Tag Archives: Trump cabinet

Sexual Harassment Definition Narrowed By DeVos

The New York Times reports: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday issued final rules for how public and private schools and colleges must address allegations of sexual misconduct, locking in protections for accused students and faculty but tempering earlier proposals that critics said would harm victims of assault and harassment. The rules preserve Ms. DeVos’s broad goals in overhauling Title …

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Mnuchin: Probably No International Travel Until 2021 But “This Is A Great Time To Explore America” [VIDEO]

The New York Daily News reports: Steve Mnuchin has some good news and some bad news. The Treasury Secretary said Monday that more stimulus would be coming soon to help an economy crippled by coronavirus. But Mnuchin also said it’s “too hard to tell” whether international travel will be possible this year as the pandemic wreaks havoc across the globe. …

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DeVos Sued For Garnishing Wages Over Student Debt

Politico reports: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is continuing to garnish the wages of federal student loan borrowers who fall behind on payments even though Congress suspended the practice in the economic rescue package, according to a new lawsuit. An upstate New York woman who works as a home health aide for less than $13 an hour claimed in the lawsuit, …

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Secular Groups Win Settlement From HUD After Asking For Info On Ben Carson’s Bible Study At His Workplace

The Christian Post reports: A leading secular legal group says the Department of Housing and Urban Development has agreed to pay $17,800 after settling a lawsuit related to Secretary Dr. Ben Carson’s participation in a Bible study and his daily schedule that might include a Bible study. The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation announced that it, along with the Citizens …

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Mnuchin: Stimulus Money Should Last For 10 Weeks

Business Insider reports: President Donald Trump’s appointed head of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, is under fire for comments he made Wednesday in which he appeared to suggest the $1,200 stimulus payments could last people up to 10 weeks. “I think the entire package provides economic relief overall for about 10 weeks,” Mnuchin told CBS’ Face the Nation. “Hopefully we will …

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Wilbur Ross, Who Said Pandemic Could Be Good For The US Economy, Remains In Hiding At His Florida Estate

CNBC reports: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is working from his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, while the Trump administration tries to limit the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, according to people familiar with the matter. Ross, 82, is teleworking to the extent possible, according to the people, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. A representative …

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Mnuchin: Reopening The US Will Be A Health Decision

The Associated Press reports: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says a decision whether to reopen the nation back for business as early as Easter will be a health decision not an economic one. Mnunchin acknowledges surging unemployment numbers and declining GDP as 1 in 3 Americans remain under government orders to stay at home to slow the coronavirus that has killed …

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Treasury Dept Extends Tax Filing Deadline To July 15th

CBS News reports: Americans will have an extra three months to file their taxes this year after President Donald Trump ordered the Treasury Department to move Tax Day to July 15. The move comes just days after the Treasury secretary said it would defer $300 billion in payments to the Internal Revenue Service due to hardship brought on by the …

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Grenell Fires Highly-Regarded Anti-Terrorism Director

The Washington Post reports: The acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center was fired Wednesday night in what insiders fear is a purge by the Trump administration of career professionals at an organization set up after 9/11 to protect the nation from attacks, according to two former U.S. officials familiar with the matter. Russell E. Travers, a highly-regarded career professional …

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Mnuchin: Pandemic Won’t Cause Recession [VIDEO]

ABC News reports: Despite forecasting an economic slowdown, the president’s top economic adviser said on ABC’s “This Week” that he did not think the novel coronavirus pandemic would cause a recession. Responding to ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl on whether there will be a recession, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, “I don’t think so. The real issue …

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HHS Sec Benched From WH Coronavirus Response

Politico reports: There was a notable omission as Vice President Mike Pence visited Seattle Thursday as part of the Trump administration’s coronavirus response: Health Secretary Alex Azar. The White House on Wednesday also benched Azar from a coronavirus task force press briefing, the latest sign of diminished standing for an official who was the face of the U.S. response just …

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HHS Secretary Under Internal Fire Over Virus Response

Politico reports: Even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention takes blame for testing delays that may have led to hundreds of Americans being quietly infected with the coronavirus, officials inside the health department and the White House are increasingly pointing the finger at one leader: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who they say failed to coordinate …

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Cultist Who Faked Resume Again Tapped As Spy Chief

The Hill reports: President Trump has tapped Rep. John Ratcliffe to serve as his next Director of National Intelligence (DNI), reviving an appointment of the Texas Republican that previously derailed last year. Trump had initially appointed Ratcliffe to serve as his intelligence chief last July, but the Texas congressman withdrew from consideration weeks later amid media scrutiny that he padded …

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Dems Demand DOJ Probe Into Grenell’s Foreign Work

CBS News reports: The Senate’s top Democrat is calling on the Justice Department to investigate whether Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, failed to inform the department about work he did for foreign entities before joining the Trump administration, possibly in violation of federal law. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter Tuesday to John Demers, assistant …

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Grenell Begins Ousting Longtime Intelligence Officials

Exactly as everyone predicted: Richard Grenell’s tenure as the nation’s top intelligence official may be short-lived, but he wasted no time this week starting to shape his team of advisers, ousting his office’s No. 2 official — a longtime intelligence officer — and bringing in an expert on Trump conspiracy theories to help lead the agency, according to officials. Mr. …

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Perkins Attacks “Cultural Imperialism” Of Trump’s New Gay Cabinet Member’s Campaign To Legalize Gay Sex

From a statement by hate group leader Tony Perkins: There is concern among our pro-family allies around the world that Ambassador Grenell will engage in LGBT activism as Acting Director of National Intelligence, a cabinet-level position. An effort to impose the same redefinition of marriage upon other nations that was imposed upon Americans by an activist Supreme Court would be …

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Trump Floats Cultist Doug Collins As Intelligence Chief

The Washington Post reports: President Trump told reporters Thursday evening that he was considering Rep. Douglas A. Collins (R-Ga.) as his permanent Director of National Intelligence. The move would not only fill a post that has not been permanently filled since Daniel Coats resigned last summer, but would help Trump and his fellow Republicans avoid what is already shaping up …

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Richard Grenell To Be Named Acting National Intel Director, Would Be First Openly Gay Cabinet Member

The New York Times reports: President Trump was expected to name Richard Grenell, the American ambassador to Germany, to be the acting director of national intelligence, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Mr. Grenell, whose outspokenness throughout his career as a political operative and then as ambassador has prompted criticism, is a vocal Trump loyalist who will …

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House Committee Threatens To Subpoena Betsy DeVos After She Blows Them Off For Trump Campaign Events

She’ll probably just ignore it. Nothing matters anymore. House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) warned Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Monday that the panel may subpoena her to testify after she attended campaign events on behalf of President Trump rather than testifying before the committee. The committee chair wrote that while DeVos is not barred from campaigning for the …

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Pompeo Pressures Foreign Govts On Press Freedom

The Associated Press reports: For the past four days, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been calling for authoritarian governments in eastern Europe and Central Asia to ease restrictions on press freedom despite criticism for his own treatment of journalists at home. In Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan over the weekend and again on Monday, Pompeo raised human rights issues, …

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