Tag: Trump Administration

Trickle-Down Cuts to Education

The following article by Lisette Partelow, Meg Benner, Michael Dannenberg and Charles Barone was posted on the Center for American Progress website October 26, 2017:

Introduction

After a bruising fight over federal funding for fiscal year 2017 in March and April, Congress has spent the past several months deciding how to fund the government for the upcoming fiscal year. Budget negotiations started in May when the Trump administration released a proposed budget for fiscal year 2018 that included draconian cuts to domestic spending.1 Under regular order—which has lately become atypical—this would be the start of a budget and appropriations process beginning with the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate budget committees developing budget resolutions. The budget resolutions contain top-line spending numbers and reconciliation instructions and provide a blueprint for the authorizing and appropriations committees, which are responsible for deciding the details of how money is spent across federal programs.2

As has become common in recent years, this year’s budget process has broken down.3As a result, the appropriations committees began developing their FY 2018 bills before budget resolutions were passed.4 Because there are so many different proposals currently underway, this paper will focus primarily on Trump’s budget request as an indicator of what the administration’s priorities are and on the House and Senate appropriations bills as an indicator of how Congress intends to allocate federal funding. The House and Senate budget proposals are discussed where appropriate, such as in the context of mandatory programs or reconciliation instructions related to tax reform. Continue reading “Trickle-Down Cuts to Education”

Democrats on Trump’s voter fraud commission urge leaders to be more transparent

The following article by Kurtis Lee was posted on the Los Angeles Times website October 25, 2017:

President Trump’s voter fraud commission, launched by executive order in May with the stated goal of restoring confidence and integrity in the electoral process, is now confronted with pushback from an unlikely group: its own members.

Two Democrats on the bipartisan commission sent letters to leaders of the panel last week condemning a lack of transparency.

“I honestly do not know what’s going on with the commission,” Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, the author of one of the letters, said on Wednesday. “This very much concerns me.” Continue reading “Democrats on Trump’s voter fraud commission urge leaders to be more transparent”

Sessions’s claim that ‘dirty immigration lawyers’ encourage clients to cite ‘credible fear’

The following article by Nicole Lewis was posted on the Washington Post website October 26, 2017:

“We also have dirty immigration lawyers who are encouraging their otherwise unlawfully present clients to make false claims of asylum providing them with the magic words needed to trigger the credible fear process.”

-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, remarks to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, Oct. 12, 2017

On Oct. 8, President Trump released a list of strict immigration policies that include funding for a border wall with Mexico, restricting federal grants to “sanctuary cities,” and a scaling back of legal pathways to citizenship. Just a few days later, on Oct. 12, Attorney General Jeff Sessions encouraged Congress to pass the administration’s legislative priorities to solve the “crisis at our borders.”

In a speech, Sessions described an immigration system rife with “fraud and abuse” which paves the way for millions of immigrants to enter the country illegally. Sessions zeroed in on the asylum system in the United States, asserting that “dirty immigration lawyers” are coaching their clients to make “fake claims” to trigger “credible fear” proceedings so they can stay in the United States. Continue reading “Sessions’s claim that ‘dirty immigration lawyers’ encourage clients to cite ‘credible fear’”

Trump officials face grilling from lawmakers over Russian cyber firm

The following article by Morgan Chalfant was posted on the Hill website October 25, 2017:

© Getty Images

Lawmakers are pressing the Trump administration for more information on its effort to crack down on the use of software produced by Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab in the wake of reports that Russian hackers exploited the cybersecurity firm’s anti-virus product to steal U.S. spy secrets.

The issue took center stage Wednesday at the first in a series of House hearings focused on the company, with lawmakers grilling current and former U.S. officials on the potential risks that Kaspersky anti-virus software poses to federal information systems. Continue reading “Trump officials face grilling from lawmakers over Russian cyber firm”

Trolling Trump: How viral visual taunts have changed protest in nation’s capital

The following article by Steve Hendrix and Perry Stein was posted on the Washington Post website October 25, 2017:

Anti-Trump protesters have gotten creative in expressing their disagreement with the president’s actions and policies. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

An hour before dawn on Oct. 6, Robby Diesu directed a trailer onto the Mall near the Washington Monument. At a spot with a good sightline to the White House, he and a small crew set up a 160-square-foot video screen, hooked it to a laptop and hit play.

