had a third interaction with Russia’s ambassador to the US, according to people familiar with the briefing. Comey explained that the possibility there could have been another encounter was not […]
6/9/2017
DODD-FRANK/GOP: “Congratulations to Jeb Hensarling & Republicans on successful House vote to repeal major parts of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law. GROWTH!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 9, 2017 09:22am […]
6/9/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/SOUTH KOREA: “A top South Korean national-security official sought to tamp down concerns about the government’s commitment to a controversial U.S. missile-defense system, days after Seoul raised alarms about whether it would proceed with the deployment. Chung Eui-yong, the head of South Korea’s presidential National Security Office, said the new left-leaning government under President […]
6/9/2017
EPA/LEGAL: “More than a dozen attorneys general wrote to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency vowing a legal fight to block regulators from easing vehicle-emissions standards, the latest broadside in a battle over the Trump administration’s move to reopen a review of the regulations. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and 12 other attorneys […]
6/9/2017
DRUGS/PHARMA: “U.S. sales of blockbuster prostate-cancer drugs have dropped sharply since the start of a federal investigation into charities that help patients pay for these drugs, a sign of how much the pharmaceutical industry relies on these foundations to support revenue. Drugmakers donate hundreds of millions of dollars a year to charities that help U.S. […]
6/9/2017
LABOR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/ALEXANDER ACOSTA: “When President Donald Trump took office, many in the financial industry were confident that a looming retirement-savings rule they had opposed for years would soon be dead. To their dismay, the core principle of the rule was implemented Friday [6-9-17]. The resilience of the so-called fiduciary rule is partly attributable […]
6/9/2017
JAMES COMEY/LEAKS: “Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication…and WOW, Comey is a leaker!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 9, 2017 05:10am […]
6/8/2017
POLITICS/TRUMP PEOPLE/TOM COTTON: “To be a Senate Republican in President Trump’s Washington is to moonlight as a sort of executive life coach, coaxing the commander in chief toward discipline and conservative policy in the face of 140-character headwinds. And perhaps no lawmaker is more committed to this difficult work than the chamber’s youngest member: Senator […]
6/8/2017
DEMS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Senate Democrats said they were disturbed and had more questions about President Donald Trump’s conduct following former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony Thursday — but they weren’t ready to say he obstructed justice. While their House counterparts have already started drawing up articles of impeachment, Senate Democrats danced around the obstruction of […]
6/8/2017
CRIME/DRUGS/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The federal prison population is expected to grow next year by 4,171 to a total of 191,493 as the Trump administration steps up prosecutions of illegal immigrants and drug offenders, reversing the trend toward a smaller prison population under former President Barack Obama. That estimate of 2% growth in fiscal 2018 was […]
6/8/2017
ETHICS/GOP/NOMINATIONS: “South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy has been selected Thursday [6-8-17] to be the next chairman of the House oversight committee, the powerful entity charged with providing oversight over the White House and administration. A source familiar with the vote by the Republican steering committee told CNN that Gowdy will replace outgoing chairman Utah […]
6/8/2017
FBI/JAMES COMEY/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Accusations of lying whizzed across Washington Thursday [6-8-17] as fired FBI Director James Comey concluded his bombshell session on Capitol Hill. Comey himself suggested during his three-hour sworn testimony that President Donald Trump had a shaky commitment to telling the truth. The White House decried the accusation. Meanwhile, Trump’s outside lawyer […]
6/8/2017
RELIGION/SUPPORTERS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump sought comfort in the figurative embrace of his evangelical supporters Thursday [6-8-17] as the FBI director he recently fired told Congress about their conversations, telling a religious gathering that they are ‘under siege’ but will emerge ‘bigger and better and stronger than ever.’ Trump made no reference to Comey […]
6/8/2017
MILITARY/SYRIA: “US aircraft shot down a pro-Syrian regime drone that fired on coalition forces patrolling with partner forces in southern Syria, a coalition spokesman told reporters on Thursday. This is the first time that pro-Syrian regime forces — which the US says includes Iranian-backed Shia militias — have fired on the US-led coalition. The pro-regime […]
6/8/2017
