Government in action

Monday, July 23

á      The Washington Post reported that emails and other documents inadvertently made public by the Interior Department in mid-July showed that, as the Department reviewed national monuments last year, staff did not consider evidence that would favor keeping the monuments protected, such as tourism and other economic benefits, and sought evidence for removing the protections. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administration-officials-dismissed-benefits-of-national-monuments/2018/07/23/5b8b1666-8b9a-11e8-a345-a1bf7847b375_story.html?utm_term=.9670d4a6653d&wpisrc=al_news__alert-hse--alert-national&wpm

á      The Washington Post reported that North Korea has begun dismantling the facilities at the satellite launch station in Sohae, according to an analysis of commercial satellite imagery. If correct it would be a step towards fulfilling recent agreements between Trump and Kim Jong Un. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/07/23/north-korea-begins-dismantling-key-test-site-satellite-imagery-suggests/?utm_term=.a3e506ca4bb7

á      White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Donald Trump is targeting the security clearances of former CIA director John Brennan; former FBI director James B. Comey; former CIA director Michael V. Hayden; former national security adviser Susan E. Rice; former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr.; and former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe for making Òbaseless accusationsÓ against the president. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rand-paul-says-hell-ask-trump-to-revoke-former-cia-director-john-brennans-security-clearance/2018/07/23/8eb11ccc-8e7c-11e8-b769-e3fff17f0689_story.html?utm_term=.ecb9bf292b76&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-n

Tuesday. July 24:

á      Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Purdue announced $12 billion in aid to farmers who will be among the first to suffer from trade retaliation. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/us/politics/farmers-aid-trade-war.html

á      Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov was reticent about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept an invitation from Trump to meet in Washington later this year. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-putin-trump/kremlin-coy-on-new-summit-idea-says-putin-and-trump-can-meet-at-g20-idUSKBN1KE1R8

Wednesday, July 25:

á      A group of Republican members of the House of Representatives introduced articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, contending he has not fulfilled his obligation to produce documents concerning the investigation of Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election led by Robert Mueller. http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/398902-gop-lawmakers-introduce-impeachment-resolution-against-rosenstein?rnd=1532560243?userid=280231

á      Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced that the U.S. and the European Union they are taking steps to resolve trade differences and to work to eliminate all tariffs between the worldÕs two largest economic entities. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/398856-trump-strikes-deal-with-eu-to-avoid-trade-war-report?userid=280231

á      U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte ruled that a lawsuit that alleges Trump is violating the emoluments clauses of the Constitution by certain business dealings with foreign governments can proceed. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal-judge-allows-emoluments-case-against-trump-to-proceed/2018/07/25/c8070206-8fa4-11e8-8322-b5482bf5e0f5_story.html?utm_term=.1ff2b31e902d

á      Japan and Germany said Wednesday they would step up their alliance to promote free trade and the Paris climate agreement. https://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-and-germany-find-common-ground-opposing-trump-on-trade-1532519287?tesla=y&mod=article_inline&mod=article_inline

á      The White House announced it is delaying any plans for Putin to come to Washington until Special Counsel Robert Mueller concludes his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-pushes-follow-up-trump-putin-meeting-to-next-year/2018/07/25/a8e1ed4c-9039-11e8-bcd5-9d911c784c38_story.html?utm_term=.f1e19e3fd6a1&wpisrc=al_politics__alert-politics&wpmk=1

Thursday, July 26

á      U.S. automakers reported earnings decreases, due in part from rising commodity prices related to the tariffs on aluminum and steel imposed by Trump. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/business/autos-earnings-trade.html

á      Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said he opposes the move to impeach Rosenstein, saying he believes the Department of Justice is largely complying with the GOP demand for documents surrounding the FBI's Russia investigation. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/26/ryan-rejects-conservative-push-to-impeach-rosenstein-743487?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=00000158-890d-dfd4-ad7b-c96fadf30001&nlid=964328

á      U.S. District Judge ruled that the largest of six lawsuits against the new citizenship question on the 2020 census can move forward in court, saying there is some evidence that the decision to reinstate the citizenship question was motivated by discrimination. NPR

Friday, July 27

á      Michael Cohen, TrumpÕs former personal lawyer, said Trump had advance knowledge about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer political dirt on Hilary Clinton, contradicting TrumpÕs claims that he was unaware of the meeting. https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/26/politics/michael-cohen-donald-trump-june-2016-meeting-knowledge/index.html

á      The U.S. economy grew at a rate of 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2018, according to the Commerce Department, up from 2.2 percent in the first quarter. It was the first time since 2014 that economic growth topped 4 percent in a quarter. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/business/economy/economy-gdp.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Saturday, July 28

á      Trump declared that an emergency exists in the State of California and ordered federal assistance to help with the wildfires that began July 23. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-approves-california-emergency-declaration-2/

Sunday, July 29

á      President Trump threatened to shut down the government if Congress does not appropriate funds to build a border wall with Mexico. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/29/us/politics/trump-shutdown-republicans-midterms.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

á      Following a meeting at the White House, New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger and Trump engaged in a public clash in which the president characterized the press as Òthe enemy of the people,Ó and the publisher Òwarned [the president] that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence,Ó particularly abroad. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/29/us/politics/trump-new-york-times-sulzberger.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news