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February 2018 - page 2

Senate Committee to Advance Criminal Justice Reform Once Opposed by Jeff Sessions

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The chances for even modest criminal justice reform during the Trump era might seem remote. But the Senate Judiciary Committee is giving it a try. On Wednesday, the Committee begun consideration of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, legislation with twenty cosponsors from both parties in the upper chamber. A mark-up vote will be held next week by the committee. In October 2015, the panel advanced the proposal in a 15-5 vote. If enacted, the bill would reduce some mandatory minimum sentences, with retroactive effect,…

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Pentagon Counsel Nominee: New AUMF Needed for Tillerson’s Syria Plans

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The nominee to be the top lawyer at the Pentagon told senators that a new war authorization would be needed for US forces to remain in Syria after the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS). Paul Ney made the comments on Thursday, at his confirmation hearing. Ney was tapped by President Trump to be the chief lawyer for the Defense Department. The analysis could complicate war plans laid out by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Last month, Tillerson called for an indefinite US military presence…

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Schumer Agrees to Give up Shutdown Fights for Two Years, in Deal that Would Deprive Senate Dems of Power

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Senate Democrats look poised to relinquish significant leverage–the threat of withholding government funding–well into the next Congress. Leaders from the Senate Majority and Minority said Wednesday that they agreed to a budget deal that would roll back short-term funding norms spearheaded by Congressional Republicans during the Obama administration. The agreement would eliminate so-called sequestration caps created by the Budget Control Act of 2011. The spending limits were agreed to by Congress after Tea Party Republicans threatened to shutdown the government. The compromise would hike spending…

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McCaskill Blasts Trump DHS for Refusing to Show Senators Critical Muslim Ban Report

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Officials from the Department of Homeland Security won’t release an inspector general report to a US Senator, prompting new concerns that the Trump administration is trying to muzzle oversight. The exchange occurred during a roundtable discussion Wednesday between officials from DHS and lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) raised the department’s recent decision to withhold from lawmakers and the public a watchdog report finding that the Trump administration broke the law while implementing its Muslim travel ban last year. The report…

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Mattis Cites Kissinger to Call for New Nukes

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The head of the Pentagon was called before Congress to defend the administration’s nuclear policies and plans to develop new weapons capabilities. Lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee are skeptical of Defense Secretary James Mattis’ initiative to build new lower-yield nuclear weapons capable of being launched from submarines. The details of which were contained in the administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, released last week. Secretary Mattis on Tuesday spun some game theory to the committee in an attempt to justify the expenditure. “It’s to make certain that no…

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With Washington Closely Eyeing Stock Prices, SEC Chair Bemoans Staff Shortages

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In a Congressional hearing about the emerging cryptocurrency market, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission said he is most concerned about a conventional problem. Jay Clayton told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday that the SEC is currently understaffed, lacking the examiners needed to keep tabs on all kinds of markets–both newer and traditional ones. “Personnel is my biggest challenge at the moment,” he said, when questioned by the committee’s vice chair, Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). “I could use more people in enforcement. I…

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Yellen’s Last Hurrah: Friday penalties send Wells Fargo stock on Monday morning Nosedive

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Wells Fargo stock shed more than 8 percent of its value as investors responded to sanctions imposed by Janet Yellen, in her last act as Chair of the Federal Reserve. The Fed Board of Governors penalized the bank at 6 pm on Friday evening, as Yellen was on her way out the door. On Monday morning at the opening bell, Wells stock dropped to $58.71 per share, after ending last week at $64.07 per share. Fed governors issued the order because of widespread abuses revealed…

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Bundy Reigns: Feds Still Ignoring Illegal Grazing

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The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is shirking promises it made to crackdown on the misuse of public lands. Released documents show that the agency has completely shelved planned regulations to root out ranchers engaged in illegal cattle grazing on BLM lands. The internal records show that throughout 2017, the agency’s timeline for implementing the new rules on cattle grazing slipped from “ongoing” to “on hold.” The regulations are now missing entirely from BLM’s 2018 regulatory agenda. The Government Accountability Office previously found that BLM…

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FTC Prodded to Investigate Fake Twitter Follower Farms

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Leaders of a Senate Commerce Subcommittee are asking federal regulators to probe the market for fake Twitter followers in the wake of a New York Times report. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote the Federal Trade Commission earlier this week, lobbying Acting Chair Maureen Ohlhausen to investigate Devumi, a US company that “allegedly uses bots to create fake social media accounts.” “This company seems engaged in unfair or deceptive practices, and we urge you to use all the tools at your disposal…

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