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With No Proof, Prominent GOP Hawk Blames Venezuela Supreme Court Attack on Maduro Government

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An influential Republican lawmaker blamed the Venezuelan government for an aerial assault on the country’s Supreme Court, despite the fact that it was led by a man who identified himself as being opposed to the country’s leftist president, Nicolas Maduro. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), a hawkish conservative and the former head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, leveled the accusations on Wednesday morning, at a hearing held by the committee. “Things have taken a turn for the worse just in the last 24 hours, as…

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Labor Secretary: Well, Actually, 22 Million Americans Would Prefer to Lack Health Insurance

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A member of the Presidential Cabinet claimed that millions will lose healthcare coverage under Republican reform proposals due to “individual choice.” Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta made the assertion on Tuesday, when asked by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) about the intention of Republicans’ healthcare plan. “We are asking how we can go forward as a nation with a bill that respects individual choice,” Acosta said before a Senate appropriations subcommittee. “Insurance is really important to people,” Murphy replied. “Do you think that the purpose of healthcare…

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At FISA Hearing, GOP Senators Outraged Over Spying on Me, But Not Thee

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Privacy and civil rights groups have been warning for years about the potential abuse of surveillance authorities, but only now are certain Republican lawmakers waking up to that possibility—fearing that they’ve been targeted. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday focused on renewing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorities, including Section 702, which expires at the end of the year, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) demanded to know if he personally has been spied on. “Is it possible to find out if I, Lindsey Graham, was incidentally…

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Qatar Dust-up Prompts Sen. Corker to Restrict Future US Arms Deals

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Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) wrote a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday informing the top diplomat that future weapons sales to Persian Gulf coast countries would face more restrictions. The missive arrived at the Secretary’s desk as the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) is dealing with a diplomatic crisis. Several of the council’s members, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, are posturing for conflict with fellow council member Qatar, over alleged support of terrorist groups.…

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SCOTUS Temporarily Allows Parts of Trump’s Muslim Ban, Will Rule on Decree in the Autumn

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The Supreme Court agreed to decide on the legality of President Trump’s Muslim Ban and temporarily reversed parts of lower court rulings blocking enforcement of the order. Justices announced Monday that they would hear arguments about the ban during the next Supreme Court term, which starts in October. They said, in the meantime, that an injunction against the ban would be lifted, except for those with “any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.” “A foreign national who wishes to…

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Most Potent Opposition to Senate GOP Health Care Bill Comes From Within

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Only hours after it was revealed to the public, the Senate health care bill received a critical blow from the Republican Party’s right-flank, with four GOP Senators stating they won’t support it. The opposition among Republicans all but assures that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) expedited timeline to pass the legislation won’t work out. It also puts GOP plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in doubt. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is leading the opposition, alongside Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee…

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“I’m a Strategic, Politically-Astute Leader” — Pelosi Defends Her Leadership Amid Yet More Losses for Dems

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) painted internal criticism of her leadership as coming from the Republican Party. Pelosi made the characterization on Thursday amid a defense of her position, when asked by reporters about her future in the wake of recent special election losses. “I don’t think that any party should allow the opposite party to choose their leaders,” she said “I don’t think members of our party should pick up the line of the Republicans,” Pelosi also stated. “And that’s what my members…

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Fair Trade? NAFTA Renegotiation Won’t Include Scrapping of Corporate-Only Lawsuits

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President Trump’s top trade negotiator won’t seek to reject mechanisms in trade deals that offer legal recourse only to investors and multinational corporations. Robert Lighthizer said that the administration “would not commit that we’re going to get rid of” investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) panels, when asked on Wednesday by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). “There is a negotiating objective, as I understand it, that we’re going to strengthen ISDS,” the US Trade Representative told Brown, possibly referring to negotiation authority legislation passed by Congress in…

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Former DHS Chief Still Bitter About Lack of Access to Breached DNC Servers

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The previous Homeland Security Secretary, Jeh Johnson, told senators on Wednesday that he recalled being frustrated over how his department was blocked from directly probing last year’s hack of the Democratic National Committee. Johnson appeared before the House Intelligence Committee as part of its ongoing investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race. According to prior reporting, the FBI was denied access to the DNC’s servers after it became clear the systems were hacked. Johnson testified that the Department of Homeland Security was…

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Lack of Islamic State AUMF Could Lead to Return of Extraordinary Rendition

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The lack of clear authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) against the Islamic State could lead to the US, once again, rendering people accused of extremist activity to jurisdictions permitting torture. The prospect of such a scenario was brought up on Tuesday by John Bellinger III, a private sector lawyer who served as a legal adviser for the National Security Council under George W. Bush, while the War on Terror was ramping up. “Right now, they have the right to habeas if they’re…

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Interior Secretary Says Native American Education Program “Failed” to Justify Deep Cuts

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The man charged with stewarding the nation’s public lands was called before a Senate panel on Tuesday, where he attempted to defend the Trump administration’s call for massive cuts to his own Interior Department, particularly programs for Native Americans. Secretary Ryan Zinke went to the mat for the White House’s austerity blueprint, despite receiving a stream of criticism from members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, over how the blueprint hits indigenous Americans particularly hard. Sen. Catherine Cortez Mastro (D-Nev.) grilled the Secretary over…

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