Monday, July 24
á Whistleblower Joel Clement, a
scientist at the Department of the Interior, revealed that, due to climate
change, many coastal Alaskan villages are becoming swamped by melting
permafrost causing coastal erosion. He said he was demoted to a job collecting
royalty checks from fossil fuel companies for speaking out. http://tinyurl.com/yalnuzwp
á After being questioned in a closed-door
Senate hearing, Jared Kushner, President Donald TrumpÕs son-in-law and adviser,
said , ÒI did not collude with Russia, nor do I know of anyone else in the
campaign who did so.Ó http://tinyurl.com/yapbqgdq
á In an interview in the New Yorker, a veteran
ICE agent spoke out about ÒrampantÓ contempt towards ÒaliensÓ by ICE
enforcement officers that he hasnÕt seen under previous administrations. http://tinyurl.com/y9r92wpn
á According to Guardian UK, Jared Kushner
secured a multimillion dollar real estate deal with a Soviet-born oligarch
whose company was cited in a major money laundering case. http://tinyurl.com/ycvko4t7
á A
federal judge ruled that TrumpÕs voting commission can collect voter data from
50 states and is exempt from federal privacy review requirements. http://tinyurl.com/ycjocbxh
á According to the Washington Post, cooperation
with Russia is becoming a central part of the Trump administrationÕs
counter-Islamic State strategy in Syria. http://tinyurl.com/y7b5dh46
á A report by the Union of Concerned
Scientists called ÒSidelining Science Since Day One: How the Trump
Administration Has Harmed Public Health and Safety in Its First Six Months,Ó
analyzes how the Trump administration has undermined the vital role science
plays in policy decisions. http://tinyurl.com/ybxx2kzc
á The Nation reported how the US is
failing native American students with punitive discipline, inadequate
curriculum, and declining federal funding. http://tinyurl.com/y7xzmmwq
Tuesday, July 25
á Trump
launched a public assault on Attorney General (AG) Sessions questioning why
Sessions has not done more to investigate alleged crimes by Hillary Clinton and
information leakers. http://tinyurl.com/y82zls8a
á Trump
was harshly criticized for giving a campaign-like speech with political attacks
on the media and Hilary Clinton to 40,000 Boy Scouts at the Scout Jamboree. http://tinyurl.com/ybll923s
á Paul Manafort, TrumpÕs top campaign
aide, testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee and provided notes he took
during a meeting in the Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer. http://tinyurl.com/yczfdyqa
á Anthony
Scaramucci, the new White House communications
director, threatened to fire his entire staff to stem leaks plaguing the Trump
administration. http://tinyurl.com/y7e96ftf
á The Washington Post reported that North
Korea will be able to launch a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic
missile as early as next year. http://tinyurl.com/ya62gxgd
á In an effort to revive their struggling
healthcare bill, Senate Republican leaders secured votes needed to begin
debating new health-care legislation. http://tinyurl.com/ybu9mx3k
á The Senate Judiciary Committee
subpoenaed Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign manager, saying that
negotiations for him to testify voluntarily had broken down. http://tinyurl.com/y7uwjnoo
á Trump
and his advisers discussed the possibility of replacing AG Jeff Sessions. http://tinyurl.com/ycuc2qol
á A
federal judge blocked the potential deportation of more than 1,400 Iraqis,
members of the Chaldean Christian minority and subject to persecution in Iraq. http://tinyurl.com/yaefznuh
á Senator John McCain lectured to the
Senate about why the Senate has become too partisan and is getting nothing
done. http://tinyurl.com/y9ty6ago
á Senior
assistant press secretary Michael Short resigned after a report emerged in
Politico hours earlier saying that he would be fired in Scaramucci's
quest to uproot leakers. http://tinyurl.com/ybvawfsw
á Senate
Democrats warned they will block Trump from trying to bypass the confirmation
process by firing AG Sessions and appointing
a successor during the August recess. http://tinyurl.com/ybyqevhr
Wednesday, July 26
á Senate Republicans forged ahead
with proposals to revamp the Affordable Care Act that might garner support in
the Senate and the House. http://tinyurl.com/yblsy7l6
á Massachusetts supreme court ruled
that police cannot detain illegal immigrants solely to buy time for federal law
enforcement officials to take them into custody. http://tinyurl.com/yd9mjfmr
á Trump
announced on Twitter that he will ban transgender people from serving in the
military in any capacity. http://tinyurl.com/y88dao7p
á Trump
renewed his attacks on AG Sessions questioning on Twitter why Sessions had not
replaced the acting FBI director. http://tinyurl.com/y8s6odb5
á According
to the Washington Post, Trump made 29 false or misleading claims over the past
day. http://tinyurl.com/ya6yec2z
á Two Russians prank-called Energy Secretary Rick Perry and made
him believe he was talking to Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr
Groysman about using pig manure as an energy source. http://tinyurl.com/y9lfkpne
á According to the Washington Post, White House officials
considered a strategy to pass a sharp, short-term tax cut if Trump's effort to
pursue a broader overhaul of the tax code falters. http://tinyurl.com/ycubqmrv
á According to the Guardian UK, Education Secretary DeVos stands
accused of quietly privatizing schools, rescinding discrimination guidelines
and neutering her own departmentÕs civil rights office. http://tinyurl.com/yaznp9hp
á The
Washington Post reported that a federal judge has upheld a $1,000 fine against
Kris Kobach, the vice chair of TrumpÕs Election
Integrity Commission, citing a ÒpatternÓ of Òmisleading the CourtÓ in voter-ID
cases. The ruling represents another blow to the credibility of a commission
