Government at Work 10-9-2017 to 10-15-2010
Monday, Oct. 9
á After Congress failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Donald Trump tweeted he would use Òthe power of the penÓ to Ògive great HealthCare to many people – FAST.Ó https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump
á EPA head Scott Pruitt announced he will sign a rule to roll back the 2015 Clean Power Plan, a part of the Paris climate agreement, which would have moved states away from coal generation of electricity and toward other sources that have fewer carbon emissions. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/climate/clean-power-plan.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
á Hope
for negotiations to save Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals dimmed
when Democrats rebuffed a list of demands the White House that included
building a border wall, adding 10,000 new immigration agents, more restrictions
against asylum seekers, cutting federal grants to Òsanctuary cities,Ó and an
end to immigration for extended families.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/us/politics/trump-immigration-dreamers.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
á NBC news reported via Twitter: New: The Vice President, on behalf of the administration, set to make major disaster declaration of California wildfires. VP called Gov. Jerry Brown this morning & is currently at Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services. Will deliver remarks soon.
á Business leaders have become spooked by the increasing odds of NAFTAÕs demise, and, on Monday, more than 310 state and local chambers of commerce sent a letter to the administration urging the United States to remain in the trade agreement. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/business/economy/nafta-trump.html?emc=edit_nn_20171015&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=81621366&te=1
Tuesday, Oct. 10
á The EPA announced awards of $5.2 million to protect and restore San Francisco Bay at the 13th Biennial State of the San Francisco Estuary Conference in Oakland.
á Defense One
reported that last Friday, at a Senior Leadership Conference at the Pentagon, Secretary
of Defense Jim Mattis instructed top commanders to speak to the
media more freely, hoping to end a misperception among some that they should
keep quiet, in part because he wants them to speak up on the looming budget
battle in Congress.
á The
Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that federal disaster assistance
has been made available to the state of California to supplement state, tribal,
and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by wildfires from Oct. 8 and
continuing in Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Sonoma, and Yuba counties.
Wednesday,
Oct. 11
á Trump threatened
NBC over a news report that he pushed senior aides for a major expansion of the
U.S. nuclear arsenal, calling it Òpure fiction,Ó and suggesting NBCÕs ÒlicenseÓ
be pulled. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/10/11/trump-attacks-nbc-news-over-report-he-wanted-massive-increase-in-nuclear-arsenal/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trump-nbc-1150am:homepage/story&utm_term=.4f2a0bd8f7b8&wpisrc=al_alert-politics&wpmk=1
á New polls released
today show Americans are giving Trump failing grades for his response in hurricanes
in Puerto Rico. In a series of new surveys, majorities think the Trump
administration isnÕt doing enough to help Puerto Rico — and one new poll
even suggests that a majority of voters donÕt think Trump cares about Puerto
RicoÕs problems. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/12/trump-puerto-rico-poll-243728
á President Donald
Trump nominated Barry Myers, top executive at AccuWeather,
to lead the weather service's parent agency.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/10/accuweather-s-barry-myers-nominated-lead-noaa
á Charles Phalen, the director of the National Background
Investigations Bureau, which is responsible for clearing background checks,
told a House subcommittee he has Ònever seen that level of mistakesÓ as in
Jared KushnerÕs security clearance application.http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/12/politics/jared-kushner-background-check-form/index.html
Thursday, Oct. 12
á TrumpÕs pick for
NOAA chief evokes criticism from people who worry Myers will hobble the weather service to
keep it from competing with private weather services. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/12/trump-noaa-chief-accuweather-barry-myers-243735
á President Trump tweeted
that he may withdraw federal relief workers from Puerto Rico and blamed the
island for its failing infrastructure, hinting the government might abandon the
U.S. territory after it was hit with two hurricanes. Trump said, ÒElectric and
all infrastructure [in Puerto Rico] was disaster before hurricanes.Ó He said it
would be up to Congress how much federal money to appropriate for recovery
efforts there — and warned that relief workers would not stay Òforever.Ó
