Category: Trump Administration

Rep. Tom Price’s STOCK Act Scandal

The following article by Danielle Root was posted on the Center for American Progress website February 1, 2017:

(AP/Andrew Harnik)
Nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) pauses while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 24, 2017, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.

Rep. Tom Price’s (R-GA) nomination to be the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is under a heavy ethical cloud. Price is alleged to have engaged in dubious ethical decisions at best and corrupt dealings that violate the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK, Act at worst. The STOCK Act prohibits members of Congress from making “investment decisions based on insider information they might come across because of their congressional role.”

There is evidence, for example, that Rep. Price received a tip from Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) to purchase stock from an Australian biomedical firm, Innate Immunotherapeutics Inc. Collins, who sits Continue reading “Rep. Tom Price’s STOCK Act Scandal”

Minnesota suing Trump administration over refugee order

In a statement, Attorney General Lori Swanson called the executive order banning refugees and travelers from a list of predominantly Muslim nations “unconstitutional.”

The following article by Karen Zamora and Mary Lynn Smith was posted on the Star Tribune website February 2, 2017:

The state of Minnesota is suing the Trump administration over the president’s executive order that temporarily bans refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the United States.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson on Wednesday night joined the attorneys general of Washington state, New York, Virginia and Massachusetts in taking legal action against the ban.

“The executive order that imposes blanket entry restrictions to the United States for people from certain countries is unconstitutional,” Swanson said in a statement. Continue reading “Minnesota suing Trump administration over refugee order”

Trump interested in national restrictions on unions

The following article by Mary Spicuzza and Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was posted on the USA Today website February 1, 2017:

President Donald Trump’s administration is interested in going national with Wisconsin’s restrictions on unions, Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday.

Walker said he spoke with Vice President Mike Pence during his Friday visit to the White House about his 2011 move to sharply limit collective bargaining for most public workers in Wisconsin, known as Act 10.

The governor said he and Pence talked about “what we’ve done here in Wisconsin, how they may take bits and pieces of what we did with Act 10 and with civil service reform, and how they could apply that at the national level” for federal workers. Continue reading “Trump interested in national restrictions on unions”

Eli Broad, billionaire philanthropist and charter school backer, urges senators to oppose DeVos

The following article by Emma Brown was posted on the Washington Post website February 1, 2017:

AP/Carolyn Kaster
Secretary of education nominee Betsy DeVos testifies at her confirmation hearing in Washington on January 17, 2017.

Eli Broad, a billionaire philanthropist from California and major backer of charter schools, is urging senators to oppose the nomination of Betsy DeVos as education secretary, saying that she is unqualified for the job.

“At the risk of stating the obvious, we must have a Secretary of Education who believes in public education and the need to keep public schools public,” Broad wrote in a letter Wednesday to Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). Continue reading “Eli Broad, billionaire philanthropist and charter school backer, urges senators to oppose DeVos”

You’re More Likely to Die Choking Than Be Killed by Foreign Terrorists, Data Show

The following article by Emmanuelle Saliba was posted on the NBC News website February 1, 2017:

You’re more likely to die from being buried alive or from choking on food than at the hands of foreign-born terrorists attacking on American soil.

The death rate data was compiled by NBC News in light of a recent report by the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, which found the likelihood of an American being killed in an immigrant-initiated terrorist strike in any given year is just one in 3.64 million, including those murdered on 9/11.

Other scenarios that are likelier to occur than a terrorist attack carried out by a foreign-born national include: Continue reading “You’re More Likely to Die Choking Than Be Killed by Foreign Terrorists, Data Show”

President Trump Threatens U.C. Berkeley After Protests Stop Far-Right Speech

The following article by David Ingram of Reuters was posted on the National Memo website February 2, 2017:

Police officers prepare to deploy a skirmish line after a student protest turned violent at UC Berkeley during a demonstration over right-wing speaker Milo Yiannopoulos, who was forced to cancel his talk, in Berkeley, California, U.S., February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to cut funding to the University of California at Berkeley after protesters smashed windows and set fires at the liberal-leaning school, forcing the cancellation of an appearance by a far-right Breitbart editor.