plagued by lawsuits and controversy in its first months of existence. http://tinyurl.com/y9kcg4x2
á Democrats have attempted to counter
TrumpÕs EPA pro-pesticide actions and have pushed to ban chemicals harmful to
children and bees through bills introduced in Congress. http://tinyurl.com/y8wvpalx
á The
Department of Justice argued in a legal brief that the landmark Civil Rights
Act of 1964 does not protect LGBTQ people. http://tinyurl.com/yapxzdvu
Thursday, July 27
á A
new report detailed how US county sheriffs have joined with far-right hate
groups that advocate tough anti-immigrant measures to expand mass deportation
boundaries with little oversight. http://tinyurl.com/y7hagczf
á The
US Justice Department urged the federal appeals court in Manhattan to reject a
lawsuit by a former skydiving instructor who claimed he was fired for being
gay. http://tinyurl.com/y9fsjbyc
á Santa Barbara became the first
California city to pass a resolution against offshore oil and gas drilling. http://tinyurl.com/y9mf35er
á According to the Washington Post, there is a
growing GOP backlash to TrumpÕs transgender troop ban calling it a political
miscalculation. http://tinyurl.com/y9uqh5fp
á Senate Republicans warned the White House
that getting rid on AG Sessions would be a terrible move -- that it
would look as though Trump were making the move solely to shut down an
investigation of his campaign and the White House. http://tinyurl.com/y7vghlu5
á The Congressional Budget Office estimated
that the ÒskinnyÓ Obamacare repeal may leave 16 million people uninsured. http://tinyurl.com/y82x8bq8
á US defense chiefs said they will
continue to permit transgender individuals to serve openly until Defense Secretary
Mattis receives TrumpÕs direction to change policy. http://tinyurl.com/yc52ehdx
á According to BuzzFlash,
because Trump has employed cyberbullying as a key strategy in his
presidency, Melania Trump has been unable to initiate her ÔFirst LadyÕ campaign
to stop cyberbullying. http://tinyurl.com/y8f8qgnv
á The Department of Energy nominated Mark
Menezes as Under Secretary of Energy. Menezes worked on behalf of utility
companies and fossil fuel interests. http://tinyurl.com/ybvdcdhu
Friday, July 28
á Senate
Republicans failed to overhaul the Affordable Care Act after Senator John
McCain decided to vote with two other Republicans against the bill. http://tinyurl.com/y98v4dwu
á New
Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza described a conversation
with TrumpÕs communications director Anthony Scaramucci
that illustrates the anxiety, chaos and tension among White House staff. http://tinyurl.com/y9gr45p9
á Congressman
Raœl Grijalva called for a probe into political blackmail by TrumpÕs Interior
Secretary Ryan Zinke, who threatened Alaska senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan
Sullivan saying if they voted against the GOP healthcare bill, the Trump
administration would not support key projects in Alaska. http://tinyurl.com/y9qsfmut
á Trump replaced chief of staff Reince
Priebus with General John Kelly, currently the secretary of homeland security. http://tinyurl.com/yb93lcfo
á US-Russian tensions rose as Russia said the
US must downsize its diplomatic staff in Russia and as Congress voted to
tighten sanctions against Russia. http://tinyurl.com/y77sjany
á Democracy Now! reported that the
healthcare fight is really far from over: expect a proposal for $1.5 trillion
in cuts to Medicaid and another almost $500 billion in cuts to Medicare in the
Republican budget – along with a proposal to voucherize
and privatize Medicare. http://tinyurl.com/y9gj4lpy
á US Forward, a front group backed by the
petrochemical billionaire Koch brothers, launched a series of misleading
anti-electric vehicle videos. http://tinyurl.com/ydg33tkb
á Trump addressed a group of
law enforcement officials and said "please
don't be too nice" to suspects who are arrested. US police chiefs
later blasted Trump for endorsing police brutality. http://tinyurl.com/yap4m2ze
á
Saturday, July 29
á A federal
judge blocked Arkansas from enforcing four new abortion restrictions, including
a requirement for a partner's consent before a woman could get an abortion. http://tinyurl.com/yaupk55x
á Trump selected Kansas Governor Sam
Brownback, who has a history of opposition to LGBTQ rights and uses religious
beliefs to justify discrimination, as ambassador at large for international
religious freedom. http://tinyurl.com/y7up376h
á According to former deputy AG Sally Yates,
Trump has attempted to dismantle the rule of law, destroy the independence of
the Justice Department, and undermine the career men and women in the Justice
Department. http://tinyurl.com/ycwz3h67
á Trump
threatened to end payments to insurance companies made under Obamacare unless a
repeal and replace bill passes. http://tinyurl.com/y799j9rf
á A federal judge refused to drop a
lawsuit against two psychologists who helped devise the CIAÕs
interrogation-torture program after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, clearing the
way for the case to proceed to a trial in September. http://tinyurl.com/ydfhogrf
Sunday, July 30
á Putin ordered 755 US diplomats out of
Russia in retaliation to a US bill passed by Congress that strengthened
sanctions imposed on Russian officials. http://tinyurl.com/ydfhogrf
á The Associated Press reported that because a
US program was halted by a series of new refugee bans and travel limits, more
than 100 refugee children matched with US foster families have been stranded. http://tinyurl.com/yadcfddj
á Representative
Bruce Westerman introduced legislation in Congress
that would give the Forest Service and the BLM a blank check to start logging
in places for no reason other than just cutting, guts the Endangered Species
Act, guts the Equal Access to Justice Act – ad nauseum. http://tinyurl.com/yd4sfohq
á Trump
removed Anthony Scaramucci as White House
communications director. http://tinyurl.com/yclyk9u2