Monday, Sept. 10

· Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he plans to increase the number of immigration judges by 50 percent by the end of the year. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/10/sessions-immigration-judges-813573?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=00000158-890d-dfd4-ad7b-c96fadf30001&nlid=964328

· The Trump administration ordered the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington because, the State Department said in a statement, the PLO “has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel.” https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/10/sessions-immigration-judges-813573?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=00000158-890d-dfd4-ad7b-c96fadf30001&nlid=964328

· NBC reported that Kim Jong Un’s regime in North Korea is still making nuclear weapons, has escalated efforts to conceal its nuclear activity, and its ability to produce new nuclear weapons is virtually identical to its that before the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/north-korea-still-making-nukes-trump-admin-now-taking-much-n907651

Tuesday, Sept. 11

· President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled a trip to Ireland apparently planned for Nov. 12, but not known to the Irish government before the cancellation announcement. https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/white-house-is-all-over-the-place-as-trumps-visit-to-ireland-descends-into-chaos-37305451.html

· In remarks in the Oval Office, Trump said his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last year was “an incredible, unsung success,” despite criticism that the response was ineffective and that the death toll would have been far lower had his administration reacted more quickly. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/absolutely-totally-prepared-trump-says-the-government-is-ready-as-florence-approaches/2018/09/11/be70c620-b5e5-11e8-a2c5-3187f427e253_story.html?utm_term=.db57ec3c05a1

Wednesday, Sept. 12

· NBC reported that the number of Christian refugees granted entry into the U.S. has dropped by more than 40 percent over the past year, a decline of almost 11,000 refugees. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/despite-trump-s-promise-protect-them-christian-refugees-struggle-enter-n908501

· Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that he has certified to Congress that the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are undertaking demonstrable actions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure in Yemen, fulfilling the terms of a recently passed law that would have cut U.S. aid to the Saudis without the certification. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/12/pompeo-certifies-saudi-military-actions-815802?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=00000158-890d-dfd4-ad7b-c96fadf30001&nlid=964328

· Statistics released today indicate that the number of migrant family members arrested for illegally entering the U.S. went up 38 percent in August, the highest August total ever recorded. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/arrests-of-migrant-families-rose-38-percent-in-august-in-what-trump-officials-call-a-crisis-at-the-border/2018/09/12/4315d254-b5fe-11e8-94eb-3bd52dfe917b_story.html?utm_term=.c0f9b8b25556&wpisrc=al_news__alert-world--alert-national&wpmk=1

· A new Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll shows 80 percent of Puerto Ricans give fair to poor marks to Trump’s Hurricane Maria response last year, while 74 percent gave the same marks to the Puerto Rican government’s storm response. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2018/09/12/feature/residents-see-a-failure-at-all-levels-of-government/?utm_term=.db18dbda88c9&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

· Trump issued a new order authorizing additional sanctions against countries or individuals interfering in upcoming U.S. elections, but lawmakers of both parties immediately said the effort does not go far enough. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-issues-new-order-authorizing-additional-sanctions-for-interfering-in-upcoming-us-elections/2018/09/12/a90898a0-b6b0-11e8-a7b5-adaaa5b2a57f_story.html?utm_term=.aeaca7e8daa3

· Migrant parents who failed an asylum screening after being separated from their children at the border would get another chance to seek refuge under a proposed settlement agreement filed in three related lawsuits. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/13/migrant-parents-asylum-785734?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=00000158-890d-dfd4-ad7b-c96fadf30001&nlid=964328

Thursday, Sept. 13

· The New York Times reported that a review of census bureau data reveals that the national poverty rate in 2017 was virtually unchanged from the year before. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/13/us/politics/poverty-rate-census-bureau.html?rref=collection/byline/glenn-thrush&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection

· In an interview with The Atlantic, the secretary-general of the United Nations, António Guterres, said the United States, once the guarantor of global stability, is losing its ability to influence world events, although he did not directly criticize Trump. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/09/antonio-guterres-united-nations/570130/

· The Trump administration announced sanctions against two information technology companies controlled by North Korea but based in China and Russia, blocking any property the firms own in the U.S. and prohibiting Americans from doing business with them. https://apnews.com/d6e3c30c127a4c2294ea68a124d1b718

· On Twitter, Trump disputed the official death toll in Puerto Rico, raised to 2,975 last month based on a study from George Washington University, saying Democrats had falsely inflated the numbers to make him look bad. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-questions-number-of-deaths-attributed-to-hurricane-maria-falsely-says-democrats-created-a-higher-count-to-make-him-look-bad/2018/09/13/9519308a-b73b-11e8-a7b5-adaaa5b2a57f_story.html?utm_term=.ea7dedd6c228&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

Friday, Sept. 14

· Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller under a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court covering two separate trials in which Manafort has already been convicted of eight counts and faces several more. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/14/former-trump-campaign-chairman-paul-manafort-appears-to-reach-plea-deal-823882?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=00000158-890d-dfd4-ad7b-c96fadf30001&nlid=964328

· Senate Democrats disclosed that they had referred a complaint about Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, to the F.B.I. for investigation. The complaint came from a woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct when they were both in high school. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-sexual-misconduct-allegation-against-the-supreme-court-nominee-brett-kavanaugh-stirs-tension-among-democrats-in-congress

Saturday, Sept. 15

· No news to report.

Sunday, Sept. 16

· Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University, in an interview with the Washington Post, revealed she is the author of a confidential letter to a senior Democratic lawmaker alleging that Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were in high school. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/california-professor-writer-of-confidential-brett-kavanaugh-letter-speaks-out-about-her-allegation-of-sexual-assault/2018/09/16/46982194-b846-11e8-94eb-3bd52dfe917b_story.html?utm_term=.06be56830cc9&wpisrc=al_post_exclusive__alert-exclusive--alert-national&wpmk=1

· In an interview with The Washington Post, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said Christine Blasey Ford “must be heard” and urged the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which he is a member, not to vote on Kavanaugh's nomination until it has a chance to hear more from Ford. https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/senators-say-kavanaugh-letter-wont-hold-up-confirmation-process/2018/09/16/cbee4b4c-b9b9-11e8-9812-a389be6690af_story.html?utm_term=.96073f45af13&wpisrc=al_politics__alert-politics&wpmk=1