Tag Archives: Trump adminstration

The New York Times reports: The White House has removed the scientist responsible for the National Climate Assessment, the federal government’s premier contribution to climate knowledge and the foundation for regulations to combat global warming, in what critics interpreted as the latest sign that the Trump administration intends to use its remaining months in office to continue impeding climate science …

CNBC reports: Attorney General William Barr has authorized federal prosecutors across the U.S. to pursue “substantial allegations” of voting irregularities before the 2020 presidential election is certified, despite little evidence of fraud. Barr’s action comes days after Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump and raises the prospect that Trump will use the Justice Department to try to challenge the …

CNN reports: Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, has approached the President about conceding the election, two sources tell CNN. The move comes following Trump’s assertion in a statement from his campaign — moments after CNN projected that President-elect Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States — that Biden is “rushing to falsely …

Politico reports: When Vice President Mike Pence first took charge of the White House’s coronavirus task force, among his earliest moves was establishing a standing call with all 50 governors aimed at closely coordinating the nation’s pandemic fight. Yet as the U.S. confronts its biggest Covid-19 surge to date, Pence hasn’t attended one of those meetings in over a month. …

The Washington Post reports: A senior executive at the U.S. Postal Service delivered a PowerPoint presentation in July that pressed officials across the organization to make the operational changes that led to mail backups across the country, seemingly contradicting months of official statements about the origin of the plans, according to internal documents. The presentation stands in contrast with agency …

The New York Post reports: President Trump is ordering the federal government to begin the process of defunding New York City and three other cities where officials allowed “lawless” protests and cut police budgets amid rising violent crime, The Post can exclusively reveal. Trump on Wednesday signed a five-page memo ordering all federal agencies to send reports to the White …

Via press release from the Justice Department: The Department of Justice today filed a statement of interest in Idaho federal court defending Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act against a challenge under the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. “Allowing biological males to compete in all-female sports is fundamentally unfair to female athletes” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “Under the Constitution, …

NBC News reports: It’s been more than six months since President Donald Trump claimed to have started his annual physical at Walter Reed hospital but the White House is declining to explain why he has yet to complete the yearly doctor’s examination. Administration officials did not espond to NBC News’ request for comment about the delay — despite Trump announcing …

Talking Points Memo reports: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) stood by the biting comments he made to top White House COVID-19 task force official Dr. Anthony Fauci about the doctor’s opinion that it would be premature to reopen the country right now. Paul argued that “we really need to have competition among the experts,” pointing to British epidemiologist Neil Ferguson’s projection …

The Washington Post reports: U.S. intelligence agencies issued warnings about the novel coronavirus in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for President Trump in January and February, months during which he continued to play down the threat, according to current and former U.S. officials. The repeated warnings were conveyed in issues of the President’s Daily Brief, a sensitive report …

Bloomberg News reports: The U.S. budget deficit may quadruple this year to almost $4 trillion. Projections from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) say that by 2023 U.S. debt held by the public will surpass records set in the post-World War II years. And these projections only include spending enacted so far—in a three-month-old crisis that has seen …

The Hill reports: The Pentagon will ask for billions of dollars in the next version of a stimulus package to help defense contractors hit by closures or other effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer said Monday. “We’re taking billions and billions on that one,” Ellen Lord, under secretary of Defense for acquisition and sustainment, said at …

The New York Times reports: At one of the most perilous moments in modern American history, Mr. Kushner is trying in a disjointed White House to marshal the forces of government for the war his father-in-law says he is waging. A real estate developer with none of the medical expertise of a public health official nor the mobilization experience of …

The Hill reports: Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Wednesday that the White House coronavirus guidelines should be interpreted as a national stay-at-home order. “My advice to America would be that these guidelines are a national stay-at-home order,” he said on NBC’s “Today” show. His comment was in response to a question about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has said …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has sold his stake in a company investing in Opportunity Zone projects offering tax breaks he had pushed for in Washington, sparking criticism that he was benefiting from his White House role. A filing at the Office of Government Ethics released Monday shows that Kushner received permission to …

The Associated Press reports: The Trump administration is considering backing away from a pledge to ban popular mint and menthol vaping products — part of an effort to stem use among kids and curb a growing health crisis — as e-cigarette advocates press to preserve some flavors for adults. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said last month that …

The Washington Post reports: Does Grisham think Trump ever lies? After all, as of Aug. 5, The Washington Post Fact Checker had documented 12,019 false or misleading claims made by Trump during his presidency. “No,” she responds without hesitation. “I don’t think they’re lies. I think the president communicates in a way that some people, especially the media, aren’t necessarily …

CBS News reports: The nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sued the federal government Monday, demanding that it produce documents related to former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Caliburn International, the operator of the nation’s largest shelter for unaccompanied migrant children. CBS News reported in May that Kelly had joined the board of directors …

The New York Daily News reports: New York Attorney General Letitia James joined with the ACLU on Friday night in filing a motion in the Southern District of New York to block the Trump administration from delaying the printing of the 2020 census questionnaire or changing it to include a citizenship question. In its motion, James and the civil liberties …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S. imposed sanctions against Venezuela’s state-oil giant Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. on Monday in an effort to cripple President Nicolás Maduro’s government and empower an opposition leader. President Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton said the actions will block $7 billion in assets and cost the country $11 billion in lost exports during the …