“If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view – NO FEDERAL FUNDS?” Trump wrote on Twitter at 6:13 a.m. EST (1113 GMT). He did not elaborate.

Representatives for the university, which has 38,000 students and a long history of activism, could not immediately be reached for comment outside of the school’s business hours. Continue reading “President Trump Threatens U.C. Berkeley After Protests Stop Far-Right Speech”

Neil Gorsuch Would Be a Dream Justice for Corporations Suing the Government

The following article by Billy Corriher was posted on the Center for American Progress website February 1, 2017:

AP/Carolyn Kaster-
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Judge Neil Gorsuch in the White House on January 31, 2017.

President Donald Trump has nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court. Judge Gorsuch, now on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, did not appear on President Trump’s first list of potential Supreme Court nominees in May 2016, but he appeared on Trump’s second list just weeks after writing a judicial manifesto arguing that judges should have more power to strike down federal regulations. Continue reading “Neil Gorsuch Would Be a Dream Justice for Corporations Suing the Government”

Is Jared Kushner Losing White House Power Struggle to Steve Bannon?

The following article by Daniel J. Solomon was posted on the Forward.com website February 1, 2017:

In the reality show that is this White House, has chief strategist Steve Bannon kicked Jared Kushner off the island? It seems that Kushner might be losing the contest of wills, as the new president embraces nationalist policies and runs into trouble with ill-timed outbursts from himself and his advisers. Continue reading “Is Jared Kushner Losing White House Power Struggle to Steve Bannon?”

DeVos’ Code Words For Creationism Offshoot Raise Concerns About ‘Junk Science’

The following article by Annie Waldeman was posted on the ProPublica website January 30, 2017:

Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s pick as secretary of education, has funded groups that champion “intelligent design,” a sophisticated outgrowth of creationism. Science educators worry that she could use her bully pulpit to undermine the teaching of evolution in public schools.

AP/Carolyn Kaster
Secretary of education nominee Betsy DeVos testifies at her confirmation hearing in Washington on January 17, 2017.

At a confirmation hearing earlier this month, Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s pick for education secretary, responded to a question about whether she would promote “junk science” by saying she supports science teaching that “allows students to exercise critical thinking.”

This seemingly innocuous statement has raised alarms among science education advocates, and buoyed the hopes of conservative Christian groups that, if confirmed, DeVos may use her bully pulpit atop the U.S. Department of Education to undermine the teaching of evolution in public schools.

DeVos and her family have poured millions of dollars into groups that champion intelligent design, the doctrine that the complexity of biological life can best be explained by the existence of a creator rather than by Darwinian evolution. Within this movement, “critical thinking” has become a code phrase to justify teaching of intelligent design.
Candi Cushman, a policy analyst for the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, described DeVos’ nomination as a positive development for communities that want to include intelligent design in their school curricula. Both the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation and Betsy DeVos’ mother’s foundation have donated to Focus on the Family, which has promoted intelligent design.

Continue reading “DeVos’ Code Words For Creationism Offshoot Raise Concerns About ‘Junk Science’”

Fate Of Trump’s Immigration Order Is Up To The Courts — And It’s Already 0-5

The following article by Michael Doyle with the McClatchy Washington Bureau was posted on the National Memo website January 31, 2017:

President Trump signs an executive order Friday, January 27, at the Pentagon that temporarily bans people from seven mostly Muslim countries from entering the United States. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting refugee admissions faces broad new legal challenges with the filing Monday of multiple far-reaching lawsuits possibly destined for the Supreme Court.

Five different federal courts have already weighed in, each targeting part of the order. Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations challenged the entire order in federal court in Northern Virginia. Though filed on behalf of named individuals, including Sacramento, Calif., resident Basim Elkarra, the CAIR lawsuit casts a wider net. Continue reading “Fate Of Trump’s Immigration Order Is Up To The Courts — And It’s Already 0-5”