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-threat-to-abandon-puerto-rico-recovery-sparks-a-backlash/2017/10/12/cf0d0abe-af62-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.8ec4b02de852&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
á The White House
confirmed late Thursday that it will immediately halt federal payments for
cost-sharing reductions in premiums for low income people provided for in the
Affordable Care Act.. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-to-sign-executive-order-to-gut-aca-insurance-rules-and-undermine-marketplaces/2017/10/11/40abf774-ae97-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.98ec932c1bba&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
á Sen. James
Lankford (R-Okla.) said Trump told him he was willing to Ògive it some more
timeÓ to allow lawmakers to find a solution for Òdreamers,Ó if Congress does
not pass legislation extending protections before time is up. ÒThe presidentÕs
comment to me was that, ÔWe put a six-month deadline out there. LetÕs work it
out. If we canÕt get it worked out in six months, weÕll give it some more time,
but weÕve got to get this worked out legislatively,Õ Ó Lankford said outside a town hall in Tulsa.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/trump-to-extend-march-5-deadline-to-end-daca-protections-if-congress-doesnt-act-gop-senator-says/2017/10/12/b64d2984-afba-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html?utm_term=.ec01aae37e16&wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-politics%252Bnation&wpmk=1
á The Trump
administration announced it will withdraw from UNESCO, the United Nations
cultural organization, after years of America distancing itself because of what
it called the groupÕs Ôanti-Israel bias.Õ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/us/politics/trump-unesco-withdrawal.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
Friday, Oct. 13
á Speaking at the Institute for International Finance conference about the
proposed Republican tax cut, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchen
said, ÒObviously, the estate tax, I will concede, disproportionately helps rich
people.Ó MnuchinÕs comments contrasted with TrumpÕs,
who pilloried the estate tax in a speech in Indiana last month, saying it is a
drag on the working
class.https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/us/politics/mnuchin-estate-tax-repeal-help-rich.html?smid=tw-nytpolitics&smtyp=cur
http://nyti.ms/2gFeynK
á Special Counsel Robert MuellerÕs team interviewed former White House
Chief of Staff Reince Priebus
in a
full-day session. http://politi.co/2giO7HO
á NBC News
reported results of its investigation that revealed $26 million changed hands
in the form of a loan between a company linked to former Trump campaign manager
Paul Manafort and the oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, a billionaire with close ties to the Kremlin. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/manafort-had-60m-relationship-russian-oligarch-n810541?cid=eml_nbn_20171013
á California
Attorney General Xavier Becerra led a coalition of 18 states and the District
of Columbia in filing a lawsuit in the Northern District of California against
the Trump AdministrationÕs decision to stop making healthcare subsidy payments
authorized by the Affordable Care Act.
á President Trump
wrote online Friday that he Òwill always be withÓ the people of Puerto Rico,
one day after he suggested that federal help for the hurricane-ravaged island
might not be limitless.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/13/trump-puerto-rico-aid-243748
á Sen. Susan Collins
announced she will not run for Maine governor: CollinsÕ decision preserves her role as a
key moderate and swing vote in the Senate. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/13/collins-no-run-for-maine-governor-243747
á A U.S.
district judge in Chicago affirmed a national freeze on a Trump administration
policy to withhold public safety grants to so-called sanctuary cities that
donÕt agree to cooperate in certain ways with federal immigration officials.
á The president
announced that he will abide by Iran nuclear deal for now but withdrew
presidential ÒcertificationÓ and said he will ask Congress to attach new
caveats that could strengthen the deal or lead to its rupture. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-to-set-new-conditions-for-us-to-stay-in-iran-nuclear-deal-tossing-issue-to-congress/2017/10/13/39ac3894-af82-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.7eda9d32cfeb&wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-politics%252Bnation&wpmk=1
Saturday, Oct. 14
á The five living
former presidents attend a concert benefiting hurricane relief through their
new joint fund-raising effort, the One America Appeal.
Sunday, Oct. 15
á TrumpÕs campaign
paid more than $1 million in legal bills in the last three months as
investigations continue into RussiaÕs role in the 2016 election,. The Trump
campaign and the Republican National Committee have now disclosed a total of
more than $2 million this year in payments to law firms and to lawyers with a
company owned by the presidentÕs family.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/15/trump-campaign-spending-legal-bills-243791