Tag Archives: Trump cabinet

HUD Official: I Was Demoted After Refusing To Break Law With Costly Redecoration Of Dr. Stabby’s Office

The Guardian reports: A senior career official in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development has alleged that she was demoted and replaced with a Donald Trump appointee after refusing to break the law by funding an expensive redecoration of Ben Carson’s office. Helen Foster said she was told “$5,000 will not even buy a decent chair” after informing …

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Office Of VA Secretary Accused Of Doctoring Email And Lying So Public Paid For His Wife’s 10-Day Europe Trip

The Washington Post reports: Veterans Affairs Secretary David J. Shulkin’s chief of staff doctored an email and made false statements to create a pretext for taxpayers to cover expenses for the secretary’s wife on a 10-day trip to Europe last summer, the agency’s inspector general has found. Vivieca Wright Simpson, VA’s third-most senior official, altered language in an email from …

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NEVADA: Ryan Zinke Attends World’s Largest Gun Show, Declares Public Lands “Belong To The People”

Of course he did: Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke took his professed love for hunting to the world’s largest gun trade show in Las Vegas this week, where he spread the word on the importance of public land access. Speaking on the Josh Tolley radio show from the event Thursday morning, Zinke said he attended the Shooting, Hunting Outdoor Trade …

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BREAKING: Mueller Has Interviewed Jeff Sessions

The New York Times reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions was questioned for several hours last week by the special counsel’s office as part of the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the election and whether the president obstructed justice since taking office, according to a Justice Department spokeswoman. The meeting marked the first time that investigators for the special counsel, Robert …

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Booker Blows Up At Homeland Security Chief: Your Amnesia Is Complicit With Trump’s Racism [VIDEO]

Raw Story reports: While questioning Nielsen about the DHS’s response to white supremacist hate groups, Booker rant down a litany of all Trump’s past racist remarks and shamed her for claiming she couldn’t recall whether Trump had called African countries “shitholes.” “The commander in chief, in an Oval Office meeting, referring to people from African countries and Haitians with the …

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Uproar After Florida Is Exempted From Offshore Drilling

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration’s decision to exempt Florida from expanded offshore drilling kicked off a frenzy Wednesday in other coastal states, with governors from both political parties asking: Why not us? “We cannot afford to take a chance with the beauty, the majesty and the economic value and vitality of our wonderful coastline,” South Carolina Gov. Henry …

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Graham: I’ll Never Join The Trump Administration

NBC News reports: Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday said he has no interest in taking any kind of cabinet-level position in President Donald Trump’s administration, despite spending increasing time working alongside his once rival. “No,” Graham, Republican of South Carolina, flatly stated on Sunday’s “Meet The Press” when asked by Chuck Todd whether or not he would serve in …

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REPORT: EPA Head Scott Pruitt Wants Jeff Sessions’ Job

Bloomberg reports: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has told associates he would be willing to lead the Justice Department, should the position become available, according to two people familiar with the matter. The former Oklahoma attorney general has discussed the matter in recent days amid perennial speculation about the tenure of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, said the people, who …

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Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke Booked Federal Helicopter To Go On Horseback Riding Date With Mike Pence

Politico reports: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke spent more than $14,000 on government helicopters this summer to take himself and staff to and from official events near Washington, D.C., in order to accommodate his attendance at a swearing-in ceremony for his replacement in Congress and a horseback ride with Vice President Mike Pence, according to previously undisclosed official travel documents. n …

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Mnuchin: I Look Like A Bond Villain? Cool! [VIDEO]

The Hill reports: Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Sunday said he takes it as a compliment that some people suggested that he and his wife looked like villains from a James Bond movie when they posed with newly printed currency. “I never thought I’d be quoted as looking like villains from the James Bond. I guess I should take that …

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Jeff Sessions: I Have Never Lied About Russia! [VIDEO]

The Associated Press reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a raised voice and defiant tone, strongly defended himself Tuesday against allegations that he had misled members of Congress about his knowledge of communications between Russians and associates of President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign. “In all of my testimony, I can only do my best to answer all of …

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Trump Taps Former Pharma Exec To Head HHS

USA Today reports: President Trump said Monday he would name former pharmaceutical company executive Alex Azar as secretary of Health and Human Services. If confirmed by the Senate, Azar would replace Tom Price, who resigned in September amid a scandal over his use of charter aircraft for personal and official travel. It’s the first time Trump has had to replace …

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Forbes: Wilbur Ross Lied About Billionaire Status

Forbes reports: Fresh off a tour through Thailand, Laos and China, United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Jr. picked up the phone on a Sunday afternoon in October to discuss something deeply personal: how much money he has. A year earlier, Forbes had listed his net worth at $2.9 billion on The Forbes 400, a number Ross claimed was …

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Secretary Wilbur Ross: Just Because I Hold Stake In A Company Run By Putin’s Family Doesn’t Make It Evil

The Guardian reports: Wilbur Ross denied on Monday that he had done anything wrong after revelations from the Paradise Papers that he has significant investments in a shipping company that does business with Vladmir Putin’s son-in-law and his sanctioned inner circle. “There is nothing wrong with it. The fact that it happens to be called a Russian company doesn’t mean …

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Leaked Docs Show Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross Holds Undisclosed Stake In Company Run By Putin’s Family

NBC News reports: Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary in the Trump administration, shares business interests with Vladimir Putin’s immediate family, and he failed to clearly disclose those interests when he was being confirmed for his cabinet position. Ross — a billionaire industrialist — retains an interest in a shipping company, Navigator Holdings, that was partially owned by his former investment …

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Betsy DeVos Sued Over Title IX Sexual Assault Rules

The Associated Press reports: A national women’s rights group and three Massachusetts women filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the U.S. Education Department’s new guidance on investigating campus sexual assaults. The Los Angeles-based Equal Means Equal and the three women, who have separately accused their colleges of mishandling complaints of sexual assault, say the new guidance is discriminatory and violates state …

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Treasury Department: Steve Mnuchin’s $800K In Military Flights Were Totally Shady But Not Illegal

The Los Angeles Times reports: Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin took military aircraft on at least seven occasions without adequate justification, his department’s inspector general said in a report. The inspector general said that Mnuchin’s use of the planes was not illegal but that he had failed to meet rules that require that military flights be used only if the …

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Maxine Waters To Rex Tillerson: Bye Felicia!

The Washington Times reports: Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., tweeted “Bye Felicia” to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Friday afternoon after declaring the top diplomat’s strategy to handling Russia had failed. “Tillerson’s plans are backfiring. Russia sanctions still in place, State is in shambles, & he discovered his boss is a moron. Bye Felicia!” Waters tweeted. The term “bye Felicia” was …

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TICK TOCK: Trump Furious With Rex Tillerson After “Moron” Flap Steals Headlines During Las Vegas Visit

Axios reports: Trump advisers and allies are floating the idea of replacing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, age 53 — someone who’s already around the table in the Situation Room, and could make the switch without chaos. Sources tell us Trump recognizes that a Cabinet shuffle would bring bad press. White House Chief of Staff …

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BREAKING: HHS Secretary Tom Price Resigns

BOOM. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: Health Secretary Tom Price resigned from his Cabinet post on Friday, the White House said, after racking up at least $1 million in travel on private and military jets, a string of taxpayer-funded expenses that drew bipartisan condemnation. The former Roswell orthopedic surgeon had lost support from President Donald Trump, who said Wednesday that he …

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