Monday, Feb. 11
á
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the entire Democratic leadership
on Monday condemned Rep. Ilhan Omar for her tweet suggesting that IsraelÕs
allies in American politics were motivated by money rather than principle. In
response, Omar, ÒunequivocallyÓ apologized.
á
Legislators negotiating a spending bill said
they reached an Òagreement in principleÓ to avoid a second government shutdown.
Tuesday, Feb. 12
á A Jury in a U.S. District Court in Brooklyn convicted MexicoÕs most notorious drug lord, Joaquin ÒEl ChapoÓ Guzman, of 17 counts of drug and conspiracy charges associated with running an industrial-scale smuggling operation.
á A government audit of the IRS was released showing that the government shutdown in December and January resulted in a ÒshockingÓ number of taxpayersÕ calls to the Internal Revenue Service going unreturned or being left to languish on hold for unusually long periods and over 5 million pieces of unanswered mail awaiting returning workers.
á
By a vote of 92 to 8, the Senate passed the most
sweeping conservation measure in a decade, protecting millions of acres of
land, hundreds of miles of wild rivers and establishing four new national
monuments honoring, among other things, the site of the first major Union
victory in the Civil War and civil rights hero Medgar Evers.
á
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported
that a record 7 million Americans are 90 days or more behind on their auto loan
payments, even more than during the wake of the financial crisis than in 2010,
when the auto loan delinquency rate reached its former peak.
Wednesday, Feb. 13
á
The Justice Department unsealed an indictment
against former Air Force counterintelligence officer Monica Witt of espionage
for allegedly revealing classified information to Iran. Witt defected to Iran
in 2013.
á
Military families described living in decrepit
and dangerous homes — managed by the Americas Lendlease Corporation for
the Defense Department — with black mold, lead, infestations of vermin,
flooding, radon and faulty wiring in a hearing before a Senate Armed Services
subcommittee.
á
The Mars Opportunity rover experienced a system
failure during a platewide dust storm on that planet and was declared dead
after 15 years, longer than any other rover.
á
The House passed a measure to end U.S. military
involvement in the Yemen war, repudiating TrumpÕs continued backing of the
Saudi-led coalition there.
á
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Administrator William Long resigned.
á
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson found
that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors from the
special counselÕs office and breached his cooperation deal with them. In addition, she found he also lied to
the FBI and the federal grand jury and made false statements material to
another Justice Department investigation.
Thursday, Feb. 14
á
The Senate confirmed William Barr as Attorney
General.
á
In an article he authored in the Atlantic,
former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe said, ÒThe president has stepped over bright ethical and moral
lines wherever he has encountered them. Every day brings a new low, with the
president exposing himself as a deliberate liar who will say whatever he
pleases to get whatever he wants.Ó
á
At a speech at a U.S.-sponsored conference on
the Middle East, Vice President Mike Pence demanded that France, Germany and
the U.S. pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and stop trying to break American
sanctions.
á
Both houses of Congress overwhelmingly passed a
bill to avoid another government shutdown, with the Senate voting 83-16 and the
House, 300-128.
Friday, Feb. 15
á
Trump declared a national emergency in an
attempt to redirect monies from a military construction fund toward building a
wall on the Mexican border, saying, among other things, ÒI didnÕt need to do
this but IÕd rather do it faster. I want to get it done faster, thatÕs all.Ó
á
Trump signed a government funding law for nine
cabinet-level departments and dozens of other agencies passed the day before to
avoid another government shutdown. The funding would have expired at midnight.
á
Supreme Court Justice Ruther Bader Ginsburg
returned to the Supreme Court for the first time since undergoing cancer
surgery in December.
á
U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras in
D.S. allowed the Mashantucket Pequot tribe to refile a case dismissed last year
arguing that former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke responded to improper
political pressure to block a new casino.
á
The Supreme Court said it would decide by the
end of June whether the administration can add a question about citizenship
status to the 2020 Census.
Saturday, Feb. 16
á
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders
confirmed a CNN report on Friday that she has been interviewed by Special
Counsel Robert MuellerÕs team.
á
Former Fox News journalist and State Department
spokesperson under Rex Tillerson withdrew herself from consideration as
ambassador to the United Nations. Her name had never formally been sent to the
Senate for confirmation.
Sunday, Feb. 17
á
Former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told 60
Minutes that law enforcement officials discussed whether to secretly record a
conversation with Trump and whether Trump could be removed from office by
invoking the 25th Amendment.