LEAKS/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “While President Trump stayed unusually silent on James Comey, his lawyer stressed Thursday [6-8-17] that Comey’s testimony proved that Trump did not collude with Russia during last year’s election nor try to obstruct justice in the FBI investigation — and went on to accuse the former FBI director of directing unauthorized news […]
6/8/2017
ATTORNEY GENERAL/TRUMP PEOPLE/JEFF SESSIONS: “The White House on Thursday [6-8-17] finally affirmed that President Donald Trump has confidence in his attorney general, two days after reporters first began asking whether he does. ‘Absolutely, the president has confidence in all of his Cabinet and if he didn’t they wouldn’t be here,’ White House deputy press secretary […]
6/8/2017
DEMS/GOP/POLITICS: “Democrats are jumping on Georgia congressional candidate Karen Handel for saying she’s against a ‘livable wage’ during a debate in the Peach State Tuesday night. When asked about her position on minimum wage, Handel, a Republican, responded: ‘This is an example of a fundamental difference between a liberal and a conservative. I do not […]
6/8/2017
FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY/LEGAL: “Former FBI chief James Comey said Thursday [6-8-17]the Trump administration ‘chose to defame me,’ told ‘lies, plain and simple’ and that he was ‘confused’ by President Donald Trump saying he was fired due to the Russia probe. ‘The administration chose to defame me and, more importantly, the FBI by saying the organization was […]
6/8/2017
DEBT/ECONOMY/POLITICS: “Once again, economists must consider the risk that Congress may be unable to easily deal with the nation’s statutory borrowing limit. Forecasters in The Wall Street Journal’s monthly survey have raised their assessments of the risk facing the U.S. economy. For the first time since the presidential election, a majority of economists in the […]
6/8/2017
POLITICS: “Greg Gianforte, the Montana congressman-elect who is accused of ‘body slamming’ a Guardian reporter, sent a letter of apology and will plead no contest to the misdemeanor assault charge, according to documents. Gianforte also pledged to donate $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an organization that promotes press freedom, as part of a […]
6/8/2017
FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY: “FBI Director James Comey has sparked a new round of questions surrounding whether or not President Trump has decided to record conversations that occur in the White House. During his remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday [6-8-17], Comey said he never expected that the president might be recording his conversations until […]
6/8/2017
HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/POLITICS: “Obamacare markets are undergoing a slow-motion meltdown as Republicans stoke a climate of uncertainty while struggling to agree on their own plan for overhauling American health care. The steady march of insurers that have announced plans to exit marketplaces in recent weeks leaves Obamacare customers in wide swaths of the country with potentially no […]
6/7/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/IRAN/TERRORISM/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Rarely has the Trump administration spoken of Iran other than to condemn it as the world’s chief sponsor of terrorism and an aspiring nuclear weapons state. So when the White House woke on Wednesday [6-7-17] to images of a possible Islamic State attack on Tehran, it prompted a sharp quandary: How […]
6/7/2017
DEFENSE/MILITARY/SYRIA: “The Defense Department said on Wednesday [6-7-17] that its investigation of the American airstrike on a mosque complex near Aleppo, Syria, in March found that it was legal and appropriate, and that it resulted in one possible civilian casualty, not dozens as human rights groups had asserted. The Pentagon said a meeting of Al […]
6/7/2017
NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House on Wednesday [6-7-17] announced a new slate of 11 judicial nominees, making good on a promise last month to name monthly waves of candidates to the federal bench in a methodical effort to fill more than 120 openings. The administration’s attention to judicial vacancies stands in contrast to its […]
6/7/2017
POLITICS/TRUMP FAMILY/ERIC TRUMP: “Eric Trump is pushing back against a Forbes report released Tuesday [6-6-17] that alleges his Eric Trump Foundation shifted money from a charity golf tournament for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital into the Trump Organization. The annual Eric Trump Foundation golf invitational took place each year from 2007 to 2015 at the […]
6/7/2017
ETHICS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A former White House ethics czar and ambassador to the Czech Republic during the Obama said Wednesday that former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony is ‘the equivalent of the Nixon tapes.’ ‘I think it’s remarkable,’ Norman Eisen told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin on CNN’s ‘Newsroom.’ ‘Clearly Director Comey is looking ahead to the […]
6/7/2017
