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Study: TPP Will Cost U.S. A Half Million Jobs, Drag Down GDP

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A group of economists studying the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) have concluded that the sweeping trade agreement will have a net negative impact on the US economy. Economic researchers with Tufts University’s Global Development and Environment Institute said Monday that widely cited projections claiming the TPP will boost economic activity in the US are “based on unrealistic assumptions.” Instead, the economists noted, the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal will likely lead to the loss of 448,000 jobs from the US workforce, while lowering GDP by more…

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Senate Committee Advances Legislation Enhancing Both Trade Secret Lawsuits and Corporate Whistleblower Protections

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The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday unanimously approved of increased protections for corporate whistleblowers. The panel marked up the proposal as an amendment to a bill that itself would grant companies more power to sue alleged trade secret thieves in federal court. Authored by the committee’s chair and its ranking member, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the amendment would seek to explicitly prevent bosses from retaliating against whistleblowers by filing litigation against them with powers that would be expanded under the broader legislation. Drafted…

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For-Profit College DeVry Sued By Feds, Could Lose Key Subsidies

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The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Education have alleged that DeVry University illegally deceived students by lying about graduates’ employment prospects. The FTC filed a lawsuit at a US District Court in California on Wednesday against the for-profit college, while the Department of Education informed the institution that its applicants might no longer be eligible for federal financial assistance under Title IV of the Higher Education Act—a lucrative subsidy to corporate higher educators. FTC Chair Edith Ramirez told reporters in a conference call…

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Homeland Security Failing to Account for Over $1 Billion in Training Budget

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The Department of Homeland Security is struggling to account for over a billion dollars it recently spent on training, according to its internal auditor. The DHS Office of Inspector General said Wednesday that it found “significant discrepancies” between the department’s 2014 training budget and and what it can actually document spending during the fiscal year. “[I]n FY 2014, Congress provided more than $1.4 billion for DHS training, but DHS only reported $1.9 million in training costs to [the Office of Personnel Management],” the IG report…

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US Military Now Preparing “for Decades” In Afghanistan

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Pentagon strategists have started planning for the possibility that the US will keep troops in Afghanistan “for decades” and beyond only months after President Obama reversed a withdrawal timetable that would have seen American forces pullout almost entirely by the end of this year. Senior military commanders and ex-Obama administration officials “increasingly” see America’s role in the country as similar to those played by the US in South Korea and Colombia, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. In the former, the US has kept “tens of…

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Obama’s Pick to be Army Chief Worries About Troop Reductions, Cites Russia, ISIL, North Korea

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President Obama’s choice to be the next Army Secretary said he has concerns about plans to scale back the branch. Eric Fanning said that he does “worry about the size of the Army today,” when asked Thursday by Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Army is planning to reduce troop levels by 40,000 by the end of next year. The reductions to a 450,000-strong fighting force were mandated at the start of the decade by the so-called sequestration…

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D.C. Circuit Court Set to Hear NLRB Facebook Ruling Challenge

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It turns out that some of the country’s most exalted legal minds also have to deal with people getting mad online. The second most influential court in the country is slated to decide whether it “likes” a National Labor Relations Board ruling that found workers can’t be fired for some social media posts critical of bosses. The US Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington DC is expected on Thursday to consider the case, according to Reuters. The dispute was brought by three terminated San Francisco-based employees,…

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CBO: Budget Agreements Add $130 Billion to 2016 Shortfall

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The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that deals struck on Capitol Hill since the end of the summer will see the federal deficit in 2016 rise by $130 billion. The current projected fiscal shortfall for this year is now expected to be $544 billion, up from $439 billion in 2015. “That increase is largely attributable to legislation enacted since August—in particular, the retroactive extension of a number of provisions that reduce corporate and individual income taxes,” CBO said. It noted that the deal, which lifted…

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High Court Grants White House One Last Chance To Defend Immigration Actions

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President Obama’s executive order protecting four million undocumented immigrants from deportation will be reviewed this year by the Supreme Court, the body’s justices announced Tuesday. The high court agreed to hear the White House’s appeal of a November 2015 decision by the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. That ruling upheld a District Judge’s move to enjoin the so-called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)—first issued in 2012, and expanded in November 2014. The Presidential decree was challenged in February 2015 by state officials from Texas and 25 other…

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Transfers Out Of Guantanamo Ramp Up–Fewer Than 100 Prisoners Remain

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For the first time since 2002, there are fewer than 100 detainees at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay. The Department of Defense announced Thursday that it had transferred ten prisoners out of the facility and into the custody of the government of Oman. Each individual was unanimously approved for transfer by the Guantanamo Review Task Force, the Pentagon reported. While there were only 15 detainee transfers in all of 2015, there have already been 14 releases from Guantanamo this year alone—a sign that President…

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High Court in Philippines Upholds “Pivot to Asia” Agreement with U.S. Military

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The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday declared legal a defense agreement that the country signed in 2014 with the United States. The accord, which had never been implemented, passed judicial review in a 10-4 vote after the high court ruled that the government of President Benigno Aquino didn’t require prior legislative consent. When the agreement was signed, President Obama said that the agreement would grant the US military “greater access to Filipino facilities, airfields and ports, which would remain under the control of the Philippines.”…

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