What ran on the screen for the next 12 hours was a relentless Jumbotron rewind of Donald Trump’s infamous “Access Hollywood” tape,” the hot-mic remarks that had roiled the 2016 campaign one year earlier — complete with audio and subtitles. Continue reading “Trolling Trump: How viral visual taunts have changed protest in nation’s capital”

Trump’s claim that he’s done more ‘by far’ than Obama in the fight against ISIS

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website October 25, 2017:

ISIS is losing territory and Trump is claiming credit, but experts say not so fast. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“We’ve done more against ISIS in nine months than the previous administration has done during its whole administration — by far, by far.”
— President Trump, in remarks before the Value Voters Summit, Oct. 13, 2017

President Trump has made a variation of this claim repeatedly over the months, starting in July, when he proclaimed: “In five months we have done more against ISIS than anybody’s done since the beginning and we are having tremendous success with that.”

Every month since then, he has repeated the claim, simply updating the number of months. For instance, on Sept. 7, he said, “We have done better in eight months of my presidency than the previous eight years against ISIS.” (Never mind that the Islamic State terror group emerged as a significant force in Iraq and Syria in 2013, when it captured and raised its flag over Fallujah.) Continue reading “Trump’s claim that he’s done more ‘by far’ than Obama in the fight against ISIS”

Trump is proud of the booming stock market. He may not realize how few Americans that really helps.

The following article by Eugene Scott was posted on the Washington Post website October 25, 2017:

President Trump, with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, speaks at the Minority Enterprise Development Week awards ceremony at the White House on Oct. 24. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

President Trump took the microphone at an awards ceremony for Minority Enterprise Development Week to highlight his commitment to helping minorities and urban residents enjoy the economic prosperity he promised on the campaign trail.

“Minority businesses employ 8 million people and generate more than $1 trillion in annual economic output,” he said Tuesday.

“My administration is deeply committed to empowering minority business owners. We’re working to lift government barriers so that you can thrive, prosper and grow,” Trump added. “And speaking of growing, our stock market just hit another record high. It’s the highest it’s ever been in history by far.” Continue reading “Trump is proud of the booming stock market. He may not realize how few Americans that really helps.”

The FCC just ended a decades-old rule designed to keep TV and radio under local control

The following article by Brian Fung was posted on the Washington Post website October 24, 2017:

Credit: ditfeet via morguefile.com

Federal regulators have voted to eliminate a longstanding rule covering radio and television stations, in a move that could ultimately reshape the nation’s media landscape.

The regulation, which was first adopted almost 80 years ago, requires broadcasters to have a physical studio in or near the areas where they have a license to transmit TV or radio signals. Known as the “main studio rule,” the regulation ensured that residents of a community could have a say in their local broadcast station’s operations.

Tuesday’s vote by the Federal Communications Commission lifts that requirement. With the rise of social media, the agency said, consumers now have other ways to get in touch with their local broadcasters. Continue reading “The FCC just ended a decades-old rule designed to keep TV and radio under local control”

David Petraeus Puts Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the Trump Administration to Shame

The following article by Chris Sosa was posted on the AlterNet website October 22, 2017:

During an appearance on ABC’s This Week, retired general and former CIA director David Petraeus told host Martha Raddatz that White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was wrong when she said that criticizing “four-star Marine general” John Kelly was “inappropriate.”

“Well, I think we’re all fair game. And I certainly experienced lots of that in testimony on Capitol Hill during the surge in Iraq and subsequent endeavors in Afghanistan Central Command and so forth,” Petreaus said. “We, in uniform, protect the rights of those to criticize us, frankly.” Continue reading “David Petraeus Puts Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the Trump Administration to Shame”

Trump officials quash litigation rule for farms

The following article by Lydia Wheeler was posted on the Hill website October 24, 2017:

Credit: Dianne Hope via Morguefile.com

The Trump administration is rescinding an Obama-era rule that would have made it easier for independent farmers to bring lawsuits against big food companies they raise chicken and other livestock for.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyard Administration last week withdrew an interim final rule a day before it was set to take effect. The rule aimed to make it easier for farmers to bring companies like Tyson Foods, Pilgrim Pride and Perdue to court over what they say are unfair, deceptive and retaliatory practices.  Continue reading “Trump officials quash litigation rule for farms”