LABOR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/ALEXANDER ACOSTA: “The Labor Department began taking steps Wednesday [6-7-17] to roll back high-profile Obama administration policies, days ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned visit to the department to outline worker-training initiatives. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta told members of Congress Wednesday the department would begin rewriting overtime regulations within weeks, while also […]
6/7/2017
POLITICS: “Senate intelligence committee Chairman Richard Burr shut down a line of questioning from California Sen. Kamala Harris at Wednesday’s high-profile hearing, admonishing her and other Democrats to stop cutting off witnesses. The move rankled some on Twitter who argued the North Carolina Republican was singling out Harris, one of three women on the intelligence […]
6/7/2017
FBI/JAMES COMEY/LEGAL: “Former FBI Director James Comey, in a written statement posted on the web on Wednesday [6-7-17], said President Donald Trump asked him to back off from a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn and told Comey, ‘I need loyalty. I expect loyalty.’ Comey, who will testify in person to the Senate […]
6/7/2017
INTELLIGENCE: “The White House and U.S. intelligence chiefs Wednesday [6-7-17] backed making permanent a law that allows for the collection of digital communications of foreigners overseas, escalating a fight in Congress over privacy and security. The law, enshrined in Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is due to expire on December 31 unless […]
6/7/2017
FBI/NOMINATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump took to Twitter early Wednesday [6-7-17] morning to break the news about his pick for FBI director. ‘Details to follow,’ he wrote at the end of his 128-character announcement of a major appointment. But for hours, the details didn’t follow, with the White House breaking from the thorough communications […]
6/7/2017
FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY: “The Russia investigation and President Donald Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey are sure to dominate the headlines out of Wednesday’s [6-7-17] Senate intelligence committee hearing, but that’s not the reason that four top administration national security officials are appearing before the panel. The officials are testifying because the committee leaders […]
6/7/2017
FAA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House bid to privatize the nation’s air-traffic control system faces hurdles including widespread Democratic opposition, many skeptical GOP senators and industry divisions that scuttled earlier efforts. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao tried to rev up support Wednesday [6-7-17] by offering assurances that rural communities won’t be shortchanged, and that airport towers […]
6/7/2017
FBI/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/CHRIS WRAY: “President Donald Trump is tapping former Assistant Attorney General Chris Wray to serve as the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the president said in a tweet Wednesday [6-7-17] morning. Mr. Wray, a former senior Justice Department official who has since served as a white-collar defense lawyer, met […]
6/7/2017
ENERGY/OIL/TRADE DEALS: “American oil exports are emerging as a disruptive new force in global markets. The U.S. exported 1 million barrels of oil a day during some months so far this year—double the pace of 2016—and is on track to average that amount for all of 2017, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of […]
6/7/2017
NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump has roughly 1,100 top-tier positions to fill across his administration. So far, he’s nominated only 111 of them. No president in modern history has fallen so far behind in naming heads of agencies, assistant secretaries, ambassadors and other critical leadership roles that require Senate approval. As of Tuesday [6-6-17], only […]
6/7/2017
INTELLIGENCE/LEGAL/RUSSIA: “The top US intelligence official told associates in March that President Donald Trump asked him if he could assist in getting former FBI Director James Comey to stop investigating former national security adviser Michael Flynn as part of its Russia probe, The Washington Post reported. Following a briefing at the White House attended by […]
6/7/2017
DAN COATS/INTELLIGENCE/MIKE ROGERS/RUSSIA: “Two of the nation’s top intelligence officials said Wednesday [6-7-17] they did not feel pressure to interfere with the FBI’s ongoing Russia investigation amid reports that President Donald Trump had asked them to push back against the probe. ‘In the three-plus years that I have been director of the National Security Agency, […]
6/7/2017
CHINA/SEC: “The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will take up to another 60 days to decide whether to allow the sale of the Chicago Stock Exchange to a group of investors led by China-based Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group. The SEC, which reviews proposed mergers involving exchanges to ensure they comply with federal regulations and appropriately […]