Tag: Trump Administration

Saudi Arms Sales: Not Really Happening

The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.com website June 6, 2017:

While Donald Trump has tried hard to call his first international trip a success, one of the cornerstone pieces of the first leg of the trip is not holding up to scrutiny. There is increased reporting that indicates that the $110 billion arms sale agreement coordinated by Jared Kushner and signed by Trump and the Saudis is not much of an agreement and much of it is recycled from letters of intent and potential agreements the Obama administration hammered out over the past few years.

To be clear, there is a difference between an arms sale agreement (which is binding) and a collection of letters of intent (which is not). The last arms sale agreement the U.S. brokered with the Saudis was in 2012. With the drop in oil prices, the Saudis “have struggled to meet their payments” making it unlikely that they will actually follow through on many of the non-binding letters of intent in the “agreement” Trump touted during his trip, according to Bruce Riedel from the Center for Middle East Policy. Continue reading “Saudi Arms Sales: Not Really Happening”

The Trump administration has a recruiting problem

Note:  This morning, June 7, 2017, President Trump announced his pick to replace Mr Comey.

The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website June 6, 2017:

It’s been almost a month since President Trump fired James B. Comey on May 9, leaving the FBI without a director. Under normal circumstances, a president planning to fire the head of the nation’s top law-enforcement agency might do so only once he had a successor lined up. (The only other time an FBI director was fired, President Bill Clinton announced his replacement the next day.) Trump didn’t do that, pledging instead that a new director would be identified quickly. Shortly before he left on his overseas trip last month, he promised that he was “very close” to picking a new director. That was almost three weeks ago.

There have been a number of people who were identified as being in the running to get the job. And of that group, most have publicly withdrawn their names from contention. Continue reading “The Trump administration has a recruiting problem”

Pruitt’s claim that ‘almost 50,000 jobs’ have been gained in coal

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website June 6, 2017:

“Since the fourth quarter of last year until most recently, we’ve added almost 50,000 jobs in the coal sector. In the month of May alone, almost 7,000 jobs.”
— Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” June 4, 2017

“We’ve had over 50,000 jobs since last quarter — coal jobs, mining jobs — created in this country. We had almost 7,000 mining and coal jobs created in the month of May alone.”
— Pruitt, interview on ABC’s “This Week,” June 4 Continue reading “Pruitt’s claim that ‘almost 50,000 jobs’ have been gained in coal”

As Trump lashes out, Republicans grow unea

The following article by Robert Costa was posted on the Washington Post website June 5, 2017:

President Trump, after days of lashing out angrily at the London mayor and federal courts in the wake of the London Bridge terrorist attack, faces a convergence of challenges this week that threatens to exacerbate the fury that has gripped him — and that could further hobble a Republican agenda that has slowed to a crawl on Capitol Hill.

Instead of hunkering down and delicately navigating the legal and political thicket — as some White House aides have suggested — Trump spent much of Monday launching volleys on Twitter, unable to resist continuing, in effect, as his own lawyer, spokesman, cheerleader and media watchdog. Continue reading “As Trump lashes out, Republicans grow unea”

Changes in Service Contracts Leave Students Behind

The following article by Colleen Campbell and Sara Garcia was posted on the Center for American Progress website June 1, 2017:

AP/Carolyn Kaster
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 24, 2017.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos claims that the recent shake-up in the student loan servicing model is aimed at “treating students as customers,” but her actions say otherwise. Instead, DeVos and the Trump administration have taken steps to pad the pockets of some of the biggest companies responsible for guiding more than 32 million borrowers through the process of repaying their federal student loans.

In a move that will put borrowers’ interests on the back-burner, the U.S. Department of Education recently amended a request for bids on a new federal student loan servicing contract. The changes strip multiple requirements that would ensure that borrowers—especially those with a high risk of default—receive the best servicing when it comes to their loans. Secretary DeVos framed the move as a cost-saving measure, but the contract still leaves in place many high-cost features, suggesting the motivation may be more political than practical. The result: One company will be allowed to call the shots on more than $1 billion in servicing activities with reduced oversight from the Department of Education. Continue reading “Changes in Service Contracts Leave Students Behind”

DFL Chair Ken Martin denounces Trump plan to abandon Paris Climate Agreement

May 31, 2017

ST. PAUL, MN — Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Chair Ken Martin released the following statement in response to reports today that President Donald Trump plans to pull the United States from the Paris Climate Accord.

“President Trump’s plan to abandon the Paris climate agreement is an affront to Minnesotan values, an embarrassing blow to U.S. leadership, and a grave threat to the future of our earth. Minnesota is on the cutting edge of clean energy development, and this decision would jeopardize the good-paying jobs this innovative industry creates in our state. While the Administration may turn its back on the fight against climate change, Minnesotans never will. DFLers across the state are more committed than ever to advancing policies that protect our planet, support clean energy, and preserve our state’s natural resources.”

 

Trump faces shrinking talent pool for new hires

The following article by Johnathan Easley and Jordan Fabian was posted on The Hill website May 31, 2017:

President Trump’s behavior hasn’t changed in decades. It probably never will. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

President Trump faces serious challenges in restructuring a White House, from getting experienced Washington hands to work for him to whether his own premium for loyalty will block otherwise qualified candidates from working for him.

Republicans say the problems mean that Trump, an outsider who basically took over his party and is still viewed with suspicion in establishment circles, will face even more trouble in trying to refashion his team. Continue reading “Trump faces shrinking talent pool for new hires”

White House grants ethics waivers to 17 appointees, including four former lobbyists

The following article by Matea Gold was posted on the Washington Post website May 31, 2017:

Former energy lobbyist Michael Catanzaro received a waiver to work on a broad portfolio of energy issues as a White House adviser. (CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

The White House disclosed Wednesday evening that it has granted ethics waivers to 17 appointees who work for President Trump and Vice President Pence, including four former lobbyists.

The waivers exempt the appointees from certain portions of ethics rules aimed at barring potential conflicts of interest. In letters posted on the White House website, the White House counsel’s office wrote that the waivers were in the public interest because the administration had a need for the appointees’ expertise on certain issues. Continue reading “White House grants ethics waivers to 17 appointees, including four former lobbyists”

This is what Betsy DeVos thinks about people who oppose her school-choice vision

The following article by Valerie Strauss was posted on the Washington Post website May 29, 2017:

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos speaks at a school-choice event as President Trump looks on at the White House on May 3. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

During the Obama administration, Education Secretary Arne Duncan got pretty steamed at people who opposed his school reform efforts, especially his support for the Common Core State Standards. In 2013, for example, he went after Core critics, telling a group of state schools superintendents:

“It’s fascinating to me that some of the pushback is coming from, sort of, white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were, and that’s pretty scary.”

Continue reading “This is what Betsy DeVos thinks about people who oppose her school-choice vision”

Trump advisers call for privatizing some public assets to build new infrastructure

Note:  More signs of the autocratic mindset of this President and his administration?  Privatizing public assets benefits who?  The people of this country? What other nations privatize things like this?  Like paying tolls to drive on roads?  Cross bridges?  What happens when the companies owning/managing those assets goes out of business?  Who picks up the tab?  Get informed, folks.

The following article by Michael Laris was posted on the Washington Post website May 23, 2017:

The Trump administration, determined to overhaul and modernize the nation’s infrastructure, is drafting plans to privatize some public assets such as airports, bridges, highway rest stops and other facilities, according to top officials and advisers.

In his proposed budget released Tuesday, President Trump called for spending $200 billion over 10 years to “incentivize” private, state and local spending on infrastructure. Continue reading “Trump advisers call for privatizing some public assets to build new infrastructure”